Our cat is itchy, grooms and scratches excessively to the point of self harm
Let me just preface this by saying that I've already been to the vet. More on that below.
The reason I'm asking here first of all rather than r/AskVet/ is that they don't allow online diagnosis. I'm not strictly looking for that, in fact I'm not really sure what I'm looking for other than advice. If you think what I'm posting here would be okay over there, I'll be sure to ask them as well.
First, a little backstory.
I live with my brother and we have a cat that is now around 2½ years old. Last Christmas, our landlord sold the property and we were forced to move out. By the time summer had ended, we still hadn't been able to find a new apartment that allowed pets, so when an offer finally dropped, we didn't have much choice to accept it. We moved there in early October, having lived in a summer house in the meantime.
The new place is nice, but it has one big caveat: It's on the second floor, and while the stairs are outside, there's no real suitable way to install a cat flap. A little handiwork would perhaps allow for an outside cat staircase to be constructed, but then it turns out that free roaming pets aren't even allowed in the area.
As you can probably guess, up until this point, our cat had been an outdoor cat. Understandably, he wasn't exactly thrilled with the new establishment, but eventually he came to terms with it. He used his litter box from day one, and I gave him plenty of treats to keep his mind off things, and all seemed well.
Then one day in late October, we come home to find that he suddenly has a bald spot on his back, right between his shoulders. Naturally I am worried, and call the vet as soon as possible. He tells me it's probably nothing to be worried about, but we're welcome to contact him again if it gets worse.
Several weeks pass. The bald spot scabs over. Initially it's a bit itchy, but at this point he only scratches it occasionally, and eventually the fur starts regrowing. Seems like the vet was right, and there was no reason to worry. After all, we had seen no signs of parasites or anything like that, in fact he seemed very healthy and comfortable, although we never did find out how he lost the hair in the first place. But as he had been inside the entire time, there isn't really much to go on, and we hadn't introduced anything new we believe could have caused it, nothing he hadn't been exposed to for the previous two years at the very least.
But then things took a turn for the worse.
About two weeks ago, maybe less, he started scratching again. A lot. What was previously a rather small patch of regrowing fur quickly became something akin to a skin and fur shooting target, with the bit of short fur regrowing in the middle and a large ring of bald skin around it. At first we tried trimming his claws, as they had grown a good deal while he was confined inside, but eventually it got so bad that we had to see the vet.
The vet took a quick look but said he wasn't really able to tell what caused it. He gave him two shots; one antibiotic and for relief, and gave us some cream to rub the area three times a day, all of which took about 10 minutes and cost us way more than we could afford. But we had no choice, we care after all.
I should note that during out drive there, he didn't complain nearly as much as he has done in the past. He seemed more concerned with looking out the car window at the surroundings that had been denied him. Now once again, he wants to go outside really badly and it may be causing him some stress that contributes to the issue.
It's been a little over a week since then. It feels like our cat has been increasingly irritated and miserable, opting to perch in high places and sit completely still for extended periods of time. When he's not doing that, he grooms and grooms, scratches and scratches. Not just on his back, but pretty much everywhere. Clearly it's not the itchy wounds - which at this point have been scratched bloody despite our best efforts to stop him - that are causing his misery.
He does seem to greatly enjoy having the cream applied, purring loudly and exposing his back to us. I guess it's like having someone else groom him in a place he can't reach on his own. But it doesn't stop him from scratching himself.
tl;dr: Cat is scratching himself for unknown reasons, preventing the healing of a mysterious bald spot and making it bigger and bloodier.
Before another expensive trip to the vet, we've discussed what could possibly be the cause. So far, we've scrapped the litter we used, as we did try a new brand during all of this. I'm really hoping this was the cause, as it's just about our only lead.
We're looking into changing his diet as well.
Finally, if all else fails, we might have to get him accustomed to a leash, if going outside is the only thing that can calm him down.
We're looking for any and all advice on what could possible be going on, or how to help him get better. Thanks for reading, and sorry for the wall of text. I'm really worried for our poor kitty.
Posted Nov 25, 2018, 9:19 PM UTC