medicine for scratch?

[SLICK]

i noticed a very small scratch under my kitty's chin, he seems to scratch on the area very often, he's got a very shorthair and i don't see any fleas or dandruff, is there any ointment i can put on it that is safe?, it's look like it's drying up, thanks

[Meowmie]

If kitty is scratching a lot, the itching might be the result of an allergic reaction.
Skin parasites and warts that itch can also cause itching and in turn scratching.
(A wart is easy to see but interestingly not all warts are itchy.)

Anyway, check the area to see if you notice anything unusual.
If not, start making changes in the diet to stop the itching. That's the only way to deal with this problem. If the itching is the result of allergy, unfortunately there is no magic wand that will fix the problem.

[coaster]

You're sure it's a scratch? Under the chin is where feline acne usually shows up. Typically it's a dark grey-brown, kind of crusty-looking spot. There may be multiple spots and they get bigger as it gets worse.

[SLICK]

I think it's a scratch 1/4 inch long kind of orange in color and scabbing, so it's healing up, i'm just curious why it was there in the first place, he's on california natural mixed with very little hills i/d dry right now, and also he gets raw rabbit/bones twice a day, do you have any suggestions on dry food that's less allergenic?

[Meowmie]

If he is really scratching quite a bit, the best thing you can do is to do an elimination diet to figure out where the problem is coming from.

You have three foods:
rabbit/bones
california natural
hills i/d

You can try the following, in whatever order you like:

stop the rabbit/bones and hills i/d and feed only california natural for two weeks to a month.

Stop both dry foods and use nothing but properly supplemented rabbit/bones for two weeks to a month.

Feed the rabbit/bones with one dry food first and then the other.

It will take some time before you are finished with these food trials but one of them should have noticeable results that tells you what's going on.

Another thing you can do is to stop feeding all three foods and try something totally different based on the combined list of ingredients.

[roseeden]

Calendula extract would help.

[SLICK]

He was brought up on raw food and i just added the dry when i got him, he's 11 months old, it could be the hills i/d since it has corn, i will start by eliminating that, can you recommend a dry that's less allergenic though?

[roseeden]

I like Nutro kitten food. It has corn gluten in it but corn gluten is usually much less allergenic than corn.

[coaster]

Natural Balance Venison and Pea is a hypoallergenic dry food. However, if you just substitute it for the Hills without going through the elimination process, then you have no idea if it was a food allergy.

[Meowmie]

It has corn gluten in it but corn gluten is usually much less allergenic than corn.

Actually - not really.
Gluten is a protein substance, and cats can have the same kind of intolerance to it as people who suffer from celiac disease.

When a person with celiac disease consumes gluten, damage to the small intestine results. The body responds to gluten as if it were an antigen and launches an immune-system attack when it is absorbed by the intestine. This in turn causes the lining of the small intestine to swell. As a result, tiny hairlike projections called villi suffer desctruction, which impairs the body's ability to absorb vital nutrients. Malabsorption becomes a serious problem, and the loss of vitamins, minerals, and calories results in malabsorption despite an adequate diet. Diarrhea compouds the problem. Because celiac disease impairs digestion, food allergies may also appear.

Celiac disease affects both adults and children, and it can appear at any age. It often appears when a child is first introduced to cereal foods.

The same thing happens in kittens, they can show serious signs of intestinal disease as soon as they are put on foods containg grains after being weaned.

In cats the malabsorption caused by gluten can become life-threatening and irreversible if it is not treated with medication and diet in time.
(I saw one cat die of this and her weight at the time she died was down at 3 pounds. At one time this same cat had a normal healthy weight around 8 pounds.)

So, gluten can cause problems in individuals who have an intolerance to it. Loose stools or diarrhea are warning signs that something is wrong. The problem should be dealt with as soon as it is discovered. The warning signs should never ever be ignored.