Hello,

I'm new to the group. I have one very sick stray cat who has food allergies and
recurrent chin acne for at least 7 months. We haven't been able to figure out
the
right food yet. In the mean time, she's just miserable and itchy all the time.
I'm
having a hard time just trying to prevent things to progress to a secondary
infection.

She is a very sensitive cat and has been on too many steroid shots/pills and
other
meds. Seems like everytime I go to the vet, it's always to pick up more drugs
for her.
Sometimes there are so many of them, I have to line up the bottles just to make
sure I
give them correctly with the right amount and dosage.

To make a long story short, she just can't be on drugs all the time like she has
been.
It's not a way to live. I don't know what's best for her at this point, but
I'm hoping
someone can help me find an alternative holistic way to help her.

Here's some background on her:

Symptoms: Itching and scratcing 24/7. Redness & inflamtion on body and chin
area.
Black crusts developing like crazy everyday after a washing per day. I have to
keep
an E-collar on her 24/7 except for meal & bathroom time for fear she would
literally
mutilate herself from scratching; she licks at herself and pulls at her skin
until they
become raw. When it gets really bad, she has lack of sleep due to relentless
itching
all nite long.

Problem #1: Food allergies & chin acne sometimes leading to secondary
infection.

Problem #2: I tried 3 different vets all of which do not want to have anything
to do
with raw diets. Their treatment method is providing medication to take care of
the
infection, provide comfort, and tests to confirm what I already know which is
food
allergies - but they have contributed nothing to solve the real underlying cause
which
is food allergies. Well, one vet put her on a prescrition hypoallergenic diet
but even
being on this diet the chin acne and itch still does not go away. None of the
vets
even want to discuss raw diets. I tried to give a few slices of raw beef and
discovered
she's allergic to beef the hard way. I'm too "chicken" to try raw again.

As I am typing this in, I can hear her in the background trying to scratch but
she can't
because of the E-collar. If you can help or know someone who has been through
this
and could give me pointers, I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

Lisa