Every year, without fail, in August, the scabs re appear, the excessive licking begins, the blood splatters appear and the tufts of pulled out hair scatter the house. Charlie, my male cat, is allergic to summer.
We've never known any different, ever since we adopted him from the RSPCA years ago, it has occurred. It'll last 3 or so months and then just as if it didn't exist, bam! it's gone.
So, is he really allergic to summer? The truth is, we don't know and neither does the vet. We take him every year for an anti inflammatory injection, which we're never sure if it really helps, hoping that the sores and the bald patches that reveal red raw skin underneath will heal. It truly is horrible to watch him go through it every year, knowing that there's really not a great deal that we can do to help.
Today we'll take him again, paying the excessive and unnecessary cost that is the vet who will charge us £40 to tell us he doesn't know quite why it's happening to him (again) and then charge us on top of that for the injection (which is all we really want). Not that I resent paying for my cat, as a pet owner that is my responsibility, but seriously do the vets need to charge so much? Especially so, when they know they can't really help. It's a little excessive I feel.
But besides from my feelings towards veterinary costs, here's hoping that one year Charlie the cat wont have to battle through his unknown allergies!
Do your pets have any seasonal allergies?
Cat in the sink!
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Awh, poor babe! My cat has something similar, we reckon it's why she was abandoned all those years ago - between March & September each year, she bites herself raw and bloody in places for a reason that vets rationalise as an allergy to grass. She has to have steroid injections because of it, and it costs my parents a fortune! x
ReplyDeleteMy cat has the same problem but it's always when the humid weather comes, she's a British Shorthair so her fur is very dense which makes these allergies even worst... Our vet gave her an antibiotic and the allergy came back, we tried so many things and one day the vet finally found the perfect treatment! Every time the little scabs reappear we apply on them a cream that it's called Nizoral and it's formula contains cetoconazol, you can easily find a cream like this on pharmacies. It takes the itchy feeling away and after a few days the scabs go away completely. No unnecessary visits to the vet, no more awful antiobiotics and to be honest I feel like Lily doesn't even notice that she's having the allergy/virus again. I really hope this helps, I know how awful it can be... Hope Charlie gets better soon! xxx
ReplyDeleteMy cat gets a swollen lower lip in the summer which he'll often then rub on things until it's scabby and bleeds. Our vets are similarly flummoxed and while they know it's an allergy, they say it's pretty impossible to work out what's causing it, especially given that he's a house cat. We wash his lip with salt water if it gets scrubby to help clean it, and that certainly helps it clear up sooner. Fortunately his flare ups seem to be getting fewer as he gets older, which the vet did tell us is often the case with cat allergies. x
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