Itching Moggies Part Two

Poor Mollie has had a bad few days. She started itching on Saturday night and by yesterday morning had scratched great lumps of fur from her back. Poor darling looked as if she had eczema, so I whisked her off to the vet as soon as possible. Of course the first available visit wasn’t till 5.30 pm by which time I’d consulted various friends who gasped in horror and said, ‘Oh, Flowerpot. Poor Mollie!’

She did look pretty bad. Even I winced looking at her.

By the time 5.30 arrived I’d looked up eczema, mange and a variety of other skin disorders – cancer included – so you can imagine the state I was in. We got to the surgery which was full of yowling cats, but my weekly visits paid off and Moll just sat, then lay down at my feet and snoozed while I continued to hyperventilate.

The vet was young and Irish and very cheery, put up with Moll’s growling with amazing good nature and decreed that it was a hyperallergic reaction to a flea bite. As we’ve dosed her with Stronghold, that would rule out mange (she does roll in all sorts of ungodly things but the itching isn’t where mange would be), so that was another relief.

She’s now got some anti-inflammatory pills that she has to take a double dose of this week then cut it down to once a day next week, and that should do the trick. In fact she hasn’t itched since she came back so they must be working, and I am hugely relieved that it’s nothing more serious.

The only downside is that now she’s developed this hypersensitivity to flea bites, we have to be very careful it doesn’t happen again, so she must be topped up with Stronghold regularly.

Meanwhile, she looks as if she has galloping alopecia, poor darling. Luckily, given her innate sense of humour and smiling confidence, she carries on as if nothing’s the matter. What a girl!

And I leave you with a quote from my dear SIL that certainly applies to me and my Moll.

“If you have ever been called defiant, incorrigible, forward, cunning, insurgent, unruly, rebellious . . . you’re on the right track.” - Clarissa Pinkola Estes