For more than a year now, our cat has been in and out of a cone because she keeps tearing up the flesh in front of her ear. We’ve taken her to the vet several times, they give us a different answer each time and whatever the solution the provide it ultimately does nothing. Ears are clean, no fleas, no obvious health issues. Anxiety meds just made her scratch lazily, antibiotics for cat scratch inflammation, did nothing. Topicals and antifungal, just make for slimey scabs. The best I’ve managed is using an anti itching cera-ve cream 4 times a day, but if I miss, there goes her face again.
We’re at a loss at this point. She’s otherwise very happy and loving, but it’s starting to take a toll. We have to baby proof the house because when she can’t scratch the spot she’ll just scratch it on box corners, table edges, the dish washer, etc. She can’t groom in the cone and when we try to brush her she just shoves her crusty wound on us to itch it. We love her so much and just want her better.
You can also try a clay-free litter like Feline Pine. It’s made of compressed sawdust pellets (like for a BBQ smoker) that swell and fall apart when they get wet. You need to develop a very different scooping technique with it though. Get a scoop with larger holes to let the pellets through and grab poop. Ideally get two litter trays that nest, and drill a bunch of holes in one. Leave them nested, then lift the inner and shake to let all the used/wet sawdust fall through, like a colander, and pour it into a trash bag.