Please help! Does my cat have a skin condition or just stress? Is losing fur : (

[Daphnegreycat]

Hi all,
Our 18 month old BSH went into a cattery over August Bank holiday weekend and hasn't been the same since.
She came out with a scratch/sore on the back of her neck and has since been scratching it so it's got bigger and worse. She's now losing hair all around the infected area.
Our vet is stumped, however. She's had two steroid injections and creams but it's getting work. Third trip to the vet and are says the cat is stressed so recommends a very costly pet behaviourist to come to the house... But at her visit the behaviourist says it must be a skin issue (but is helping us anyway)
Now the area has gone from a wound the size of a 50p to the size of my fist so we go to another vet for a 2nd opinion. A lot of the research online points to ringworm and he's not size use but prescribes Daktarin anyway and suggest we go to a pet dermatologist.... these guys charge hundreds.
I'm so upset and don't know how to help the little one. She's on James Wellbeloved grain free hypoallergenic wet and dry food but should I change it?
Any ideas very welcome. We're desperate to do the right thing and worried that more vets trips are only adding to the stress for her.
Thank you

[Kay]

two thoughts - both rather obvious though - have you used any spot-on treatments on the place where the fur has been lost? and have any vaccinations been given on that site?

my Tiffany used to get a large bald spot and a nasty sore on the site of her annual vaccination spot, but it cleared up over a couple of months - probably because she didn't try to scratch it - perhaps it's time to concentrate on stopping her scratching the site rather than chucking more medications at it?

[Daphnegreycat]

Thanks for commenting!
I have been thinking about this. She had her spot on flea treatment on August 26 before going to the cattery so it could be the cause..but obviously we are now in December and it's so much worse. She is scratching it and making it bleed so it's obviously irritating her. The vet gave us a little surgical jumper for her to wear which would stop her being able to scratch the wound but it made her so sad and miserable. We gave her a break for a week and took it off and she scratched so bad..so now it's back to square one. They also recommended something called soft paws which we bought but she kicked up such a panic we couldn't get them on her.
Annual vacs were in early June so can't be that.
Any other thoughts greatly appreciated x

[Janey]

My cat gets a sore on her neck if she’s been bitten, she suffers with a flea allergy, if we don’t treat her every month during the summer with Advocate. We have had to use a comfy collar on her to stop her biting and scratching in the past, have you tried one of those? We bought ours from Amazon. It inflates and our cat didn’t seem to mind it at all, infact she rested her head on it like a pillow. The collars will only work depending on where the sore is though.

[Daphnegreycat]

Thanks janey, we did try a soft collar from amazon but the rim lays right on her sore bit! So seemed to irritate her even more.
She's an indoor cat so I've not flea-ed her since that last time in August. Vet checked her thoroughly and no fleas there.

Could she have picked up some sort of parasite in the cattery??

[Kay]

seems to me you are going to have to find a way to stop her scratching the sore place so that you can determine once and for all if the scratching is the problem now or if there is still an underlying problem - scabby places itch regardless of what caused the wound in the first place

have you scoured the web for suggestions? there probably is a solution out there, but you will, I'm afraid, probably have to make her miserable to make her better














ld

[Daphnegreycat]

seems to me you are going to have to find a way to stop her scratching the sore place so that you can determine once and for all if the scratching is the problem now or if there is still an underlying problem - scabby places itch regardless of what caused the wound in the first place

have you scoured the web for suggestions? there probably is a solution out there, but you will, I'm afraid, probably have to make her miserable to make her better














ld

Thanks key. So do you think we should persevere with the soft claws and the sweater? Can't think of another way to stop her scratching

[bobbys girl]

I don't know whether it will help, or make matters worse, but I'm very wary of what I use on Bob and try to avoid 'chemical' spot-ons etc. I have found lavender oil very effective at keeping fleas and ticks away (use like a spot-on).

Before I discovered this, I had used Advocate, which he had a reaction to - and THEN he still came in with not one but three ticks! His poor neck and ears were all scabby and he was scratching a lot. I tried coconut oil, massaged in while I was fussing him. It soothed the skin and he stopped scratching. Coconut is anti almost anything (microbial, biotic, viral) and a very good moisturiser. Purdy will lick it off a spoon if she gets the chance. It works for us and might, as Kay said, help you find out whether there is an underlying cause for the scratching.

