Itching After Cat Rescue

[Dori]

We recently picked up a cat in our neighborhood, obviously a Siamese mix if not full. She was beautiful and was very loud, but that wasn't what bothered me. She was especially sweet and loving, seeming in good spirits. Aside from the obvious fur loss, she had this weird way of making my boyfriend and I itch whenever we went into the room with her.

As a precaution, when I rescue a cat I isolate him/her from the other cats in the bathroom, someplace easy to clean in case the cat is sick. I do not allow contact with my cats, and give the cat a spare set of metal dishes I keep for such occasions that are never used by my cats. I've had too many mishaps and lost too many cats because of silly things, so caution is always important to me. I did my best to not touch her if I didn't have to, petting her with a spare brush and not my hands. Regardless I thoroughly washed my hands with anti-bacterial soap before and after I interacted with her.

Because we noticed the itching right away, I have kept any clothing I wore around her away from the other cats just in case but we've had a flea problem we've been managing at the house as well. I am not sure what it could have been. No one claimed her so to avoid her being put to sleep by our shelter, which never has room anymore, we released her and hope she'll stick close for feeding. We would have taken her to the vet, but it's Christmas and money is still tight from the vet bills I am continuously paying off. Maybe she'll hang around the building so I can take her next month. We have a number of strays I already keep tabs on. I only picked her up because she wasn't one I had seen before and she seemed frightened, not like a normal feral cat.

I have now thoroughly cleaned the bathroom with anti-bacterial soap, pinesole and bleach (call me paranoid) and am about to do our laundry. I still feeling itchy, especially where she scratched me a few days ago when rescuing her and I hope she didn't have mange, a parasite, or some kind of mite. I hope I am not just allergic to this new soap I bought, having had soap allergies in the past. Also, I am allergic to cats, but have never had skin reactions to them before. Living with six cats, I probably would have noticed.

I only think it was cat related because my boyfriend also had the same symptoms when interacting with the stray, however he is more pron to flea bites than I seem to be. Regardless, hopefully the matter is resolved.

If anyone has any insight on this matter it would be helpful, for now I will continue to clean.

[catloverami]

You guess is as good or better than mine as to the cause of "itching"....I'm sure you would notice flea bites on the skin if it was fleas. You are prudent to take a cautious approach and commend you for that, so that your other cats are not exposed to... whatever? It's possible it's a soap allergy....discontinue and see if it goes away. It really sounds as it she is "lost" rather than being feral. Have you checked 'Lost Cat' ads, etc. Maybe if you posted some notices in vet offices, kijiji or other websites, humane societies an owner can be found. On the other hand, she may have been dumped or left behind in a
move.

She is a very pretty girl! Good luck!

[Nan]

Do you have any poison ivy in your area? She could have rubbed against it and it would be on her fur.