Two cats showing similar symptoms ?

Question

Hi

I have two cats showing similar symptoms and wondered what it could be, they are both about 15 years old, one female and the other her son.

They seem to be aggitated sometimes, scrathing their ears and shaking their heads alot, and dont like their ears being touched at all, they also seem to be licking themselves constantly, something they never have done before, they also scratch their throats also on occasions.

Both do exactly the same and seem to have bigger appetites as well, specially in the morning, I thought maybe it was ear mites so I treated with frontline all my cats but 3 weeks down the line still the same behavior, any ideas ?

Both cats are neutered since 1 year of age, they have no bald patches or any sign of irritation on the skin anywhere, coats are in very good condition, they are fed a mixture of dry food and wet food everyday.

Answer 1

It is very possibly ear mites and might need a different treatment than frontline. Call your vet for advice.

Answer 2

You know, I just happened to have a cat mange problem
and what that is is head mites- sarcoptic mange.
They start at ears, eyes, you might find small bumps but not necessarily.
There will be hair loss.
The mites are not easily seen in skin scrapings.
Treatment is an ivermactin injection, weekly or every two weeks for a month, and revolution to keep the mites from coming back. Mites don't live long off the host, but quickly spread to other cats.
All cats in your home should be treated with revolution even if no symptoms.
You can get them too- (I didn't) but they will die in two-three weeks as you are a "dead-end" host. The cat isn't.
The mites spread down around the neck, and can travel all over the body if left untreated.
Sarcoptic mange is one of the most misdiagnosed ailments.
The mite is really hard to see in slides, so vets diagnose skin allergies.
Hope this helps.

Answer 3

They are both old cats, and old cats are a bit more prone to some problems than younger ones.

I don't think the Frontline would do anything for the mites: I'm not sure, though.

Do they go outside? It could be that they've picked up parasites.

Another thing you might want to consider is possible food allergies. Try switching to a food with fewer artificial ingredients and preservatives.

If that doesn't work, take them for a check-up.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Ear mites and fleas, take them to the vet to treat the ear mites and buy some flea drops (like Frontline or Advantage) After a few months of flea treatment you won't see any fleas.

They may also have some secondary skin infections from scratching, your vet can give you some antibiotics to clear that up as well.

Answer 5

I have a feeling you are feeding them dry food and your cats have developed allergies to some of the ingrediants.

Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health
Contrary to what you may have heard, dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.
Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. The problems with it are that they are loaded with carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process. Most of the moisture a cat needs is gotten
out of the food and 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Also, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.
You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all. Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods.Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Please read about cat nutrition.
http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics.html

Answer 6

I recon a trip to the vet is in order. You probibly only need to take one, as they both are exibiting the same simptoms. There might be a littie worm, tic or mite involved if itching is occuring. Check to see if any bleeding occurs because of the scratching. Wash them down if need be. There is a thing called 'Kitten Acne', where cats get this black dirt stuff under their chin (perfectly normal in most cases, however more serious cases result in larger areas that are affected). Look closely at the ears. Get a multi de-wormer. Maybe the cats need shots. Are they Desexed? Aids is more common that you would think with cats.

Anyway, im no expert but that might be of some assistance. At any rate, it bleeding occurs, see your vet.
Josh