Unhealthy Cat, please help

[Joshlaur]

Hello, I have an 11 year old 15 pound tabby that has been with my family since we adopted him in Japan when he was 6. At the time he was 24 pounds and had a hard time keeping food down.
The problem that we have been having since we moved back from Japan seems to be skin related. He has a lot of dry skin that causes him to be twitchy and a few times a day he goes into fits where he washes his back or knaws on his arms. During these fits he is constantly falling off of the chairs or rolling down the stairs, but he just keeps knawning no matter how far he falls or what is going on oround him he dosen't stop untill he is tired. From time to time he draws blood when he is biting during these "fits" and even has a few bald spots where he will pull out all the fur during a single fit leaving little red sores untill they heal, and the fur grows back.
At the recommendation the vet we found here we tried switching him to a more oily cat food to try to fix his dry skin, but it bothered his stomach to much, so we had to switch before we could really tell if it was working. He is now on the fourth different food in 18 months so it dosen't seem to be a food alleregy.
It all started after we moved back from Japan. He was really stressed by the Plane trip and came down with a cold immedeatly afterwards. Ever since then he has had these problems. I am woundering if it may be stress/neuro related.
I am in the process of trying to find a more cat-centric vet since the first vet we found didn't even suggest running tests of any kind and even after witnessing on of the fits, only suggested a diet change. Any Ideas?

[boxofmuses]

I have a fluffy white cat that had this problem. He constantly gnawed on his tail until it bled and he would all of a sudden spaz out and roll all over the place.

He does that because he's reacting to the exruticating itch on his back especailly near his tail. There is nothing wrong with his nervous system even though it looks like it.

As for his skin problem it could be any number of different things.

What I did was give him a warm bath once in a while to relive the irritating red bloody skin and that helped relive the skin problem. We also found out that if we let our cat eat grass in the back yard the problems get much much better.

When was the last time your cat has been outside to enjoy lush green grass? If never or barely you might want to let him out. If that's not possible, try planting some grass seeds in a pot and let it grow next to your cat's food and water dish.

Here's an article for more info:

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/wheatgrass.html

[Traci]

See a new vet immediately, get parasites/mites ruled out and opt for a skin scrape and/or culture (painless procedure).

I would have agreed with your first vet about dietary change, but am wondering what diets exactly you've tried, were they strictly hypoallergenic only, and for what amount of time were they tried? The diet should be one of only novel protein sources, or, that it contains only a protein source kitty has never been exposed to.

Since your kitty is 11 years old, I would advise a full bloodwork panel...any kitty over the age of 7 should have this done on an annual or bi-annual basis. The constant grooming could be indicative of pain response to a hidden health condition as well.

Don't wait any longer, get kitty to an experienced vet immediately and opt for testing.

[Joshlaur]

I was thinking that parasites/infection might be the problem, however we actually have 3 cats and he is the only one with this problem, so I figured that it isn't transmittable. Thank you for the advise. I will let you know if I find anything out.

[Traci]

Well, I strongly recommend a skin scrape and culture, it may not be parasites at all, but could be a fungal problem that has gone undetected all this time. Again, since he is 11, best to get full blood profiling done for him to ensure he is not suffering from one or more hidden illnesses that are common in older cats.