Itchy cat is Itchy

Rhino

I have two cats, both from the same liter, same diet, same house, etc. They are both about 3 years old. Both are indoor cats.

One is really itchy. Or well, he scratches himself a lot and assume it's due to itching. He scratches himself the point were he rips out hair of bleeds; It's not bad, but just looks discomforting for him.

I took to the vet awhile ago and he said "it ain't fleas, he probably just has dry skin; it'll clear up, cats do this all the time". But it hasn't. The poor thing scratches himself all the time. I looked at him and his skin looks "normal". No fleas, bugs or anything.

Delzhand

Could be demadex (sp?) mites. They're really hard to detect because of their life cycle, but they can cause some severe itchyness. I just took my cat to the vet Tuesday for a similar deal. He scratched his neck to bleeding over the course of a few days, and we learned it's possible it got infected with bacteria.

Just because you can't see bugs (even with a microscope) doesn't mean they aren't a problem.

PirateJon

Cats can have allergies to stuff. You can try diet changes as well.

Nappuccino

My cat did a similar thing a while back- she would bite at her coat and pull out tuffs of hair. We first thought she was overheating outside but, after this kept up we brought her to the Vet and he just gave her some allergy medicine and she stopped almost instantly.

MetroidZoid

My first though is allergies. I seem to hear about it a lot more in dogs, but that doesn't mean it's not a common problem in cats. Usually the suspect is grains or other filler; cats (and dogs) aren't herbavores, and aren't meant to digest that stuff. So first of all, check the back of his / her cat food; see if the first few ingredients contain any grains (corn and wheat are most common, but also soy, rice, etc ... anything not-meat). Then find a brand of cat food that's mostly, if not all, grain-free. I use Diamond Natural; it's pretty competitively priced (as in, won't break the bank), a 20lb bag goes about $3-$5 over the cheap stuff. It does have a little filler, but I know it's corn and wheat free. Give the change time; a big diet change might result in some nasty crap-sessions, and the problem might not clear up immediately. If you don't see a change after say a month of different food, consult a vet.

Belruel

yeah, allergies as others have said. my cat can't eat the cheaper cat foods because of the fillers they put in, but when we switched her to a new food she stopped scratching and biting herself to bits.