How to help a cat with sensitive skin?

My baby is about 4 years old and has always had problems with her allergies. She's had runny eyes since I got her at one year old. I don't think she was born a very healthy kitten because she is rather tiny as well.





Since we moved from a 9th floor condo to a house with a giant yard her skin has gotten 100 times worse. We did have a small flea outbreak but I keep them away with frontline once a month. But still the poor girl is scratching almost 50% of the time when she is awake. She has horrible scabs around her neck and around her tail and her back is incredibly sensitive to the touch.





I want to add that she is my only pet with this terrible problem. I hate to see my darling suffer, has anyone had any success with relieving skin problems? We feed her NutroMax dry food. I would like to try to stay away from shots at the vet and try to get to the root of the problem.How to help a cat with sensitive skin?
You must take her to the vet. Since you love her so much you dont want her to go through shots. Take her to several vets. The right one for you will want to do a skin graph to see the exact root of the problem, if its an allergy or skin disorder. She might very well be allergic to anything she now comes in contact with at the yard. Regretfuly only corticoid based remedies are a fast solution but not a permanent one to maintain for the cats health. Anti allergic shampoo and lotions could be a go.. but we`re talking water and kitty. GOOD LUCKHow to help a cat with sensitive skin?
Poor baby! Try giving her the Omega 3 fish oil stuff in the gel caps. Just pucture the gel with a pin and squirt it into the food and mix in well. I have a cat, my tuxedo Pookie, who also has very sensitive skin and flea allergies. The gel worked great with him. I also give him children's liquid vitamins in a very small quantity which I also mix into his food. His coat is so glossy and beautiful now! He sure does love that fish oil stuff, and whenever he sees the vitamin bottle, he just gets all excited. He knows it's chow time, I guess!





Try this cat food: Innova Evo. It's expensive, but worthwhile.





You may have to keep your poor baby inside, but it's better than seeing her suffer.
I have a cat that we thought for many months had an allergy of some sort. The vet checked him out and we were told that the root of the problem is that our cat is easily stressed. You see during stressful events (like a move to a new place) he would stress so badly that he would scratch and lick until he had almost no hair on his hind quarters. I was so worried and thought we would never find a solution. Turns out there is this product called Feliway...you can type it in to Google and you can get a description of it. It is like a Glade Plug-In but it releases a ';Happy Cat Hormone'; that reduces stress. My babys hair is back and he is healthy as ever The product isnt cheap but it works...search around on different sites to get the best deal...





PS I felt the same way about shots and vet visits...it just puts them through more stress.
There is something a lot of people don't think about. The chemicals we use. Our cats are close to the floor, they walk and lay on the floors. Think about the cleansers you use. Most people don't think their cats can be bothered by that stuff, but if you think about it, it makes sense. I learned a long time ago about what not to have in the house due to my asthma and allergies. And with Thomas having asthma, I am even more careful. We do not allow certain things in our home, like perfumes, aerosol sprays, strong cleansers, stuff like that.
You could try bathing her with a shampoo from the vet that is designed for skin issues. But first, I would have the vet do a skin scraping to make sure she does not have some kind of mite problem.





The next thing I would do, is put her on a presciption diet that does not include corn. I would hazard a guess that corn is responsible for a good 75% of allergy issues in cats.





The suggestion about Omega 3 Fatty Acid capsules is a good one, but I would wait until you have your cat on the corn free food for at least two weeks. You should be able to see a change by then.





A short course of prednisone will help her heal, and give the diet a chance to kick in and let her body start to work again.





Your mention of her running eyes leads me to believe she may have the herpes virus. This is not deadly at all, but is very annoying for the cat. I would suggest getting some Lysine powder or capsules, and putting a 500mg dose in a quart of water, then using that to fill her bowl. Lysine will help boost her immune system. She may be stressed from the move and that would cause an outbreak of the herpes.





I would ask your vet about an auto immune disorder called pemphigus. This can result in the type of scabbing and sores that you describe, and is related to other immune disorders.





At a guess, I would say it is diet related, and compounded by stress. The prescription chow and prednisone may get her back on the path to a better quality of life.





Good luck!
if you don't bath her i would start....you may be able to get something at your local pet shop or a groomers....if you can find a holistic pet supplier than i would go to them to see if they can give you something.....you may want to take her to the vet though to see if they can give you something like a cream or shampoo...they would be able to tell you what is causing the problem and help you fix it...