He has always had this thing where he runs around the house and up and down the stairs as if he's being bitten by something- he shakes his feet and chews at his fur and runs and shakes and chews and jumps- and I am always concerned that somehow he's got fleas or some other parasite! Since our cats don't go outside they don't get ticks or fleas, and any new furry arrivals to our house get dipped and de-flea'd as fast as possible. The dogs are treated for fleas often too and- touch wood- they don't have any. But everyone knows that once you actually get fleas in your house, they're all but impossible to get rid of! As a result, Magic's mad running and twitching always had me over-analysing any scratching and looking for fleas everywhere!
Then a while ago, Magic, Diva and Turk developed feline acne. Diva's was the worst and she was treated first, Turk's cleared up soon after on its own, and Magic had a shot to treat his, but it never went away completely.
Magic also sneezes like a lunatic! He sneezes himself off his feet the poor thing! I've never been terribly concerned about it though as his eyes don't get gummy, he doesn't "act" sick and his behaviour doesn't change.
Then about a month ago I noticed that Magic's acne had returned and his chin was looking very black, though he had not yet started scratching himself raw, thank goodness.
I took him back to the vet to have another shot and get his acne cleared up properly and whilst we were there I told the vet about his running and twitching and sneezing.
She gave him a thorough once-over and found no fleas, no ticks, no bites or marks, and his lungs sounded fine. Her diagnosis is allergies!
I could put him on a hellishly expensive prescription allergy diet, but at this point the vet is happy that whilst it irritates him, its not life-threatening. Should things change in the future and he deteriorates, we'll look at the special diet again- but for now he (and I) will just have to live with it.
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