Hi, I am new here and have decided that it is time that I educate myself on the life of being an elder cat owner.
My Zen came to us in Sept of 94 and was about 2 years old at the time. She has been a great cat, true to form in most ways (has to have things on her own terms, lets you know when she is unhappy... you know the drill) except for one thing. She is horribly allergic to fleas. Like horribly in the most horrible way. Loses all of her hair, can't sleep for all the itching, gets cranky (-er) and so forth. She doesn't get to go outside, but she does sneak out maybe twice a year... grrrr and we do not bring any other animals into the house. Of course you can't exactly screen house guests for fleas, and I am sure that we bring them in from time to time on our clothing after hiking, camping, general outdoor stuff.
In the past what has worked is a quick trip to the vet, a shot of Methylphenid and then 6 weeks of Prednisone at home. However, now I have been informed by the vet that fleas may not be all that she is allergic to and that she could just be randomly "acquiring" new allergies as she ages. The vet also told me that using the Prednisone can make her more susceptible to disease and infection and shorten her life. We let the vet know that a shorter more comfortable life is better than a long drawn out life of misery... and at at least 14 years of age (this was last year) she had already lived longer than any cat either of us has ever owned.
The last round of Methylphenid and Prednisone has not done the trick and she is fairly miserable. I have flea bathed her, she is up to date on her flea meds (advantage) and we have bombed the house. None of us have seen fleas anywhere except on her and we don't have bites ourselves. Finally, in desperation last night I bathed her with some moisturizing shampoo/soap in hopes that it would soothe her itchiness a little bit.
Any other suggestions for soothing her dry irritated skin? I am totally all for anything natural/herbal/whatever. I just want her to feel better. I hate the idea of having to put her down if there is something that can be done to make her more comfortable.
Thanks,
Lochlainn.
My Zen came to us in Sept of 94 and was about 2 years old at the time. She has been a great cat, true to form in most ways (has to have things on her own terms, lets you know when she is unhappy... you know the drill) except for one thing. She is horribly allergic to fleas. Like horribly in the most horrible way. Loses all of her hair, can't sleep for all the itching, gets cranky (-er) and so forth. She doesn't get to go outside, but she does sneak out maybe twice a year... grrrr and we do not bring any other animals into the house. Of course you can't exactly screen house guests for fleas, and I am sure that we bring them in from time to time on our clothing after hiking, camping, general outdoor stuff.
In the past what has worked is a quick trip to the vet, a shot of Methylphenid and then 6 weeks of Prednisone at home. However, now I have been informed by the vet that fleas may not be all that she is allergic to and that she could just be randomly "acquiring" new allergies as she ages. The vet also told me that using the Prednisone can make her more susceptible to disease and infection and shorten her life. We let the vet know that a shorter more comfortable life is better than a long drawn out life of misery... and at at least 14 years of age (this was last year) she had already lived longer than any cat either of us has ever owned.
The last round of Methylphenid and Prednisone has not done the trick and she is fairly miserable. I have flea bathed her, she is up to date on her flea meds (advantage) and we have bombed the house. None of us have seen fleas anywhere except on her and we don't have bites ourselves. Finally, in desperation last night I bathed her with some moisturizing shampoo/soap in hopes that it would soothe her itchiness a little bit.
Any other suggestions for soothing her dry irritated skin? I am totally all for anything natural/herbal/whatever. I just want her to feel better. I hate the idea of having to put her down if there is something that can be done to make her more comfortable.
Thanks,
Lochlainn.
-
poor Zen!
Sun, December 2, 2007 - 5:25 PMMaybe a humidifier would help since the air is so dry this time of year. -
-
Re: poor Zen!
Mon, December 3, 2007 - 3:49 PMPoor baby! :o( You may have to try an allergist, which can be very expensive, but worth it to figure out what's likely going on. You may want to try some "alternate protein" foods, like duck and potato, or pea and venison, as some of the many chemicals and additives in regular cat foods can be allergens. My cat is *horribly* allergic to fish and fish byproducts (eg. bone meal, etc.), and we treated her heavily with prednisone before we figured it out. Now, when she gets a "hot spot", we treat her with the antihistamine chlorpheniramine, 1/2 of a 4mg. tablet at a time, twice per day, until her sores heal up, and she's not likely to keep trying to tear her fur off. Best wishes for Zen!
-
