Fear and Twitching - Please Help

[.:C:.]

My kitty, Meeka, is about 3 now. She recently has had some symptoms that are making me very worried. I have brought her to the vet, and they said it was just a flea problem. So I bought the Advantage, and it took care of that, however, she seems to be getting worse with the other symptoms she had, but they were just associating them with fleas. She seems to have body twitches. Mostly in her lower body. She will keep licking and licking as much as she can on her lower back, and her paws. I can't even touch her on her lower back now cause she has some sort of reaction. She will start chewing and licking her front paws/legs frantically it seems. She does it like it is a reaction to me touching her there...if I take my hand off, she stops, put it back on she starts again. Even when I am not touching her she has these licking episodes. She also seems afraid sometimes when she is walking around. She will look like she is unsure of where she steps, and sometimes jump like a bug just jumped at her or something. There has been a couple times she has somewhat attacked me, where she just wants to keep biting me no matter what. This biting isn't just that she wants to play...it's different. She is still eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom. I have another appointment set up for her to go to the vet, but it isn't until another 3 days. If anyone has any idea what this could be, good or bad, please reply to this. I am really worried, and I just need some clarification.

[Traci]

Get your kitty to a new vet and opt for a skin scrape/culture to rule out all external parasites or mites, etc. Also rule out sensitivity to the Advantage (rare), and rule out misapplication of it.

Hyperesthesia is another possibility, but maybe unlikely due to the suddeness of the symptoms. I would first rule out external parasites, go from there.

[.:C:.]

The symptoms really have not come on suddenly. By now it has almost been an whole month since I noticed this, and took her to the vet for it. Within the last week, it has seemed like it is getting worse. Poor little Meeka seems so miserable. She had these symptoms, not as severe, before the application of the advantage....the advantage really helped her with the fleas, so I think that is pretty much ruled out. She is a black and white kitty, and I have noticed a lot of white specs, looks like dandruff. Looking at her skin, it looks normal. I am not sure if I can just see the dander cause she is black, or what. I am just confused! Could it be neurological? Or some sort of nerve damage?

[Traci]

Since she is 3 years old, and since the first of the symptoms occured last month, this would seem to me a 'sudden' incidence. If your vet felt that a flea allergy dermatitis was a culprit, that was the reason he suggested the Advantage, in the event you had been using something else as a flea topical. Regardless of the topical used, regardless of it's effectiveness, your kitty could still be suffering a flea allergy, sometimes these conditions do not clear up right away despite flea control. Even one flea can cause an induced allergy and her whole system can react to it negatively (like a histamine reaction)

This is why I suggest a skin scrape and/or culture to rule in or out a flea allergy dermatitis, or another cause altogether (i.e., mites, fungal disease, other skin problems). One could go so far as to use an advanced allergy screening if fleas and mites are ruled out, such as screening for food sensitivities/allergens, fungals, environmental allergies.

You can also take a more reserved approach and discuss kitty's diet with your vet, on the offchance she is developing a sensitivity to it, or allergic to an ingredient. Also ask him about adding EFA's (essential fatty acids) to the diet if the diet is not a premium or if it's a store-brand food.

If your kitty is by chance overweight and cannot reach her back or other areas in which to groom, that could be one reason for the dandruff, could also be the diet, could also be seasonal (shedding), as in dry air in the home, more heat and less moisture in the environment.

Hyperesthesia is a possibility that may be hard to explain. It is usually of an idiopathic origin (of unknown cause), and after ruling out all other causes of skin allergies, etc, may yet be something to look futher into. It is usually a condition prompted by external stimuli, such as sound or touch/feel, and rarely caused by nerve problems. A simple neurological exam would probably rule out nerve disfunctions or a trauma-induced nerve deficit.