You & Your Pet by Dr. Wise

Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association 11 South Angell Street #347 · Providence, RI 02906 (877) 521-0103 (866) 277-0238 Toll-Free ·Fax

We have a difficult problem with Kasha, our three-year-old cat.  Her face turns red and itchy and becomes covered with scabs.  The worst spot is in front of her ears.  She's been to the veterinarian numerous times during the past year, but the treatments are not very helpful.  Any suggestions? 

It sounds like you have had a long and trying year.  I sympathize because skin problems can be so frustrating, especially when you've put so much effort into finding a solution.  You could be dealing with a number of different problems.  The first possibility is flea allergy, a skin irritation caused by the saliva of fleas.  This typically shows up as scabs all over the body and hair loss over the back.  You may want to put Kasha on one of the topical flea control products sold by your veterinarian to prevent fleas and eliminate this possibility. 

Other allergens in the environment are a second possible cause of the problem.  Dusts, mold and pollens can cause redness and irritation all over the body.  The allergens -- and the skin irritation -- usually come and go with the seasons.  If they are responsible for Kasha's condition, she should be responding better to the treatment, which probably includes steroid injections and oral medication for any infection.  So I do not believe environmental allergens are the problem.   Food allergies, the third possibility, are a constant, year-round source of irritation to a cat.  They probably are the source of Kasha's misery.  Her failure to respond well to treatment and the fact that the skin irritation is concentrated on her head are also clues pointing to food allergies.  As you can see, tracking symptoms to the guilty allergen takes time. 

You should talk to your veterinarian about putting Kasha through a food trial.  That is, feediing her a diet she has never had and monitoring her reaction.  Your veterinarian can provide directions for a homemade diet or you can purchase a prescription diet.  She may, for example, recommend that you feed Kasha rabbit and rice food (or even just rabbit) and nothing else for eight weeks.   Whatever the food it is, it must not be similar to anything she has eaten in the past.  If the trial works as expected you will find a considerable decrease in her itchiness.  The allergens will be out of her system.  If you find a particular food that works well for Kasha, she will need to stay on this food for the rest of her life. 

There are also other causes of the symptoms you describe.   These include various types of mites (even ear mites), as well as bacterial, fungal and yeast infections.  Your veterinarian can perform specific tests on your cat to identify these conditions.  Less commonly, diseases of the immune system such as feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) can cause facial itching in cats.

This information, prepared as a public service by the Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association, answers problems Rhode Island veterinarians currently are seeing in their practices, as well as new developments in animal care.