Hi Goggum

Its sounds as though you are experiencing exactly the same as me. I have been told not to use plastic bowls at all. A friend of my who breed persians has suggested feeding only 'Classic' cat food which is made by 'Butchers'. You can buy it at Pets at Home or most of the major supermarkets, but not Tesco. Anything is worth a try. My vet has also suggested a course of antibiotics for three weeks to try and break the itching/infection cycle. Getting Rosie to take the antibiotics is another matter.

Will keep you updated on progress.

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Well, the plastic bowls are now confined to the cupboard and I have donated a pile of old plates to cat use only. I have tried various dietary things and come to the conclusion that this is probably not a factor. I went back to various single sources of protein in turn - but either my 2 other cats liked it and Polly did not or vice versa. Now I give tuna in the morning and James Wellbeloved hypo allergenic for the rest of the day. I also have been using the Science Plan (or is is Science Diet?) sensitive skin dry food. I have no evidence that any of these do any good and my other cats long for Whiskas.

I will hunt down the 'butchers' food.

Sorry I have no experience of excema in cats however my oldest Rottie suffered from very bad facial excema in July. He had to be knocked out at the vets so they could shave his face and then he had a course of ab's. To help it dry up and stop the itching I used athletes foot powder - it worked a treat. I've also been told that the powder they use on new born babies tummy buttons works well too. I've no idea if these things work on cats but they definitely work on dogs

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I am not sure about the athelete's foot powder. I know you have to be very careful about what you use on a cats skin as they absorb poisons through the skin and what is ok for a dog is very often not suitable for a cat, but thanks anyway. It is coming to crunch time, Rosie had a steroid injection on Saturday and this morning she is scratching like crazy.

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I agree about the powder-i'd do some research on this first as sometimes it clearly works on some breeds but can be dangerous for others. Goggum have you looked into homeopathy remedies? I know i harp a bit about homeopathic stuff but it really can work and it's all natural, be persistent as sometimes it takes a little while to find a remedy that works, but when you do it's worth it Keep us updated please on how you go on and what you and Dana try,thanksGood luck

I am going to give this a try -

"Trovet Hypo-Allergenic single protein and single carbohydrate diets are dietary food for cats with food hypersensitivity.

Cats with food hypersensitivity often suffer from pruritus, bad skin, diarrhoea and/or vomiting, because of an impaired reaction on a food substance.

Giving the cat a food that does not contain any of the ingredients to which the cat is hypersensitive can relieve these symptoms."

I found it after doing a Google search and its available from the Pet Warehouse, its about £16.49 for 3kg. Not cheap but compared to my vet's bills, its peanuts!!

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It was great sadness that I had to have Rosie put to sleep tonight. Her suffering had become too much to bear, I could see the pain in her eyes and I couldnt allow it to go on any longer. Her little face was raw and bleeding and this had to be the worse attack by far.

I feel so sad and so guilty, we had tried so long and hard but she was getting worse and worse and it had got to the point where even the steroids were not working.

Thank you to everyone for your help and advice but at least she is no longer in pain.

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Dana

I am so, so sorry to hear about poor Rosie.
I have a friend who went through exactly the same thing with her Bengal girl. She tried everything, but she also had to have her girl PTS.

I'm so sorry.

So sorry for your loss of Rosie.

I know how you feel, I had to have my lovely Bengal Sienna Pts in Dec due to what sounds like a simular thing. We also tried everything but nothing worked at all.

We had been giving Sienna Steriods daily for months & she had worn a cone collar for the last 3 months of her life. This was no life for a young previously active Bengal.

It is only now that we share our lives with healthy Bengals that we realise what a miserable life she must have had in the end.

With this in mind we should both take comfort that the suffering has ended for our precious cats. Gone but never forgotten.

Even if you don't think its food related, it might be worth having some allergy tests done. My friend had that done for her cat, his symptoms were digestive, but he also had bouts of excema like sores on his back legs. They found he was allergic to yeast - which is in nearly all dry foods and some wet. He was also allergic to some weird stuff like apricots or something he has never eaten. The exclusion of anything yeast in it has made a world of difference.