Fiberglass Dermatitis

This is "Patches", a 3-years old kitty who is a total house-cat, unless she escapes (which happens rarely).

Three weeks ago, the owners had some kitchen vent-hood problems. An opening was created, allowing the cat access (via a series of jumps) to the attic crawlspace. The space is unfinished, with exposed joists and fiberglass bat insulation between the ceiling joists.

When recovered from the attic, she became intensely itchy, excoriating herself and losing hair. Over a couple of weeks, she recovered about 90% and was doing much better. Five days ago she gained access to the attic again. The itching exploded.  She has some mild spots of hair loss and scabbing (from self-trauma) on top of her neck and rump, also the lower hind legs. Those areas are similar to the facial area in the picture.

Take a look at her belly, though.  If that doesn't make you hurt, you just have no empathy at all.  Her tail is even worse.  She's been biting holes in it.

I believe that fiberglass is the likely culprit. I know that I get really itchy if I just handle the stuff a little bit.  In searching Veterinary Information Network, I could only find a few cases mentioned.  They suggested that you might be able to find the glass fibers by doing a skin scraping (like you would for mange mites) or by using clear tape to lift little thingies from the skin.  I tried a skin scraping and found nothing. A scotch-tape preparation yielded some debris that might be fiberglass and might be anything, really.

I went up to the clinic attic and gathered the little glob of fiberglass in the picture.  My fingers itched for an hour afterward.  I cut off a little to look at under the microscope. My eyepiece cam is low resolution, so this won't show up well. The heavy dark line at lower left is one of my own human hairs. 

The salient information is that the fibers were of dramatically different shapes and sizes. Some looked straight and stiff, others coiled up. Some were three times as thick as others. Some had little globules, like nits, along their length, others did not.

In short, you could take virtually any linear debris from the cat's skin and find a fiberglass fiber that resembled it.  So did I get fiberglass from the cat?  Is fiberglass the problem?

One of the dermatologists I consulted with says that her own cat gets in the attic and plays with the insulation and has no problems at all.  On the other hand, there were other case reports of fiberglass-associated dermatitis available... and my own hand itching for an hour after barely touching the stuff.

Treatment-wise, the only suggestions I found in my research were topical cortisone and tincture of time (three weeks to grow a new layer of skin?).  I gave her a little dexamethasone injection and sent home DermaCool HC for topical use several times daily. She is to come in for a recheck after two days. I may have to bandage the tail, get an e-collar and add antibiotics.  I've sure got to do something.  She looks tough.

Comments

[Elizabeth Mozo]

What do you do for a german shephard with Fiberglass Dermatitis?

[Gerald]

Does (or did, given the how long ago this was posted) your neighbor's cat have longer fur? I'm in East Oregon and have been looking after a stray with long fur. It's been snowing the past week and the cat has been showing up with bits of insulation in its fur. So apparently it finds some kind of shelter when I'm at work...I'm just hoping the insulation isn't too harmful because this cat will not tolerate grooming, and I've tried it with metalworking gloves and puncture sleeves...

[Doc]

Hello, Gerald,
The cat had your basic domestic short-hair (aka "alley cat")short cat hair.

It's direct contact with skin and fibers that causes the irritation. They are prickly.

They'll fester out eventually. If the cat isn't traumatizing itself, I wouldn't expect any problems.

[Ruth Rackley]

I have a collie that go in contact with insulation and just layed in it. He started itching and also pulling his hair out and biting himself. We took him to the vet and he gave him a steroid injection. It seemed to help but it is worse now. What can I do at home to make him better. He is a yard dog & doesn't come in the house at all.

[Doc]

Hello, Ruth,
If you haven't already given him a good bath, you should do that.

Benadryl may help a little, sometimes it just makes them too sleepy to scratch, but at least the dog gets some rest. Check with your veterinarian for an appropriate dose.

It will take some time for the fibers to work their way out. I don't know anything else to do right now.

[Tk]

I adopted a 14 year old rescue jack Russell who had been kept as an outdoor dog. The owners provided her with a fiberglass insulation lined doghouse. She has large patches of tough darkened skin. Red and black belly. The edges of her ears are black and crunchy. She does have other issues that could contribute to her skin but I'm convinced the years of fiberglass are the primary culprit. I have a specialty shampoo and we've gotten her a cytopoint shot but haven't seen much relief. Any suggestions for giving this old lady some relief that she deserves?

[Doc]

Hello, TK,

Black crunch ears sounds like a vasculitis problem - inflammation of the small blood vessels. I would recommend a biopsy of the affected areas. The fiberglass might be part of the problem, but usually you have to have direct skin contact with it, and I don't think the edges of the ears would be getting much contact.