Two months ago I brought puck to the vet because he had over-groomed himself to the point of having a bald spot on his back and the inside of his legs. She suggested he was allergic to fleas, even though she could find none on him. She gave him an antibiotic and a steroid which I was hesitant about accepting but I saw little options while I was in the vet’s office. I thought I would allow it one time but I would not have it be a regular form of treatment like it was for Tigger, who had recurrent mouth infections, until he died at the age of eight.
The problem got a little better and his fur grew back somewhat but he was still over-grooming and the bald spot never fully went away. Recently it has gotten worse again and I don’t want to subject Puck to another traumatic vet visit just to have him put on drugs that may or may not help in the short-term but will almost definitely harm him in the long-term.
My other options are to leave it alone, try to find a solution myself, or find a holistic vet which is rare near me. I could only find one holistic vet near me but she has no office and only makes house calls which may be over my budget at this time.
Update: I forgot to include a link to the original story, Puck’s Vet Adventure.
Bad Cat Chris 
Have been battling a skin problem here with Doc for over a month..hence my lack of blogging as we are all pooped..a trip to the vet each week for the past four weeks..no hair loss but itching like crazy and red and sore..on and off his food..we started with diet change..then herbals and meds and on and on and mange shots ( not mange as it turns out ) so i feel for you..i hope Puck gets some answers..my sisters cat has the same and it is a kidney thing so may be worth checking out..always something..poor baby 😦
switching food might be a good idea. Perhaps I will try that when I am out.
Yeah elimination is always one way to start…:)
I’ve read it could be a kidney thing – I’ve read that it could be a “tail gland” thing – allergies are often the culprit….sadly it could be one of MANY things. Can’t blame you for wanting to avoid steroids though……maybe there’s something holistic/herbal that would help. I guess you’ve tried googling to find out? There are so many things available these days.
Good luck……….Pam
Thanks Pam. I will try adjusting their diet to see if that helps.
Hope you can figure out the mystery!
Mom says it’s so frustrating when the vets don’t have answers for us. Hope you figure something out soon.
I guess vets are only human. I don’t think badly of them for mistakes but I also don’t fully trust their opinion either,
we are currently having this issue with Mozart (why the house panther…why???) mom is hoping something just made him upset and he will start getting better….however he has a vet visit due in November so we shall see
Be cautious if they prescribe steroids or antibiotics without an endgame in sight.
Ugh! I hate when a medical problem doesn’t have any clear-cut diagnosis! It could be allergy. It could even be stress over… who knows what? I hope it gets figured out so Puck stops over grooming.
Thanks. It is frustrating but at least he doesn’t seem overly bothered by it.
We hope you find out very soon what it is and how to help Puck. Purrs
Thank you. 🙂
He could be allergic to something in his food. Prancie was always doing this too and I ended up getting her allergy food from the vet. Once I switched to a grain free food I gave it to her and she hasn’t had that problem. There are a lot of limited ingredient diets available at the pet store that you could try him on. Also, we used to give her a low dose of kid Benadryl that helped, you would need to check the dose with the vet though. Good luck.
I think I will try another food when I buy again. I recently switched their food but I think I switched after the problem started. I can’t remember but I will switch back. If that doesn’t work I will try a different food.
It definitely could be a food allergy. Have you fed him anything different lately? Our vet says beef is a likely suspect. Ernie has had reactions to beef. It could also be an environmental allergy. That’s the thing about allergies…it’s really tough to pinpoint the exact cause. Last of all, it could be behavioral if Puck is feeling any stress. You could try giving him something like Rescue Remedy. ~Island Cat Mom
The vet thinks it is not food related but who knows. It started around the time we moved.