Terrible rash all over his body :-(

[Brooke]

Hi Chanel, Welcome to the forum!!
First, I must say - 6 sphynx's?!?! Do you ever go a full day without tripping over one?? :Laugh:

My Harold used to get a rash the day after his bath. His skin would feel very dry and the bumps felt almost scabby. But, it would only last for a day and then go away. After I switched to J&J baby shampoo I didn't have that problem anymore.

But, since your boy has it longer than a day or two and if your vet doesn't think its allergies, it does sound like it might be heat or sun related.

Here's a link to a good thread about sunburn, and some vet recommendations for sunscreen:

http://sphynxlair.com/showthread.php?t=226&highlight=sunscreen

If your cat is anything like mine, it will be impossible to keep him away from the windows, but maybe you can try an oatmeal bath to soothe his skin, and then some sunscreen and see if the rash doesn't start to go away?

Good luck, keep us posted!

 

[Brooke]

Every once in a while, people post answers on the Sphynx Lair facebook page instead of coming to the forum and posting here... I thought I would repost this for you in case you found it helpful:

from Facebook
Monica Buonfiglio at 9:29am June 30
Hi Chanel, i'm so sorry to hear about your little boy. i'm not sure what the rash could be but because the rash is dry and scab like perhaps you could start him on some Omega 3 oil. Ascenta Omega 3 Oil for Felines is what i give my boy. 1 mg. per day and you can mix it with his wet food. Also i wonder if it could be viral?? In that case starting him on lysine wouldn't hurt. 250 mg twice daily, again mixed with wet food. Both these supplements will boost his little immune system and hopefully in time will improve his skin. It's good news that the rash doesn't bother him, but if you want to try something topical i would try a Calendula lotion, organic of course, that you could find at your local health food store. Please use organic as your kitty might want to lick it off. Use a little and rub it in as much as you can to avoid him licking it all off. Calendula is a wonderful herb and is great for all skin ailments. i hope this was helpful and good luck!

 

[cchloerun]

Thank God I found this forum! Thank you ALL so much for replying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Most of you say sun, so i will start by eliminating that right now! Can I post a picture of the rash in this thread?
Thank you all again so much for your thoughtful answers!

 

[admin]

Yes please do post a pic!

 

[admin]

Every once in a while, people post answers on the Sphynx Lair facebook page instead of coming to the forum and posting here... I thought I would repost this for you in case you found it helpful:

from Facebook
Monica Buonfiglio at 9:29am June 30
Hi Chanel, i'm so sorry to hear about your little boy. i'm not sure what the rash could be but because the rash is dry and scab like perhaps you could start him on some Omega 3 oil. Ascenta Omega 3 Oil for Felines is what i give my boy. 1 mg. per day and you can mix it with his wet food. Also i wonder if it could be viral?? In that case starting him on lysine wouldn't hurt. 250 mg twice daily, again mixed with wet food. Both these supplements will boost his little immune system and hopefully in time will improve his skin. It's good news that the rash doesn't bother him, but if you want to try something topical i would try a Calendula lotion, organic of course, that you could find at your local health food store. Please use organic as your kitty might want to lick it off. Use a little and rub it in as much as you can to avoid him licking it all off. Calendula is a wonderful herb and is great for all skin ailments. i hope this was helpful and good luck!

Hey Brooke, Ive noticed this too, people answering or commenting on sphynx lair face book. Ive even put a message on my profile "if you like the forum talk here, come visit the sphynx lair website". Any suggestions how to pull those people here?

 

[Brooke]

Hey Brooke, Ive noticed this too, people answering or commenting on sphynx lair face book. Ive even put a message on my profile "if you like the forum talk here, come visit the sphynx lair website". Any suggestions how to pull those people here?

Admin if you want me to, I'll just comment after them and let them know their valuable comment isn't going to be seen by the right people unless they post it on the forum....sadly, I'm on facebook almost as often as I'm on here! Anything to keep me distracted from my actual job!

 

[admin]

That would be great Brooke, don't go out of your way, if you happen to be there just throw it in.
Thanks again!:Laugh:

 

[cchloerun]

Here are some photos of my poor baby :-(

 

[Moonstone]

Thank God I found this forum! Thank you ALL so much for replying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Most of you say sun, so i will start by eliminating that right now! Can I post a picture of the rash in this thread?
Thank you all again so much for your thoughtful answers!

