GATOS que se RASCAN MUCHO | ¿Puede ser ALERGIA? 😾 ¿Lo hace cuando no lo ves?

Have you noticed your cat scratching here? Or here behind, or a little bit here on its back? Well, stay and watch this video, because today I'm going to tell you why it does it. Hello, I'm Carlos, a clinical veterinarian at Small Animals. Welcome to the Happy Pets and Families Channel. Well, before we start, what does it mean when your cat scratches? What a silly question, right? No, it's not that silly, because sometimes cats are scratching themselves without you even realizing it. Excessive grooming, that is licking their skin a lot, can also mean that the skin is itchy. And since cats are experts at hiding from us when something is wrong with them and not showing that they are sick, they can do it without you realizing it, because they do it at those times of the day when you are not around. So how are you going to know that your cat is scratching? Okay, let's start with the most obvious way, which is when you see that your cat scratches all day long, hitting you with its back paws. And with those nails, they also end up breaking the skin because they destroy it directly. But maybe you're not there when your cat scratches. You'll notice because bald spots start to appear all over its body. And sometimes you'll see scabs with hair, although later on, it gradually loses that hair and ends up forming a bald spot with scabs. And the last indication that you'll have to know if your cat scratches or not is that you see that certain areas of its body have much shorter hair because with its mouth and paws, it acts like a lawnmower and leaves it shorter than where it can't reach. And what are the most common causes of your cat scratching? Well, let's go with the most obvious one. For example, bugs. Fleas. Be careful. Not all of them are fleas. And in this video, I'm going to talk about all the ones that aren't fleas. The way a cat scratches itself when it has fleas usually starts in the back area. They usually scratch themselves with their mouths around their tail. Obviously, if they end up getting covered in fleas everywhere, they'll end up scratching all parts of their body. Well, in the case of fleas, sometimes you don't even realize they're on your cat because, well, fleas aren't that easy to see. But you can see what fleas leave behind their poop. And you might be wondering, what does flea poop look like? Well, no, it's not like the emojis. It doesn't have that nice shape. Flea poop is like a type of dark Almost black dandruff that's on the skin of cats and dogs that have them. But anyway, we're talking about cats. To tell whether or not it is a flea dropping, I recommend that you follow this procedure. Place your cat on a pad or white paper, shake it a little and let the flea droppings fall onto the pad or paper. Then pour a drop of hydrogen peroxide on top. You can use the tip of a needle or something similar to rub the flea droppings with the hydrogen peroxide. If you see that the hydrogen peroxide gradually turns reddish, it means that there is blood inside the dark flea droppings. And that is a clear sign that it is flea droppings, because fleas eat blood, so they also expel blood. And please do not confuse this dandruff that I am telling you about that is produced by fleas with feline acne. Because in the previous video we made here on the channel about acne, people told me that they thought their cat had fleas. The main difference is that acne occurs, as I told you in that video, here in the chin or face area. And you can find fleas anywhere on the body. Also, acne is much more attached to the hair and fleas are more like dandruff. If you do this a little bit on the hair, you will see that it moves. Acne usually does not move, it stays stuck. Of course, if your cat has been bitten by a larger insect, so such as a bee or even a mosquito, you will see the bite. Then you will know exactly why it is scratching because they are practically the same as human bites. What remedy can you give your cat if it has a flea infestation? Don't mess around with essential oils or baths with something else, which you sometimes write to me about in the comments. And I honestly don't recommend that you use those types of solutions. There are some that are much more effective and will make the fleas disappear faster. For example, the typical treatments that can be given to the cat in the form of a pipette or a pill. There are many ways that will protect the cat from fleas and kill the ones on it. But in the event that it has also left them around your house and they get back on it. Since these types of treatments have a long lasting effect, they also kill the fleas and also help you clean the environment. And another very important thing, if you see that your cat has fleas, you should also deworm it internally because, well, I don't know if you've seen it because it's a Fairly old video on the channel, but as I've told you here on the channel, fleas transmit intestinal worms, and that's why we have to remove them from the cat at the same time as the fleas. The second reason, also very common, is that you see that your cat scratches a lot in this area and even loses hair here. What does that mean? Well, your cat is mainly scratching its ears. Sometimes cats suffer from otitis, which is an inflammation of the ears. It can be caused by bacteria, fungus, fungi, or even mites, which are practically extraterrestrial beings due to their shape, that live inside your cat's ear canal. Those little spiders are there all day eating the skin of your cat's ear, and that itches like crazy. That makes the cat scratch that area compulsively. And what leads you to suspect that your cat has otitis, whether due to bacteria, fungus or mites? Well, it produces a lot of earwax. A little tip that I'm going to give you to be a little more suspicious of mites is that earwax is much darker in color. It's practically, I tell people to think of it as Nutella or Nocella. It's practically that color, even darker. But sometimes cats that suffer from otitis due to mites have mites all over their body. Because many cats sleep curled up. When they rest their head on the back of their body, the mites from their ear colonize that area, too. And that's why the back of their ear can itch too. That's really interesting. In these cases, especially if it's due to mites, you'll need to start a treatment that your vet will recommend. But I want to warn you right away that