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Two nights ago, we noticed a huge chuck of fur missing from the back of Tabitha's neck. We thought that it either fell out or was pulled out by one of our other cats while playing a bit too rough. We found her patch of fur on the bed with pieces of claw stuck in it. Her skin was bare, so hubby had rubbed a little fish oil on her neck in order to help her skin not get too dry. Unfortunately, this only served to make her lick at her bare spot even more and by the end of the night, her skin was red and irritated.
Worried that, among other things, her skin would develop an infection or worse, I called the vet the next morning and we took her to see Dr. Heather Westfall at Eagle's Peak Animal Clinic that evening. Dr. Heather examined the area where her fur was missing, and told us that this definitely was not due to a cat fight or rough play. Instead, she said that she believes it is the result of a type of skin disease which some cats tend to get sometimes, but she had to perform some further tests to know for sure. In the meantime, she clipped Tabitha's back claws so that she could not scratch at herself so much and she gave her an antibiotic injection called "convenia" which is a wonderful alternative to pills. The shot is effective for up to about two weeks' time.
She also had us drop off a fecal sample to be analyzed. If her skin gets worse, she suggested steroids as the next step, or we could have a biopsy done as well. She said to see what happens after the convenia takes hold in her system and then we will go from there. We have been using our humidifier in the house as well in an attempt to help moisten the air which is so horribly dry this time of the year.
As for our other kitties, we decided that while we were at the vet, we would pick up something called "Dasuquin for Cats" for Mr. Midnight's arthritis. These are capsules made with all natural ingredients and formulated especially for a cat's biological make-up and metabolism. The main ingredient is Glucosamine Hydrochloride which aids in cartilage production, while ASU also acts synergistically with glucosamine. The capsules come apart very easily and contain the powdered ingredients to be added and mixed in with your cats food. Mr. Midnight's is natural chicken and tuna flavored as well.
We also refilled Kiki's allergy medication, Hydroxyzine, which so far has been working rather well for her.
(Mr. Midnight, hubby, Haley, & Kiki)
