[jellybeans214]

My kittens have been treated for ringworm in the past. We noticed a bit of thinning fur atop the head and got tested again and it was negative. Then we noticed back of right ear was a bit off and then missing fur at base of left ear.
Right ear seemed more diffuse and left ear the fur loss seemed to be spreading, yesterday I noticed a bump by it and kitty seemed a bit sensitive— today the bump seems to have bled
Vet wants to rule out ringworm again but honestly I don’t want to do the test again as we ruled it out before and I suspect allergies or sensitivities to food/environment.

Does the appearance look familiar to you guys? Allergies, acne or both?I’ve attached a before and after of the progression.
Ordered some Vetericyn and limited ingredient diet foods to start. Am using tidy cats unscented litter will try Cat’s pride which is apparently very low dust.

Any thoughts appreciated! View attachment 130253

 

[Kitty827]

It's possible that she's losing fur from scratching.

 

[jellybeans214]

It's possible that she's losing fur from scratching.

Yeah, I do think that might be the case :T That's why I am leaning towards allergies/sensitivity it's been a slow gradual change I think.
The Vetericyn topical (supposed to help with skin issues) and limited ingredient diets is coming tmr argh thought it would be today. Also cleaned and replaced the Tidy cats unscented litter without any deodorizer, and ordered a supposedly dust free litter Cat's Pride which should be coming today so fingers are crossed

 

[Kitty827]

Okay. Maybe the litter will help if the litter is the issue. As for environmental allergies; Is she strictly indoors? And for food allergies; what is she eating? How long has she been eating this specific brand? Has anything changed in your home recently?

 

[jellybeans214]

Okay. Maybe the litter will help if the litter is the issue. As for environmental allergies; Is she strictly indoors? And for food allergies; what is she eating? How long has she been eating this specific brand? Has anything changed in your home recently?

Yes, strictly indoors. We've been feeding Purina grain free wet food the salmon and whitefish, Earthborn Holistic Monterey Medley (Skipjack Tuna, Mackerel, Potatoes), Nulo variety pack (many protein combos here). The changes I can think of is maybe feeding more Purina Whitefish and Earthborn, and we change out the dry foods. More recently finished the Earthborn dry (Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Peas), and I was making the switch to Instinct Original Kitten Grain-Free Recipe with Real Chicken Freeze-Dried Raw Dry, but my husband also had opened Nutro Chicken & Brown rice, and we think this caused my other kitten to have diarrhea all day (

My kitty with the ears, his GI seemed not as affected but the ears seemed worse the day after I gave them Natural Instinct limited ingredient chicken and peas (they don't seem to like chicken but love fish). I think having such a big variety of foods has backfired here but they can be picky eaters so I tried to get higher quality options than just Purina all day. He also is the one where I have heard breathing nosily while sleeping in the past and just had a hairball for the first time so I've been suspecting allergies possibly to the litter dust

 

[Kitty827]

He could be allergic to one of the ingredients in either of the foods or he could have ear mites, and he is scratching to relieve some pain.

(Skipjack Tuna, Mackerel, Potatoes),

I'd avoid the potatoes If I were you.

we change out the dry foods

You change out the dry foods? So we haven't found one to stick with yet? If so, that could be the problem.

I hope you find what's wrong! Good luck!

 

[jellybeans214]

Yeah, I started with Natural Balance but realized it wasn't grain free. Switched to Earthborn Holistic but I feel like it's crack for the kitties and first ingredient isn't a whole meat anyhow. Was trying to switch to Instinct as it was much lower in carbs, but didn't realize husband was also feeding them the Nutro chicken and brown rice which I was going to return.

Thanks for weighing in!

 

[Kitty827]

It could be anything in either of the foods. Monitor her, and see what if it gets better or worse.

Oh, you're welcome!

 

[jellybeans214]

It could be anything in either of the foods. Monitor her, and see what if it gets better or worse.

Oh, you're welcome!

Yes, definitely! I'm planning on testing with small amounts of egg, potato ect once it's been established the limited ingredient diet has helped~

 

[LeChi]

Very interesting. Your post caught my eye because one of my cats is having skin issues and it seemed to start after switching them to Earthborn Holistic Harbor Harvest. It is unclear to me if it was that brand, the fish itself, or the switch. Or maybe something entirely unrelated. I was surprised when I read your cats had been on the same brand.

Ours then transitioned to a human grade shredded food, and his skin appears to be improving, but he also choked on the new food, which was very scary. I want him back on standard canned for safety. The plan is to shift him to Instinct wet kitten food.