Just a suggestion for this topic. On a french forum i read a similar story. Anyone really knew what was the cause of the rash on a sphynx queen.

The family took the decision to plan a skin analysis (a biopsy). Once the biopsy was done, the queen had a bandage on the skin. When the family removed the bangage the rash wes out at that specific location...
the family changed the "laundry product" and the result was better on all the body.

perhaps (if the sun is not the cause) you could try to make a bandage on his body and to see what happens after several days (10 days ?) obviously the bandage must not be washed with anything and be sterile.

 

[kalliee129]

Your poor baby I can't believe that doesn't bother him. Made me itchy just seeing the pictures. What Meecho got from the sun was definately different. I liked Moon's idea about the test spot.

 

[Brooke]

Moonstone makes a very good point! He could be having a reaction to laundry detergent you might be using to wash your blankets. If you don't use it already, you might try switching to something unscented and free of dyes? That might explain why the steroid injection helped for a day, and then the rash came back - he snuggled into the blankets again?

Poor guy! that looks painful...I'm glad he doesn't seem to be bothered by it.

PS- Despite the rash, he's very handsome!

 

[cchloerun]

Thank you very much for taking a look at him, and your suggestions! So far his rash is staying the same. The vet wants him on Prednisone, but I only want to use that as a LAST resource. I am not a fan of steroids and feel they are capable of more bad than good, especially in a growing baby who needs every bit of his immune system.
I think I'm going to get him an appointment with the vet dermatologist if it's not looking better by tomorrow!

 

[Brooke]

Thank you very much for taking a look at him, and your suggestions! So far his rash is staying the same. The vet wants him on Prednisone, but I only want to use that as a LAST resource. I am not a fan of steroids and feel they are capable of more bad than good, especially in a growing baby who needs every bit of his immune system.
I think I'm going to get him an appointment with the vet dermatologist if it's not looking better by tomorrow!

I had a dog that benefited from short-term use of prednisone for a seasonal grass allergy, but in her case, we knew what caused the rash and I only treated with steroids when it was in season and she had a flare up (nearly impossible to keep a dog off of grass!). I'm surprised the vet wants him on prednisone without first trying to determine the allergy. I'm no doctor, but I agree with you, steroids long-term wouldn't be my first choice. I would want to find the cause and eliminate it instead of throwing potentially harmful medication at the problem. Has your vet suggested doing allergy testing? It's pricey, but that's how we determined what was causing the problem with my dog.

Side note - the dose she got of prednisone was only 1 or 2 pills a month, and it caused incontinence. But, it DID make the rash go away amazingly fast...prednisone is some serious stuff! Good luck!

 

[kerrie78]

Pred is definately a strong drug... I have a dog that gets allergy serum made for him, when he is real bad he gets a shot of cortisone (which we have a whole bottle of at home) and he is better for a bit. I don't like using it unless absolutely needed. I would try to do your own investigation of what the allergy is.

 

[PitRottMommy]

Hello everyone! I am brand new and have a pressing question:
Of my 6 Sphynx, the new boy, Nano, has developed a terrible skin rash.

We have tried changing the litter, the food, the Vet... It doesn't seem to bother him one bit, but looks horrible- red bumps (no fluid) covering his body. Vet gave him a steroid (I am not a fan of this) and it got better then came fully back the next day. I am out of ideas as to what is causing this. I have pictures if anyone would like to see or has any ideas? The bumps are pink/red and the skin on the rash feel VERY dry, almost scab-like.
Thank you for taking the time to read this!
Chanel

Chanel, I'm late to this thread--but has your vet done a fungal culture for ringworm or a skin scrape for mange (ask your vet to run a Wood's Lamp test the next time you're in, it's fast and can be definitive before a DTM fungal culture)? Medically speaking, I'd start here--and that prednisone won't help either of these cases very much aside from reduction of itching. Just because these cats lack hair doesn't mean that they don't get the normal cases of ringworm and mange. Starting from the bottom and working your way to the top will help.

That being said, I would promptly put your baby on omega fatty acids to condition the skin and reduce inflammation. I would also use a benzoyl peroxide follicle flushing shampoo to clear up any follicle-related issues. Malaseb plagettes can be a life saver in some of these cases. I would also invest in an allergen-free soap for his bedding. Some cases such as these are contact allergies. Again, won't respond very well to prednisone in the long run.

