losing hair, scratching and chewing paws!

[Medusa]

[QUOTE=Catty1]Might be cheaper to use a Brita pitcher and filter for them? [
QUOTE]

That was going to be my suggestion. It's what I put in my fur posse's fountain and they all love it. As for the itching, etc., do you feel little bumps on their skin? I know you think you've ruled out fleas but my Creamsicle has a skin allergy and she did the same thing and lost a lot of hair, above her eyebrows, too. We still don't know what she's allergic to but she gets a depo shot when necessary and is on prednisolone. Maybe your crew has an allergic reaction to the water or some new treats?

[Emeraldgreen]

Thanks for the posts everybody. I did switch everyone back to the bottled water about 4 days ago and will keep them on it. We will be selling our house in the spring and we'll set up a water filter system at our new home, wherever that may be.
The thought about the food allergy is interesting because I did mix a new food in with their regular dry food 2 weeks ago. The standard mix that they used to get was Medi-Cal Preventive dry mixed half and half with Wellness Healthy Wise. The pet store was out of the Healthy Wise so I decided to try another Wellness and got the Salmon kibbles instead. But for the past 3 or 4 days though it has just been Preventive because I ran out of the other. I guess I didn't think of it because it never occurred to me that all of them would have the same allergy. But I guess it's possible. I suppose the easiest thing will be to see how they do on their regular Preventive/Wellness HealthyWise mix and see if it clears up. If not, it has to be something other than the food and water.
Maybe something in their litter has changed. We use the same kind as we have for years but maybe the content has somehow changed. We use a scoopable kind called Kitty Scoop made by Purina.
I'm still wondering about a Paddy connection because it would tie in with his overgrooming in that one area, maybe it is itchy and not behavioral? Also, he does have a few funny bumps on him in different sizes. There are never any increasing bumps, just the ones in the exact same spots. One of them is the size of a dime while others are quite a bit smaller. I asked the vet to look into his records from his old family and the file shows that they brought him to the clinic once years ago for alopecia on his inner thighs and the vet made notes about 'pustuals' (spelling?) on his skin. The family didn't opt for any kind of treatment. The couple of little bumps on his skin don't seem to bother him and after what happened with Charlie and having his lump removed and losing him I'm extremely wary of messing with it.
I think I'll google a few words like 'bumps, pustuals, chewing paws, losing hair, reddish skin" and see what I come up with.
Can you see rings on cat's skin with ringworm?

[Catlady711]

Ringworm is a skin fungus (a cousin to athelete's foot) and is so named because it frequently makes a circular ring patch of missing hair. A cat (or human) gets ringworm similar to athelete's foot in humid moist conditions. We frequently see more ringworm cases at work during very rainy or humid weather. It can be contagious. The only way to know for sure it's ringworm is to have your vet look at it with an ultraviolet light called a Wood's light and do a skin scraping.

If the new cat had a bald area and the other cats didn't have a problem before this then I would be suspect of something contagious.

Also food allergies can take 2-3 months for the allergic reaction to go away even after the food has been eliminated. Your vet should be able to give them something for the itching relief in the meantime.

Revolution isn't going to help with ringworm or food allergies.

Your money might best be spent with a vet visit to determine exactly what is going on and the best method of treating it rather than spending money treating the wrong thing and the situation gets worse requireing more expensive treatements later on because of waiting.

[Emeraldgreen]

Thanks for the response Catlady. I probably should take one of them to the vet as you mentioned. Stinky, who has it the worst isn't my first choice to bring in though because she has the herpes virus and anytime she is put in a stressful situation the virus breaks out in full scale and she becomes quite ill. The last time I took her to the vet to have her anal glands emptied she was sick for weeks afterward from the virus. There is a vet that comes to the area I live in and makes house calls throughout the day to the community. I might find out her next date for visiting and line something up. I'll have to find out if she is able to do skin scraping etc.. while being mobile. Also, this way, she could have a quick look at all the cats and compare their symptoms.
In the meantime, I will keep them on bottled water and their usual food that they are used to eating.
I had been thinking the issue might have something to do with mites which is why I had considered using Revolution. But that could be something the mobile vet could look for as well.
I did think of one other thing earlier today that might be the cause. We have been painting inside our house. One room at a time and each time we painted one of the cats rooms, we would move them out of it and keep them out for 2 days and then put them back in after we had left all the windows open and really aired it out and when it smelled normal to us. But, maybe they are much more sensitive to it than we are and what we don't smell in the air, may be an irritant to them. I googled 'chewing paws' and found some information about irritating inhalents that can cause such a reaction. Thankfully, we are completely finished with all the painting. Just finished yesterday.

[columbine]

Also food allergies can take 2-3 months for the allergic reaction to go away even after the food has been eliminated.

Whoa! I didn't know that. So maybe Smudge just can't eat tuna (I was worried it had hypersensitized him to all fish, and a Smudge without fish is a sad kitty!) That's REALLY useful information. Thank you!

Love, Columbine

[Catlady711]

Whoa! I didn't know that. So maybe Smudge just can't eat tuna (I was worried it had hypersensitized him to all fish, and a Smudge without fish is a sad kitty!) That's REALLY useful information. Thank you!

Love, Columbine

You're welcome. We went through this with Dusty when she started licking all the fur off her belly. To eliminate possibility of food allergy we had to get a prescription diet and that's all she could have for 3 months. Had to go so far as to get a baby gate for the kitchen so she couldn't get the other cats' food since she couldn't jump high enough to clear the gate. Turns out in her case it was an obsessive compulsive thing and she got to go back to her regular food and treats although she never did have hair on her belly again.

Bad thing is sometimes people find out the cause of the food allergy then after a while forget. There was a dog at our hospital quite a while back that had an allergy to dyes in foods. Things went well with the new dye free diet and dog's skin looked great until that Christmas when the neighbors gave them some red/green doggie bones. They gave him two bones and the allergy came back full force and it was like 9 weeks before the dog returned to normal even though they immediately stopped the treats after the itching started again.

[Nak4cats]

I agree with Cat Lady when she mentioned Ring Worm. This is a very contagious fungus and my youngest adoptee had it above his eyes and an inverted V on his forehead. He also had a spot on the back of his neck. Because we have a 19 year old, we had to really be careful and he was segregated for about 2 months. All he knew was a little room but in the end he has bonded with us quite well and is very loving. Ring Worm can take while to heal but I didn't go for the dipping. Too chemical for me. I just used an ointment twice a day and because he was getting good food and gaining weight his immune system got stronger. I think having a vet take a skin scraping is your best bet, before you try using any chemicals thinking it is fleas. Don't buy any ring worm medicine unless it is diagnosed as that is not a good thing to do.
Good luck with your babies. They are dependent yet independent. What would we do without them.