The first time it happened, I assumed for months that it was stress about the introduction of Legba into the household--and tried Rescue Remedy--but it turned out to be demodex mites (probably carried in by Legba).
The second time, I assumed it was a recurrence of the mites and a round of ivermectin did fix him up, which seemed like a good supporting argument. This time, though, there no mites in his stool and the vet is pretty convinced it's an allergic reaction to SOMETHING (as were the people at the vet school, actually). The general consensus of vets I've seen has been that a cat who grooms as obsessively as he does, all the time, is almost certainly having a physiological reaction to something, although we're just trying a hypoallergenic diet first because food allergies are more common and it's cheaper than blood testing for other kinds of allergies (and they don't have blood testing for food allergies).
Since the root causes seem to be different in these different cases, my guess would be that he just has "sensitive skin" much as some people do, and is thus more likely to suffer from a variety of causes--the demodex never bothered Legba or Pandora, for instance.
Also, Bart and Dora actually get along very well. She likes him because as far as she's concerned, he's always existed--I got her as a tiny kitten after I already had Bart. She just doesn't deal well with new cats.
I got that book you recommended, btw. I'm trying the thing where you rub their cheeks with socks!
The second time, I assumed it was a recurrence of the mites and a round of ivermectin did fix him up, which seemed like a good supporting argument. This time, though, there no mites in his stool and the vet is pretty convinced it's an allergic reaction to SOMETHING (as were the people at the vet school, actually). The general consensus of vets I've seen has been that a cat who grooms as obsessively as he does, all the time, is almost certainly having a physiological reaction to something, although we're just trying a hypoallergenic diet first because food allergies are more common and it's cheaper than blood testing for other kinds of allergies (and they don't have blood testing for food allergies).
Since the root causes seem to be different in these different cases, my guess would be that he just has "sensitive skin" much as some people do, and is thus more likely to suffer from a variety of causes--the demodex never bothered Legba or Pandora, for instance.
Also, Bart and Dora actually get along very well. She likes him because as far as she's concerned, he's always existed--I got her as a tiny kitten after I already had Bart. She just doesn't deal well with new cats.
I got that book you recommended, btw. I'm trying the thing where you rub their cheeks with socks!
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment