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	Rescue Cat who is Scratching Herself Q: I have a rescue cat approx 7 years old, black and white short hair. When she came to me approx 3 years ago she was scratching her face and head so badly that she was almost bald above and below both eyes. Our local vet thinks that she has eczema. When it got so bad that she was always bleeding, the vet gave her a steroid injection and it calmed down. I also stopped giving her dried food which I thought might be irritating her face. For quite a while she has been fine but now she has started scratching herself until she bleeds again. This time it is more under her chin and behind her ears........is there anything I can do to reduce her obvious discomfort and/or is there any way I can find out what the trigger is? Thanks on behalf of Lucy

A: Dear June, I am sorry to hear about Lucy's discomfort. Something is obviously driving her mad to have her scratch herself so hard. It is strange that she was well for so long and now it has suddenly flared up again. It could be an allergy to something - is there anything that you have started doing, or using, or feeding again that you were doing before when she was bad ?? It can be very, very difficult to pinpoint the cause of an allergy, in dogs we can do blood tests, but these are not perfected yet in cats. Certainly food allergies can cause facial irritation - it might be worth trying her on a hypoallergenic diet - your vet could advise you on that. It needs to be something she has never had before. I have known some cats to react very badly to ear mites - it would be worth having your vet check her ears for any problems. Also make sure that there is no problem in her mouth. There are various immune system problems that can affect cats faces, but they are also difficult to diagnose definitely. Steroids certainly work well to calm down irritation, but should only be used if really needed due to the side-effects long term. You could try a Buster collar { like a plastic bucket on her head } temporarily, to make her leave herself alone. Cats hate them initially, but it would stop her for a while to see if it will settle. Your vet could refer you to a dermatologist to try to get to the underlying cause. Hope this helps, Maeve Moorcroft MVB MRCVS
{ PetPlanet Vet }

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