Cat rash

We have had this kitten since March and seemed to have had a belly rash since we got her from the shelter. Because she is extremely shy we didn"t notice it until 2 weeks after she got home and we noticed it when she liked her belly in front of us. We took her in to a vet and she was given given Braveco Plus (fluralaner and moxidectin) as directed. Each dose is supposed to last 2 months. In between she has had 1:1 apple cider vinegar dips and it seems to help a little. Definitely more than the treatment. We have an outside cat that comes in the evenings and has also been treated preventively but he has no symptoms. Her rash continues and she scratches her ears and licks and bites her belly to the point of bleeding. She is 7 months old. We are now thinking a sulfur dip might help more and ear mite treatment since we saw dark wax in her ear and some bleeding on the outside of the ear from her scratching. Poor little kitten. We just want her to have some relief.

Hello!   I am going to waffle for a bit, but hopefully you will see why it is relevant.   When an animal comes in with a problem like 'itching' or 'bad skin,' there is usually a long list of things that it could be.  Some of the things are a lot more likely than others and some of the things are a lot more easy to treat than others.  Fleas, for example, are responsible for a high percentage of skin rashes (I would guess up to 70% at some practices) and the treatment for them is relatively quick and inexpensive.  Allergies are also common, but a lot less straightforward to treat (they are indeed a chronic disease that has to be lived with, so cannot be magically 'cured' in a vets' room, but controlled over time with regular visits).  So.  If I am working as a vet and someone brings me an itchy animal that isn't up to date on their flea treatment, I will ALWAYS make sure that they have appropriate flea treatment, that will kill every last flea (unlike a lot of over-the-counter products), first.  And that this is being given at the recommended dose and frequency.  I know that up to 70% of cases (depending on the practice) will get better from that alone.  However, if this is not working, the next step would be to look at other triggers for allergy, at mites, at bacteria from the cats' claws etc. etc.  Unfortunately fleas are the easiest skin diseases to treat: allergies, as I said, can be chronic (life-long, recurring) and may need drugs to control them long-term.  No vet is going to banish an allergy in a single vets' visit.    So..... back to the point.  It sounds as though you took this problem to the vets and a treatment was given, which has been successful (so perhaps fleas were involved) but only up to a point.  So:  the next step would be to go back to your vets, continuing to use the flea treatment, to discuss the picture that you are left with and your vet will help you to understand why your current regime might not be working (be it frequency or dose, or concurrent allergy, or mites or other problems) and to take matters from there.  Few GPs ever cure a patient in a single doctor's trip and certainly vets seldom do when the problem is itchy skin.  Skin diseases are often long-lasting. Luckily, there are vets who specialize in skin disease if referral is required.  Wishing you the best of luck.

PS Just to point out, that ears are skin down a hole.  Ear disease is therefore a mild early-warning sign of skin disease.  It was once believed that little mites exclusive to the ears cause ear disease, but this is known not to be true now.  Rather, ear-mites do live harmlessly in normal ears and proliferate when a lot of wax forms due to ear / skin disease, but they are rarely the cause of the problem.  Vets knowledge of skin disease has improved a lot of over the years and so have the treatments available;  we would strongly encourage you to keep going back to your vets.