 

[jellybeans214]

Thanks for sharing! Perhaps it’s the potato in earthborn holistic’s wet food? Let me know how your kittens do on the instinct wet food please. I wanted to get it but I think mine just don’t like chicken which is a shame— wish there were more flavors

 

[LeChi]

Good news update! Our kitten’s skin issues appear to be most, if not all resolved. It seems that it began shortly after transitioning them onto the Earthborn Holistic canned and it began to resolve over about a month after transitioning them off. You mentioned potato as a possible culprit, or it might have been one of the kinds of fish, which turn out to be in the top runners up for cat allergies. Who would have thought it?
How is your cat doing? Any improvements to his itchy ears?

 

[jellybeans214]

Thank you for the update I’m glad you were able to find the culprit! Did it go away without any sort of topical? What food are you feeding now if you don’t mind me asking? The fur behind the ears thankfully has mostly grown back but I think it may be largely due to the Vetericyn topical.

The Nature’s pride litter def has practically no dust compared to Tidy Cats but I feel like the litter gets dirty faster unfortunately (I’ll stick it out with NP for now)

I’ve been feeding only Taste of the Wild Turkey dry and my kittens seem to be eating less and less as they are tired of it so I’ve stopped the Vetericyn for now and will try a can or two of Blue Buffalo Basics tmr which has turkey and potato so maybe this will help see if potato is a trigger.. although I’ve been tempted to feed them actual potato but don’t think I can hold off on wet food much longer :T

 

[LeChi]

They are now eating Instinct kitten, canned. And Tidy Cat non-clumping. Both seem fine. I first noticed Chidi was eating his litter, then I saw redness with hair loss above his eyes and a pink belly. Those were the main things. They have all improved - first his little belly looked less pink, then calmer over the eyes. Finally, today when I changed the litter he only dug around a lot and used it, no munchies! Hopefully that will last since I’d like to go back to clumping litter. My best guess is that he had a food intolerance, which can lead to inflamation and redness, that could inhibit vitamin and mineral absorption, which might have driven him to eat his litter. And I did use a similar topical over his eyes for a couple days early on, but it didn’t seem to be doing much except bother him, so I stopped.
Glad your kitty’s ears are looking better! It is a relief, isn’t it? It will be interesting to see if they have a reaction to the blue buffalo. Hopefully not, but would be good information if they do!

 

[jellybeans214]

Oh man that’s great you were able to calm down his skin so definitively. That’s interesting about your cat being driven to eat his litter; mine seemed to start eating tape which is partly why I knew I had to change up their food if they would prefer that over the dry -.-

I personally have been wanting to switch mine permanently to pine pellets but for whatever reason they will NOT poop in it. I tried again last night leaving out the pine only and when my husband put out the clay they immediately went #2 they’ve gone 1-2 days holding it in before >.<

I just put out a can of the Blue Buffalo and they pretty much scarfed it down whereas they used to eat wet food in smaller portions. I will def update if I notice any changes, good or bad!

 

[jellybeans214]

Just to add I just got a recall email from Chewy and it includes a long list of Earthborn Holistic products:

https://midwesternpetfoods.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/MPFRecall_March2021_LotInfo.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=transactional&utm_campaign=SG-2021-03-29-M-RECALL-MidwesternPetFoods

 

[LeChi]

Wow. I looked over it and the flavor we used wasn’t included. How about you?

 

[jellybeans214]

Very nice. Unfortunately both of the dry food flavors are on the list. I wonder if it may have been one them. Oh well, now I know for sure I won’t be feeding them any Earthborn Holistic foods. My kitties seemed to love them. Bad news is they will not eat the Blue Buffalo wet after all and prefer the dry food which they also barely touch.
I feel like they are on a hunger strike at this point so I need to try something else probably either the Nutro Chicken and Brown rice or Instinct kitty chicken.

 

[LeChi]

Are you switching gradually? If not, it could be their tummies are taking time to adjust. I am thinking if their stomachs are upset it might lower their appetite. I add the new food in stages over about 5 days and that has worked well for mine.
And are you letting them know it’s delicious when you put it down? ”Ooohhh, yummy!” It’s a crucial part of mealtime! 😆

 

[jellybeans214]

They were eating the dry food just fine and then past few days they were eating less and less so I tried the BB wet but they seem even less enthusiastic about that :/ lol I’ve never done that before but it’s worth a try! 😅