feline ideopathic ulcerative dermatitis

Has anyone any experience with feline ideopathic ulcerative dermatitis and if so is there any known treatment or management please?

Hello.  As my old lecturers used to like to say, 'idiopathic' means that these idiots dont know what the pathology is ie they dont know whats causing it, which makes idiopathic ulcerative dermatitis (typically a patch on the back of the neck) hard to come up with a single catch-all treatment for.  Indeed, it is possible that different cases have different causes and are thereby treated in different ways.

Possible causes for itchy patches of ulceration on the back of the neck that look like this, include fleas, allergies, flea allergies, mites, eg demodex, trauma, hypersensitivity, autoimmune disease, neurological abnormalities and epilepsy.  Usually a vet will rule these out as far as possible before either referring to an expert / dermatologist, or trying to treat the symptoms.  I have heard of acupuncture being successful in some cases, but because a variety of causes may be implicated in cases that answer the description, responses can vary.  I hope that your vet can work systematically with you and your cat to find a response.

Please do let us know what is found.

(Please note - 'idiopathic' really means that the cause is not known / cannot be known - there are no idiots involved here, 'the idiots dont know what the pathology is' is a very old accademic joke but not a translation).

Liz, thank you so much for your response. Unfortunately this is a foster cat via the RSPCA and I have been recommended multiple times that euthanasia is the best option. I do not want to go down this route until I have exhausted all options. Other than this condition (which does improve then relapse) he is a super happy and relaxed cat and I only think it's fair to try and find a way to either cure or manage. He's had skin scrapes, blood tests and biopsy and I have been advised this is as far as they will go with treatment. I have currently got him on a strict flea/mite treatment, starting a hypoallergenic diet, I've got air purifiers around the house, he's no competition, has constant access to food and a cat flap so I'd like to rule out behavioural issues. I've seen a few research papers that have used topiramate and a few other drugs to successfully manage but I'm wondering if there are any recommended dermatologists or vets who are potentially more experienced in this area who I could possibly take him to. My plan is to adopt him and give him a fighting chance but ideally go straight to someone who has experience treating it or the potential causes beyond what I've tried already. I will look into the acupuncture route as well thank you.

Cool - that sounds to give your cat the best chance.  What you could do in this case is to ask the vets dealing with things at the moment, to refer the patient to someone appropriate.  RSPCA vets don't get to do referrals much because of the nature of their work, but they will know or find out who the best local skin specialists vets are and write them a letter(email, these days).   Always - whatever your own financial situation - have an honest conversation about finance with the referral vet on day one.  This will help you to get the best out of them regarding value for money - and an opinion on how likely they are to be able to help.  Please will you let us know know how you get on in the end?

If the RSPCA vets can't help re: a dermatologist, it is sometimes useful to call one or two private practices and ask who they send their specialist skin cases to.  Some vets even have an in-house person or someone with a special interest in the subject just doing a certificate, which can be like finding gold-dust.

If the RSPCA vets can't help re: a dermatologist, it is sometimes useful to call one or two private practices and ask who they send their specialist skin cases to.  Some vets even have an in-house person or someone with a special interest in the subject just doing a certificate, which can be like finding gold-dust.

If the RSPCA vets can't help re: a dermatologist, it is sometimes useful to call one or two private practices and ask who they send their specialist skin cases to.  Some vets even have an in-house person or someone with a special interest in the subject just doing a certificate, which can be like finding gold-dust.  

Thank you so much Liz. I've found a dermatologist not too far away so I might contact them directly. My other idea was Liverpool university but will need to register him at a local vet first to get a referral.   I'll come back and update as things progress