Scratches face and neck too much

[whoisnick]

My sphynx seems to scratch her face and her neck way too much, to the point of irritating it. She always have little scratches on her, which seem to make her want to scratch even more. How can I make her stop? I bathe her often, clean her ears, etc.. so I'm not sure why she does it.
Also, is there some kind of safe lotion that I can put on her that will help soothe these parts so that she doesn't feel the need to scratch?

 

[Mews2much]

Maybe you are giving her to many baths.
My sphynx will get dry skin if I give them to many baths.
You can put coconut oil on her neck.

 

[sheryl]

Oh my Gosh....Sammie is doing this too! And with her pink skin, it looks horrible. She has scratched to the point of making herself bleed. Her ears are clean. She has scratches by her ears and neck, and as I said - it looks nasty!
Sheryl

 

[admin]

Hi guys,
I hope this helps with the scratching http://www.sphynxlair.com/showthread.php?t=742&highlight=coconut+oil
how often are you bathing your sphynx?

 

[ilovemysphynx]

You can also make sure you are keeping her nails trimmed. I was clipping once A week at bath time but found that is not enough so now I clip mid week also.

 

[gizmo6370]

Maybe the cats are allergic to the kind of food you use....i've have some friends who have had the same problem with one of there cats.....they tried another food....and the cat starts scrating herself until it bleed....and they switch back to there regular food....and now the problem is gone......

 

[Brooke]

Maybe the cats are allergic to the kind of food you use....i've have some friends who have had the same problem with one of there cats.....they tried another food....and the cat starts scrating herself until it bleed....and they switch back to there regular food....and now the problem is gone......

I agree with gizmo, it sounds like there could be a food allergy, which very often causes itchy skin. If the scratching just started, did it coincide with a recent switch to a different food?

 

[Haji the Sphynx]

When Haji scratches too much and gets red or small open areas I cleanse them with Drs. Foster and Smith Septi Soothe pads - its helps to "turn off the heat" and keeps the area free of infection.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=580

I find that if I go too long between baths that this is when Haji's skin gets irritated. I only bathe him every 2-3 weeks.

 

[kerrie78]

Kramer would also itch if we bathed him too much, also before we switched shampoos we used J & J & that would make him itch, he is super sensitive. It could be a lot of things best is to try to eliminate or change 1 thing at a time so you can know which it is irritating your kitty.

 

[whoisnick]

Thanks for all the advice!
I bathe her about one a week now. I was doing it about once every other week, but she gets dirty quickly and I thought that might be the reason she was scratching, but it hasn't changed.
I changed foods a few months ago, I'm giving both my cats Innova Evo dry cat food. I'll try switching to something else; it might be possible that this is the culprit and I didn't notice her scratching until more recently when her skin has been getting worse. Does anyone know of a good dry food that she wouldn't be allergic to if she's allergic to Innova Evo?
And I've been meaning to get coconut oil, I'll definitely try that out.

Thanks!

 

[Brooke]

Thanks for all the advice!
I bathe her about one a week now. I was doing it about once every other week, but she gets dirty quickly and I thought that might be the reason she was scratching, but it hasn't changed.
I changed foods a few months ago, I'm giving both my cats Innova Evo dry cat food. I'll try switching to something else; it might be possible that this is the culprit and I didn't notice her scratching until more recently when her skin has been getting worse. I'll let you know if it gets better.
And I've been meaning to get coconut oil, I'll definitely try that out.

Thanks!

It sounds like your cats are already on a grain-free diet, so if you switch to a different food, try switching the protein in their food - for instance, if the main ingredient is chicken, that might be the culprit and you might try something with turkey, duck, lamb, etc instead.

Also, what kind of shampoo are you using? If you do a thread search for shampoo, several of our members have recommended good shampoos to use when they've had issues with shampoo drying out or causing their kitties skin to be irritated.

Good luck! It's terribly frustrating and I hope you can figure out what's causing it.