Question:
I adopted 2 cats from SPCA about 1 1/2 months ago. The younger one, Sabrina is always licking the skin on her belly, in fact, I found 2 places where she licked so much, the hair and outer skin are taken off. I took her to the vet and the vet gave her some antibiotics and pills for the itchness. The vet also gave her a head collar. After she finished all the meds I took the head collar off and she started licking again. The vet gave her Program topical spot on meds for flea & ticks, so it shouldn't be fleas or ticks. There are no black coffee ground matter in her ears so it shouldn't be mites (or can it be other forms of mites?). They both have dandruff when I took them home. At first I thought it was food allergy so I changed it to IAMS for active mature cats. Now, not only Sabrina licks her belly, my other cat, Mama, sometimes bites her own skin and pulls out hair. Can anyone help me???
Valerie

Answer:
vgheng79.Iams is not the best of food,not since the company was taken over and it became grocery-store cat-food.Also they have a terrible reputation on testing,but that is another story.
One of my cats,easily stressed,started licking off his fur on his tummy and his backlegs,the vet gave me Variton cream,which has an antihistamine(sp?)and a soothing effect and his hair quickly grew back.
He still does it on occasions,but then I reapply the cream and he's ok again.
There are lots of goodcat-foods out there like, Nutro,Wellness,Chicken-soup-for-pet-lovers soul,Royal Canin,Eagle Pack, etc...but they are not available in grocery-stores only pet-supply stores.
Ps,I never used a head-collar on him,the cream stopped him from licking..

Answer:
Chico gave you great advice. I would not use the collar either, as this will increase the cats' stress and make her lick more. Your cats came from the SPCA, and the stress there is probably what started the licking, and it's now become habit. I suggest you get a product called Rescue Remedy to try on them. I believe you can this in most health food stores, and it's very easy to administer.

Try switching to one of the foods chico mentioned, and give it a couple months to see if there is improvement.

Many cats I've seen who eat IAMS or Science diet have dandruff and are often obese.

Answer:
What about Purina One or Cat Chow? I am going back to Hong Kong soon and decide to bring my 2 cats. I don't know if they sell those high quality cat food there. Are there any good grocery store or pet store cat food? Thanks

Answer:
Vcheng...Anything Purina is junk!! There is no good quality cat-food in the grocery-store..
I don't know where you are now,but there are many Pet-supply stores around,Pet-Value,Pet-Smart,Super Pet etc...
I am sure you can find good food even in Hong Kong having been a formerly British sort of colony.As far as I know unlike Mainland China it is very Cosmopolitan and still a booming city(I could be wrong )and probably sells much of what is available elsewhere.
Cheap cat-food will be more expensive in the long run,in the form of vet-bills and obese cats and we all know obesity causes a lot of health-problems.
I would also question why the vet put your cat on antibiotics,it seems to be"I-don't-know-whats-wrong?"medicin for any problems..

Answer:
You were right Chico about the vet. I asked her if it's mites she said it doesn't look like so but it's best to do a skin scrape. But then she said she could give her Program for treatment, I realize later that it only kills fleas and ticks not mites. I asked her what's causing the itchness, she said I should let my cat finish the meds and see how it goes. Not that she has finished the antibiotics and the pills for itchness, she's still licking. There are 2 other spots that are blad, I put the collar back on (I didn't know it's a bad idea until yesterday you guys told me) and now the 2 spots are healing. I am just wondering, would taking her to a bath help?

Answer:
I am just wondering, would taking her to a bath help?
NO. If you look at this from the cats' perspective, it's easy to see why they are so hyper.

They were dumped from their own home - maybe the only home they had ever known, and stuck in the SPCA which is a terrifying place for most animals.

You adopted them and brought them to yet another strange place. They should have immediately gone into one room to start, as they are overwhelmed with their new space. They are fearful and nervous, and start licking themselves much the way we might bite our nails, or twirl our hair when we are nervous.

Then they go to the vet, stressing yet more. They need some outlet for this stress, so they release it on each other. People do this too.

If you do yet something else to them - a bath - this will make things worse.

If they have no parasites or any physical reason for the licking and itching, I would just start over and use the introduction method I outlined.

Answer:
When you say I should put them in one room, should I put them in my bedroom or in a separate room? How long should I put them in there? I put them in the kitchen (linked with dinning room) for the first 2 weeks, but they were so eager to come out. Everytime I go into the kitchen or come out, they would try to go around me and run into the living room.

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I would put them in a room such as a spare bedroom that isn't used much and put their scratching posts, water, food, toys, and whatever else they need in with them and come in a few times a day to feed them and cuddle them.

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I went to Petcetera today and bought a pack of Nutro Max Cat for Senior. I just started introducing them the new food. Seems like both of them like the taste of it. I hope this will really help their skin problem. Thanks everyone

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