you don't just have to treat the cat that you see is suffering from it at the moment, but all the cats in the house, if it lives with other cats, of course, because if you don't get rid of them, they'll just keep getting passed from cat to cat, and in the end, they'll end up playing like ping pong. You'll get rid of them from one, which is very hard, believe me, and they'll show up on the other, and in the end you'll get rid of them from the other and they'll show up on the first one, and that's going to be a mess. And now let's move on to the more complex causes of your cat itching. In certain areas of its body, allergies are the most important, if you can put it that way, both atopic skin and food allergies. You'll even see it in cats that suffer from asthma, because after all, asthma is a type of allergic manifestation. And if your cat's body itches due to an allergy, it will scratch itself, well, anywhere, because the allergy is not just localized in one place. And normally you won't realize at first that it is scratching, but because it will do it with its tongue as if it were grooming itself. And cats can be allergic to the food they eat, also to substances in your home, for example, dust, pollen, which we can't control. They can also be allergic to flea bites. And then that is a problem, because if a flea gets on its skin and bites it, it will react twice or three times more than it normally would. But how can you suspect that your cat is allergic? Well, because its body is sending you some messages that you may not be interpreting correctly. The clearest of all is that its skin may itch, which is what we are talking about in this video, itching. But allergic cats are also cats that suffer from otitis from time to time. Once again, the cat has its ears all tangled up. Once again, it is time to go to the vet, because that could be a message. And another of those little messages that your cat's body is sending you is if sometimes more or less periodically, its poop starts to be a little softer that you see in the litter box. Well, when it compacts, it is not so shapely, but rather a little more lumpy. That is also a sign of an allergy. And another manifestation of an allergy can be, for example, asthma. Asthmatic cats may also be allergic to other things. In other words, as you can see, the allergy somewhat involves the entire body of the cat, not just the outside, but also the inside. In many of these cases, you will end up taking your cat to the vet for one of the other problems. And sometimes the vet will tell you, well, your cat needs to change its food. And you might say, but why should I change my cat's food if it's causing its skin to itch? Well, precisely because the food can be behind the allergy. Many of the components found in cat food tend to cause allergies, including chicken, beef, and even some foods that contain dairy products. And if your cat is allergic to, write down these recommendations that will come in handy. Seriously, don't keep changing the type of food you give it all day long. If you give it food that's good for it, don't keep changing it all day long. Don't even give it treats and don't mix it with anything else because that way the cat will be much more controlled and won't have those allergy flare ups. You can use some things that will help your cat show fewer allergies. For example vacuum cleaners with EPA filters. These types of filters trap a large part of the allergens that are in your home and therefore prevent them from floating around and ending up affecting your catch in your home. Curtains, blankets, carpets on the floor and all these types of things. The fewer the better, especially if your cat is allergic to pollen or dust mites because these fabrics are the perfect home for these bugs and pollen too. And I'll continue with cleaning. Wash your cat's cushion, blanket, bed well, all those things that your cat has a lot of contact with, a lot. I would recommend that you do it once a week. At least twice would be great because that will help a lot and deworm your cat a lot, which is essential to prevent its skin from itching. And that's it for allergies. And if you want to know more about bald spots and what can cause bald spots in your cat, I'm going to leave you this video that we already made on the channel so that you can go ahead and take a look when you finish watching this one, please. Well, that's it. These are the main reasons why your cat is scratching like crazy. Has your cat had any episodes of itching on its body? Have you taken it to the vet? Did they tell you what was happening to it? Did it scratch in a different way? Let me know in the comments so that we can all find out. And that's it for today's video. If you liked it, give it a like and share it with everyone. Remember to subscribe to our channel if you haven't already. And also remember to subscribe to our secondary channel, questions and Answers from a Veterinarian, which is also here on YouTube. Go ahead, subscribe, give it a like, click the bell icon and everything in general. And today we meet Camilo with that captivating gaze, who lives with Isabel Salazar in Peru. And Maribel Chacon introduces us to Kananu and asks us if he's not very cute taking his nap. And we say goodbye to Matt and Michael, although they affectionately call them Tiger and Bunny. And they live with Atenes Alan Rodriguez in Peru. Thank you very much for following the Pets and Happy Families Channel and I'll see you in the next video. Wait, wait. I also have a preparation here or here on the Wolf and you don't know very well why? Well, that's what I had to say. You won't believe why your cat scratches itself. It's true. That mouthwash is disgusting. Huh? How disgusting? You pour the hydrogen peroxide on top of the paper. You're not going to pour it on the cat. And let's go.

Ah, okay, okay.

Let's start there, shall we? Okay. Yes. Well, I can say it in any order I want. Are you asking me?

Let's pick up here. Yeah, but then how do I handle this thing where the hair falls out from some area? As you said, one sentence is practically done. Start from the beginning.

Then.

You always jump up and down in the script and I get lost. Make your cat have wait.

And how do you know Wait? I'm laughing. Well, wait. That's what we're going to do now. Well, and tell me if you see the dot. It's in that video, right? Duck. Don't you remember? It's from the teeth. Wow. I don't even know what's going on on my channel. Yeah.