Cat's persistent skin/scratching problems

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werito
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Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2021 3:49 am

Cat's persistent skin/scratching problems

Post by werito »

My 3 year old cat has been having very serious skin issues for over two months now.
It all started very suddenly. One morning I was feeding the cats (there are 5 in the house, all siblings of the same age) I noticed that he had a big, rectangular shaped wound between his shoulder blades. It wasn't bleeding a lot but it was definitely deep. At first I thought he might have gone out during the night and gotten stuck somewhere and scrapped himself but looking closer it was shaped so symmetrical that I also thought maybe a neighbor might have caught him and hurt him, I don't know I was very worried and paranoid. Anyway, I took him to the vet and they gave him a shot with antibiotic and analgesic, told me to clean the wound at home a couple times a day until it healed. I did, and it took about 10 days to completely heal. Then as soon as the scab fell off, I woke up the next day to find him with another scratch again, just above the one before, at the nape of his head. Took him to the vet again, same thing. I was starting to get frustrated, had been browsing the internet for causes and treatments and all sorts of things. I decided that I'd change doctor if it happened again and when it did a week later when he scratched yet even higher, again as soon as the would healed, I did. This vet took some samples of his open scratches and of the skin healed from previous ones, cleaned his ears, gave him spot on treatment because he had fleas that I hadn't realized he had and gave him oral treatment for parasites. He observed the skin samples on microscope right away and said he couldn't find the anything that indicated it was a mycosis but still gave him something for both bacteria and fungi. Also an anti inflammatory. He sent us home with antibiotics and steroids for the week. It sort of helped, I could see the scratches healing nicely and he didn't scratch as often and intensely but he was still opening new wounds. At the end of the week we went back to the clinic, and the antibiotics were suspended as he wasn't showing infection symptoms but they still gave us the steroids. I decided to not give him the last 3 pills because it seemed to make him dizzy. Anyway, he just won't stop scratching. I'm considering trimming his claws or giving him a colloid bath, I frankly don't know what to do. Currently I'm cleaning his wounds with Clorehxin every 24 hours and I made him a sort of vest so he can't get at his neck/upper back with his claws. I've considered that's maybe an allergy but I don't think any of the vets in the town do those sort of tests. I know it's not anything contagious because all the other cats are fine. He still eats and drinks water and goes to the bathroom as normal, it really is just the scratching problem. So far he's scratched from between his shoulders to his face and under his chin. If anybody has any advice I'd appreciate it a lot thank you.
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