Flea allergy dermatitis...

mrsdwhite

Hi, my cat has what the vet says is flea allergy dermatitis. He's an old boy now, at 15 years old. But it's only the past 2 years that this has become an issue. We treat him with frontline regularly and I use spray around the house to keep them away.
Our younger cat shows no signs of fleas, and in fairness I've never seen any on either cat or in the house.
I've googled pics of flea allergy dermatitis, and it does look like what he has, does anyone have any experience with this? Other than telling me to use the prescription frontline rather than buying it in a shop the vet has never offered any advice in dealing with it. It must be making him so itchy as his back end around his tail is covered in it!
A friend recommended a johnsons skin-eze cream to help with it, but I'm dubious of using a johnsons cream as I've heard bad things about theirs and bob Martin flea treatment. I don't want to poison him!

dandelionclock30

What about using a different de flea product for your cat, Stronghold and Advantage are better than Frontline. If your cat has flea allergy dermatitis, then he is getting bitten because otherwize he would be clear.
I had a cat with bad dandruff, they call it dander and I got some special cat shampoo from the vets. I know thats not the same complaint but its a skin issue.
I'd return to the vet and discuss these points with them.

kaya

We changed to advocat last week as frontline just doesn't cut the mustard any more

mrsdwhite

I've been wondering if frontline might not be working anymore. It's the one I've always used, but recently doesn't seem to work for him. Even though the vets sing it's virtues :mad:
I've just ordered some Indorex as I've been using Acclaim but Indorex says it lasts for 12 months, so I'm guessing it's stronger.
I will look at using Advantage next time I treat him. I treated him with frontline last night. Hopefully over the next day or so he should start seeing relief, if not I know it's not working.

missbiggles1

I took our dog to the vet with this the other day and the vet's prescribed her Dermipred for the next week.

meritaten

I use a 'catnip infusion' on my Barney. it does soothe itchy areas and seems to help them heal.

catnip infusion 'recipe'
take a teaspoon of catnip and put in a mug. pour on boiling water to fill mug and leave at least 10 to 15 minutes to 'infuse'. strain and leave to cool. then you can use it to 'bathe' the affected areas on the body. about three to four times a day.
it wont harm the cat as catnip is safe for them to eat.

gardengull

APOLOGIES, GAVE THE WRONG NAME it's prescription only ADVOCATE not Advantage. Sorry

My cat has the flea bite dermatitis (FBD), and our vet prescribed ADVOCATE, which does say it helps with FBD in the leaflet inside. It also fights other sorts of mites, which obviously could be a problem too.

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/pet-meds-prescription-only-advocate-for-cats-c-21_702/advocate-for-large-cats-p-1622?number_of_uploads=0

This is quite a good article for general information:
http://www.skinvetclinic.com/fleaallergydermatitis.html

chiefpossession

One of our cats has this. Regular treatments didn't help and he ended up on tablets and regular injections - not a long term solution because he got so stressed. Our vet suggested a Seresto flea and tick collar - it's brilliant. They are prescription only, I think, and we pay about £45 - but they last up to 8 months (depends how often they get wet). We know when it is starting to become less effective because Moo starts to be sick as he starts overgrooming. Obviously if your cat is a pain about collars (and our other two are) it won't work for you but I can honestly say that nothing has worked like this has. We have a happy, healthy cat with beautiful skin - the allergy made him really run down, stressed and just plain grumpy.

gardengull

Please note the change I have returned to make to my post above 834pm yesterday, 5th August 14.
Sorry about that!

mrsdwhite

Thanks for the advice. I'm pleased to say that his skin seems much better since I treated him, he does still have some scabs but no where near as bad as it was. I'm keeping an eye on him, hopefully it will fully clear. I will treat him again at exactly 4 weeks, or maybe 3 weeks 5 days, to make sure there's no delay in treatments.
I did put some Johnsons skin-eze cream on his scabby bits this morning, which surprisingly he sat there and let me do. Hopefully it can help stop him being itchy while the treatment gets rid of the cause.
Re: the flea collar, he doesn't currently wear a collar but has in the past. He kept losing them and I got tired of replacing the tags! I take it that as these flea collars are prescription only they are safe unlike the bob Martin collars I hear so much about?

chiefpossession

I had a quick look at the active ingredients and it does not mention the compound highlighted in the Bob Martin collar. I found this FAQ sheet if it helps

http://www.seresto.com/en/seresto-for-cats/about-seresto/frequently-asked-questions