Cat Dandruff???

[lealea4435]

Hi, i recently noticed that my cat has really bad flakey dandruff at the base of her back near to her tail.. on closer inspection there were a large amount of black bits (looks like flea eggs) even thou the cat was recently treated with frontline all her skin around this area had thick flakes of skin and some small cuts with fresh blood on them. my cat wont let anyone touch this area of her back and often either bites herself or who ever is touching her when you get close to the area... I searched the rest of her and there are no other eggs nor fleas... not sure if this is related but she has had some behavioural problems in the past few months of poo-ing and wee-ing in places other than her litter tray especially on towels if left lying round?

any help would be appreciated

[Kay]

Just because you can't see the fleas doesn't mean they aren't there. The black bits are flea dirt. Have you sprayed your home with a household flea spray like Acclaim or Stay Kill? If you don't do this then any eggs that are around the home will hatch out and the fleas will once agin attack your cat. The bleeding is due to her gnawing at the irratation set up by flea bites. The white flakes are probably due to an allergic reaction to the fleas. Along with the Frontline you can also use Capstar which is a tablet that kills 100% of the adult fleas on your cat with in 24 hours. It starts illing within 20 mins.

[angieh]

Can I just say about Capstar - it works very well, but only kills the adult fleas as Kay says, not the larvae or eggs. It can also be quite distressing to watch your cat whilst it is working, if you aren't prepared.

In some areas of the country Frontline no longer works. My vet now recommends Advantage or Stronghold spot on. I would ask your vet and also, as Kay says, use a good household flea spray too.

Good luck getting rid of the little b*****s.

[lealea4435]

I dont think it is fleas, or at least I hope not.. I am going to treat both the cats and the house again this weekend... its just strange that its only in one area on one of my cats like a large oval shape on the base of her spine. i cant help but think those flea dirt pieces are trapped within the flakey skin from before I last treated them... I'm more worried about the condition of her skin, the scabs have healed but she is still very freaked out about anyone touching that part of her back even when you stroke her from head to tail... when you get to the base of her spine she either bites or licks what ever is in front of her or turns and bites and licks herself?

I'm baffled?

[Kay]

She could have an allergic reation to the Frontline. Angel a reaction to it and kept gnawing and biting herself. My vet gave her a steriod jab and it cleared up. I use program suspension now.

My vet told me the reason Frontline is not working as well as it used to is because the chemicals are now being used in wider circles primarily agricultural and because of this a level of ammunity on the part of the fleas is developing.

[lealea4435]

Thanks Kay that might be more likely cause I have been using frontline on her since she was a kitten... I will try a different flea treatment from the vet tomorrow see if that makes her any better...

I have heard that giving her wet food and shampooing the cat may also help (from other sites) and I doubt I would get out alive if i bathed her and she isnt keen on wet foods? but will defo give another flea treatment ago... anyone have any good suggestions for good flea treatment... not to sure about the Capstar if it is distressing to watch the cat... I'm a big wimp when it comes to cats in pain

[Kay]

Stronghold or Advocate are excellent. Capstar isn't to be used on its on but alongside these other treatments as it only kills the adult fleas. The cat just goes a bit mad for about half an hour after been given the Capstar. They just itch madly as it starts to work but that soon wears off, the cat isn't in pain.

Shampooing may easy the itching and would possibly get rid of some of the flakes but if you didn't rinse thoroughly then you would end up with dried soap flakes in the coat as well.

[angieh]

Yes, the Capstar doesn't hurt the cat, but the fleas wriggle about madly as they die and it itches (or so I believe)!

[Kay]

Yes, the Capstar doesn't hurt the cat, but the fleas wriggle about madly as they die and it itches (or so I believe)!

You mean you've never tried it, Angie??? :-D

[angieh]

:-D :-D :-D

Not personally, no! But I had to use it once on Merlin. I'd taken him to the vet twice and knew he had fleas, but the vet didn't find any on him - dark coated cat, so I had to take my own action. Got rid of the fleas with Capstar, Acclaim and those sticky lint rollers.

[Kay]

Did the lint rollers work well? Never thought of using them but I guess with my Persians it may pull a bit!!

[angieh]

Sorry, didn't explain that very well! I used the lint roller daily to clean Merlin's bedding, to get rid of eggs and larvae. I would have used a flea comb, but Merlin was too old and thin at that stage and it would have hurt him.

[Kay]

Thank goodness for that as I had a pic in my head of you rolleriing poor Merlin.

[trick]

Hi, i recently noticed that my cat has really bad flakey dandruff at the base of her back near to her tail.. on closer inspection there were a large amount of black bits (looks like flea eggs) even thou the cat was recently treated with frontline all her skin around this area had thick flakes of skin and some small cuts with fresh blood on them. my cat wont let anyone touch this area of her back and often either bites herself or who ever is touching her when you get close to the area... I searched the rest of her and there are no other eggs nor fleas... not sure if this is related but she has had some behavioural problems in the past few months of poo-ing and wee-ing in places other than her litter tray especially on towels if left lying round?
any help would be appreciated


Have you had her to the vets? if this has been going on for a while and she has been having issues with the litter tray could she have been bitten? The base of the tail is a very commen site for cat bites and if she has been sore or has inflamation from infection it might explain her unusual toileting.
If she has open cuts I suggest a trip to the vets to get to the 'bottem' of this.

[Purdy]

We recently got a new cat, mixed breed from a homing centre, had similar, scabs on her back , always scratching/grooming, scabs where she couldnt reach even, treated her for fleas, frontline, twice over a few weeks, she doesnt go out, then started to add cod liver oil , just a few drops to her food everyday and over 2 months it seems to have cured it, no scabs at all now, and she stopped the scratching too. May work for humans too, you can buy it in bottles with a drip top, lasts months.