Fairly urgent question - chewing a sorespot

[DeBorah Beatty]

Hi, all. Sorry I haven't been around, but been really busy trying to get down to the area. Getting close. But here's my question. We came down to Portland over Thanksgiving and because we had our baby, Hobo with us, we had to stay in a motel (daughter has 4 cats and not enough room). We stayed at the Travelodge near the airport and will never again - Hobo was covered with fleas by the time we got home three days later, was bitten so badly, we had to shave him bald, bathe him daily and we almost lost him! He still is chewing on his paws, however, all these months later and they're all down to the skin and two are bleeding. I tried antibiotic cream and taping them to let them heal, but he just chews it off. I can't afford a vet and don't know what to do. He's obviously suffering and I feel so powerless.

Anyone have any suggestions? PLEASE?

[Andrea Schneider]

Hi,
I also sent this to Becca Seitz one of our most knowledgeable members on things like this. I will feature your request. Bridget has a very good idea too.
Andrea

[Liz Savage]

There's also a spray you can find in some stores, I found it at Pet Loft in SW pdx - again I don't want to give medical advice and would recommend even giving a vet a call, they will sometimes give you advice on the phone. Anyways, I had a German Shepherd mix who was allergic to flea bites and also was a chewer, we used to have to take him to the vet for a steroid shot and they would give us a spray to put on the area as well. I think it was cortisone but again, I'm not positive, a call to a vet would clear that up for you =)
And also, making sure you keep up with a flea treatment monthly, especially in flea season, is something I'd highly recommend if your guy is sensitive to bites.
Best wishes, hope Hobo's all cleared up soon.

[Eucalypta]

My cats are Devon Rexes, they have little fur and it's curly. Because of this their tummy is almost furr-less. They like to stay warm so I bought pet heating pads for under and in their pillows. They loved it! However after a few days she started to develop a rash on her tummy. At first I thought it was her food an allergy towards a protein so I switched proteins, didn't help a bit. Off to the vet, they couldn't offer much help except for antibiotics and Prednisone. I was desperate by than and agreed to give it a try. That also didn't help.

I had a bright moment and thought it could be the heating pads causing a warm environment for a bacterial infection so I had to separate the cats and my Nyx had to sleep in another room. She was NOT pleased. Of course her rash didn't go away immediately. She had developed some hot spot on her paws as well. What to do, I tried everything from Aloe Vera to other homeopathic stuff. When I was ordering some Kangaroo tail bones and Emu bones on a farm web site for my dogs I came across their Emu Oil especially for pets that have hot spots, eczema, rashes etc. I thought I should give it a go. A small bottle will go a long way and wasn't too expensive.

I rubbed small drops on her raw and hot spots, put a soft elizabethan collar on for 5 minutes until it was absorbed and than they can lick it because it's harmless you can also put it in their food. Next day I already saw a major improvement, it became a pale color and now after 2 weeks it's totally gone and her tummy has some fuzzy hair growing again.

Maybe you want to look into Emu Oil for healing? I would put it on his paws and put socks over it for a few minutes until it is absorbed into the skin. You could also wrap them in vet wrap for a few minutes. I know Elizabethan collars are needed sometimes but they seem so cruel. Imagine yourself having a horrible itch and not being able to reach it, it would drive me insane!

Good luck and if you need a link to the Emu oil let me know, I don't know if it's appropriate to post them here.

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Christine