If the skin doesn't clear with pred (and the recommendations made above), I would look to a food allergy. Many skin issues are directly related to food allergies. Sphynx are a tough case because they don't look like other pets...most pets often start showing signs with patterned hairloss with food allergies. Not so much with this breed because of their obvious lack of hair. Therefore, vets are usually a little thrown off by presentation.

Lastly, look in to doing a skin scraping sent to a lab and, ultimately, doing skin punch biopsies if nothing else helps. Your vet is already pulling out the big guns by trying prednisone. The problem here is that if your pet doesn't actually have an inhalant allergy (pred does little for food allergies) but has a skin condition (many, including cancers) immunosupression is the WORST thing you can do. Since this is your second time trying the pred, if it doesn't make a substantial change for you--abandon ship and take another route. Keeping your baby on pred while not getting any answers can be extremely damning for his health depending on the severity of what is actually causing the skin outbreaks. Take the advice from someone in Veterinary Medicine that has seen this happen before, if you don't see drastic changes look for the real answer. I'd start with that fungal culture and skin scrape.

Good luck and keep us updated!! The pics were great!

 

[Moonstone]

Agree with pitrottmommy, fungal culture and skin scrape, first.
then explore allergies (food, soap,...)

Ask the breeder if the kitten already had this and when and how if already knew...
Try to understand what changed between his life with the breeder and life with you if he never had this before..

 

[ilovemysphynx]

Our Sidney had Mange when we got her and now that pitrottmommy says that it does kind of look like it, just without the fur. Does she have A yucky smell because when Sidney got bad she stunk bad. I would have the skin scrape done but make sure they do it and get enough Sidney had 4 done before it showed up under the microscope.

 

[cchloerun]

Thank you all SO much! Pitrotmommy, thank you! Great information!
Ok, so I went to the vet dermatologist this morning. The vet is suspecting a rare condition called Utacaria Pigmentosa. It's hard to find info on this condition! They took 2 biopsies (He looks terrible- I didn't know they needed that much of his skin!!!) I feel HORRIBLE for my poor baby :-((
She didn't see any bacteria or fungus but I will need to wait 10 days for the labs to come back. She says if it is UP, it is treatable but not curable. I am starting him on Zyrtec today and until his stitches come out. Hope that helps!

Thank you everyone for your continued insight and support, I will be sure to keep everyone updated!

 

[cchloerun]

Here is a link and some pics for anyone interested (don't you think it looks like what he has?)
http://www.clinvet-saintbernard.com/DOC/biblio-pdf/dermato-feline/Ciclosporine-fel.pdf

 

[PitRottMommy]

Thank you all SO much! Pitrotmommy, thank you! Great information!
Ok, so I went to the vet dermatologist this morning. The vet is suspecting a rare condition called Utacaria Pigmentosa. It's hard to find info on this condition! They took 2 biopsies (He looks terrible- I didn't know they needed that much of his skin!!!) I feel HORRIBLE for my poor baby :-((
She didn't see any bacteria or fungus but I will need to wait 10 days for the labs to come back. She says if it is UP, it is treatable but not curable. I am starting him on Zyrtec today and until his stitches come out. Hope that helps!

Thank you everyone for your continued insight and support, I will be sure to keep everyone updated!

I'm glad that he recommended a biopsy, Urticaria Pigmentosa is precisely what I suspected when I mentioned doing a skin biopsy. If it does turn out to be UP, the chances of treatment with steroids and antihistamines will be pretty good. And, even better, there are a myriad of choice drugs to fluctuate through until you find a combo that works for your baby. Good luck!

 

[nbolin]

Hmmm..not sure the only thing that comes to mind for me is if he might have a case of kitty Eczema or a Staff Infection. Sphynx's are very prone to staff infections from what i've heard. These are just suggestions though

P.S. Welcome to Sphynx Lair BTW

 

[nbolin]

Apparently none of the responses loaded before I replyed just now, so sorry if it seems out of place

 

[fuzzy bare]

Fuzzy Bare has had some sun spots, this seems more on chest and sides. not sure if we need a vet visit. My husband has cleaned my tub with a harsh cleaser, and I thought I rinsed it well. Would that cause the problem. he is almost 3 and never had this before.

 

[Catzzzmeow]

@fuzzy bare can you attach a pic? Yes the cleaner can easily cause issues if harsh. I have had rashes on my one boy due to too much detergent in loads of blankets the machine did not rinse it out .

Patti

 

[pussiette]

Blood tests are so important