[Kay]

I wouldn't bother with soft claws myself, as if there is an infection present she could spread it this way - ideally you want the air to reach the wound which might not be possible with the sweater, or is it breathable? the comfy collar seems the best bet to me, with something soothing on the sore spot, such as bobby's girl suggests, to stop it chafing

she may well resist at first, but that might be because she doesn't like any constraint rather than that it hurts her, and she will get used to it given time

lord knows I understand the difficulty in having to be the source of further distress, but it will be worth it for you and her if it does the trick, and if it doesn't make any difference you will at least have learnt that the soreness is not being caused by her scratching

incidentally, I don't find vets the best source of nursing advice - when it comes to dressings the vet nurses are often better equipped to offer advice, so might be worth approaching directly

[Joaobeneditosimoes]

In my opinion, if you don't know what to do, you'd better spent some hundreds in a cat dermathologist.
If its getting worse you need to stop it as soon as possible.
If you think logically its the right thing to do to make sure of what is really causing that.
Best luck with your angel.

[Lilith]

Hi there and welcome. Very sorry to hear about your girl's problem; this sort of irritation can be horrendous and very frustrating.

At the risk of TMI ...

Around 30 years ago I had a cat with a similar problem on his stomach, arising from licking an operation incision (benign fatty lump) and if I left the poor guy's cone off (I too felt so sorry for him, misguidedly I know) he would attack the slightest bare patch and be back to square one. i'd been put in touch with a homeopathic vet, who didn't live in this area and who never actually saw George, but we talked over the phone, pretty intensively; he must have known what questions to ask, because he posted the remedies to me - and they worked. Even with the cone off.

I'm not a terrific complementary medicine freak; to my mind homeopathy works differently with each patient, animal or human, but I have witnessed some excellent results, including my ex-partner's treatment for a nervous eczema. (From a local homeopath, not a vet! )

The remedies are easy to use once you get used to them; with animals it's usually tiny crystals that you sprinkle into a cat's mouth as they must be absorbed by the mucous membranes, not tipped down the patient's throat, and they mustn't be touched by hand or mixed with food. I used to take a small square of thick paper, fold it diagonally, pour the dose on to the crease and use it like a funnel. Once the cat realised I wasn't going to attack its mouth with this object it would be patient; the crystals taste mildly sweet, if at all.

Your vet may know of a homeopathic vet in the area; otherwise Google could be useful. Some vets practise complementary medicine alongside traditional.

It wasn't that expensive either.

So, while not wanting to overload you with suggestions, thought I'd mention this, and in case anyone with a cat with a similar problem might be reading too.

Whatever treatment you decide on and whatever the cause, all the very very best with her and I hope she gets some relief soon, poor lass, good luck!

[Daphnegreycat]

Thanks all,some really helpful advice here. I've been so upset but this has pointed me in the right direction for what to do.
I will have to stop praying it will go away on it's own and tackle this from all angles xxx

[WillowandChester]

Hello. My kittens have terrible skin problems. There are patches of hair missing and falling out leaving a crusty and dry appearance to the skin. They are only 10 weeks old and my black boy started before my other kitten. Now my other kitten is showing the same skin problem. Send off for skin samples and waiting on those results but have anti fungal wipes in the meantime. They are happy in themselves but the skin looks sore and unsightly.
Has anyone else experienced this? Will they get better?
Thanks

[vic23]

Hi Daphne,

You can buy a Hills prescription diet food for skin support - My cat has this food as it also helps with digestive problems. It is Hill Prescription d/d - it can be brought from the vets but is much cheaper online. It might be worth a try in conjunction with some of the other ideas people have suggested.

Best Wishes

Vic

[emmab]

Our Grany had Frontline and developed a burn mark on the back of his neck which became a scab as he kept scratching it. It didn't heal very well as he kept scratching it.

[Didi]

My sadly missed boy Milo was a very nervous cat and if something upset him he would groom his chest till it was bald, a couple of times he managed to get the area infected. Now it may be a Different initial cause but what I found helped wasa twice daily wash with some cat shampoo with honey in it and then rinse the area with clean water. The problem is the more it itches the more they scratch the worse it gets and it is a vicious cycle the daily bathing did take a couple of weeks but it must have been soothing because he was more than happy to let me do it even to the point of running to me and meowing as I was getting everything ready !

I think that by trying to break that cycle of itch/scratch you give the skin chance to heal. Milo also suffered from feline acne for a while before I switched all his bowls to ceramic or metal and that same wash/rinse process worked on that as well, I wouldn't need to soak the fur I mixed the shampoo with warm water in one of those foil take away containers you can get for freezing food and have another one with just warm water and then using some gauze which was squeezed until it was just damp I would just wipe the area, now Milo wasn't a cat who liked water but was more than happy to let me do this purely I think because it eased the itch