- Carmel - cat
- 12
- Female
- Neutered
- Maine Coon
- 9-10 pounds
- B - Behavior - good, loving, cuddles with me and sleeps with me often, gentle except when she thinks we’re playing. She does itch, licks her chest/paws/legs a lot & nibbles. Chews paws. I have seen her recently eat rodents that were dead for several hours (worries me a little - caught night before and she leaves it and then eats it next day when it’s been sitting out in the sun and has flies on it). She sneezes sometimes. E - Energy - good, highly active, goes outside for several hours, sleeps well. I will play with her with catnip and toys and she’s like a kitten. But playing with a toy triggers her to itch a lot. A - Appetite - good, normally eats really well. We give her our food and she’ll still even hunt to eat more. The only thing is she doesn’t seem to like the TCfeline with the boneless meat and egg yolks. I’ve tried various proteins - pork, etc and she’ll eat it okay at first but then doesn’t want to eat it and I notice she doesn’t eat as much. Same with Viva Raw, she just stopped wanting to eat it but seemed to love it at first. She loves every flavor of Primal nuggets though and likes Steve’s Quest and Nulo cans. I thought maybe it’s the egg york for a food sensitivity…but I’ve also tried making the TCfeline mix without egg yolks and I don’t think it was any different. She also hunts a lot - mice and moles, sometimes chipmunks. M - Mood - very sweet, calm, purrs loudly, rubs on us, happy mainly but does get frustrated with the itching. I’ll hear her do those "huffs," like she breathes out her nose.
- Raw food mainly
- No more vaccines. Been 1-2 years since she’s had one and won’t be doing more. Not on any medication.
- Primary problem is itching, energetic imbalance. She did itch a little last summer but mainly it’s been this year, around March when I started trying to figure it out because she was getting scabs. After months, I noticed she wasn’t just cleaning - it was excessive itching and licking, and scabs on her head/neck weren’t just from ticks or other parasites. (Have never seen red water or dried blood from flea dirt.) But I did notice some itching in the winter as well (last Dec-Feb of this year).
- I have noticed she can be itchier when she comes in late at night which is why I started thinking it was fleas. But that has not been consistent. The itching varies but definitely when she’s excited she itches/licks herself more. A lot of times it’s random. She’ll come in the room and itch, and I worry.
- No diagnostic work has been done.
- Current and previous treatment: In March-April of this year, I did try Dr. Andrew’s bioactive Quercetin for a month because I was thinking it was a food allergy, but it didn’t seem to do anything. She had various scabs on her head/neck/chin that were like dry skin and flaky. Then she was getting ticks so I started using Flea-Ex spray every morning (works on ticks too) before she goes out because scabs were also left from ticks. That did help actually prevent ticks and soothe the skin I think, but it was a pain to do because she would hiss sometimes. Her scabs would go away using that consistently but itching continued. 3-4 weeks ago I used beneficial nematodes (HB+SC+SF) all over the lawn so don't have to worry about it as much. (There are different species of nematodes that target certain parasites.) I now sometimes use an ACV spray since I ran out of the other topical spray. Nothing has totally gotten rid of the scabs/itching or kept it from coming back. I only apply the spray on my hand and rub some on her. I did notice her coat had gotten quite dull with the issue she's been having and combing her often has helped with that a lot (flea comb). She's all silky now. She was also getting some clumps here and there by the base of her tail. That seems to not be a problem anymore. Have tried for the past week using Psorinum 30c daily (again I thought it was fleas) so may stop using that. I have noticed ticks are not attaching to her anymore, nor am I seeing them on myself after going outside. I would just step outside and have one crawling on me. Not sure if it's just the change in season now that it's July.
- Other health concerns: Not really a concern but she prefers to go to the bathroom outside so unfortunately I can’t check her pee & poop. She rarely uses the litter box. She did pee in it recently which was good but haven’t seen her poop in several months. Hopefully that’s all good…(I’ve tried changing the litter and it doesn’t make a difference.)
I don't think it was at all necessary to do the nematodes.I am wondering which skin article I need to read @Dr. Christina? The skin section has several links. And the RescueRemedy - is that just to be applied topically or put in her food? Thank you for your help!
@Dr. Jeff , @Dr. Christina , @Dr. Sara, @Dr. Jean Hofve do you have any thoughts/advice please
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I'm very gentle and intentional with it.
She has been purring. I am curious if this ends up decreasing the itching? Because she won’t really go at it as much when I do. But I know the itching is good…it is a very interesting concept I’m not used to. Eventually the itching would just go away when she is healed, right? Because the energy flow would be all smooth?
I told her that, but she thinks sometimes it doesn't work.
