Bald patch on cat

[clarey22]

Hi, we noticed a bald patch on our cat yesterday and not sure how it happened. We did discover a hairball on the same day so not sure if she has pulled the hair out herself, however the patch is on the bottom of her neck/top of back so think it would have been tricky to get to herself. She is an indoor cat so won't have caught it on fence etc. Not sure whether to take to vet or try bathing the area as it looks a bit sore. Have put a couple of pics up and just looking for advice. Thanks for your help.

[Crewella]

You've not had her vaccinated recently, have you?

It does look a bit scabby and sore .... it looks to be more than a bit of hair pulled out. I must admit I'd be tempted to take her down to the vets to rule out something like ringworm, just to be on the safe side.

[nannymcfee]

Has she recently been treated with a flea spot on treatment?

[clarey22]

No, not been recently vaccinated or flea'd. The skin does look a little wet so didn't whether to bathe it with warm water to clean? She doesn't flinch when I try to look or groom her and appetite is still good.

[nannymcfee]

Could it be feline miliary dermatitis

this can be caused by fleas,mites,ringworm or an allery to enviroment /and or foodstuffs.

Especially as it looks wet, could be a bacterial infection, i would go to vet to be sure, to be on safe side.

This is what it looks like.

[Jan]

This looks just like the patch Blackie had on his neck recently. Fortunately, I spotted the thinning before he'd managed to scratch his skin to make it sore. As Blackie had a bout of miliary dermatitis from just one flea bite last summer, I took him straight to the vets. She couldn't find any fleas this time, but as we'd just returned from being away from our house in Kent for 4 months and I'd immediately had an allergic reaction to the dust that had settled, she thought Blackie was quite possibly having the same reaction - manifesting itself in him scratching his fur out. He didn't lose his appetite - and I think I was more upset about fur loss than he was!

The vet gave him 2 injections - Covenia + Dexafort which seemed to clear the problem up - at the same time telling us to spray the house with Indorex to kill the dust mites. Blackie is now fine and I stopped sneezing too!

In no way suggesting your home is dusty, clary22 - but your cat might be like ours, hypersensitive to its environment and/or just one flea bite. As the vet told me, cats can reach round to areas where you think they can't. Might be worth checking the cat into the local vet.

Hope your cat's fur soon grows back.

[Lallum]

Magic had the same thing. The injections mentioned earlier did work but not for long. About every 2 weeks she had to go back for more. I was initially told it was fleas but having cleaned the house until it squeaked, and closely examined two cats. not one flea was found. The vet suggested a hypoallergenic diet so I tried it. It has been great. I bought the dried food over the internet and she liked it plus it was cheaper than the food she was getting. Win, win. She now has a lovely coat with no patches.

Have you looked at her stomach? Magic's stomach was a mess but we didn't see it because she lives outside most of the time. At one point the vet thought it might be an allergy to a plant in the garden.It was only when it appeared on her neck I thought to take her to the vet.

[Cussypat1974]

Go to the vet of you can. Refuse covenia because you can. There is no reason in this world to administer tht particular drug to a house cat.

[Jan]

Go to the vet of you can. Refuse covenia because you can. There is no reason in this world to administer tht particular drug to a house cat.

Can you tell me why? Blackie has had it twice since we've been looking after him - with, as far as I know, no ill effects. But if you know of them, I'd be grateful to hear. Thanks.

[sazzlepopz]

Hello everyone,
I have tried to attach a picture of Bess's back legs and sides.
She started of with a small patch which has become huge as you can see.
She has been to the vet, dewormed and treated for fleas. I've tried putting a collar on her then a baby gro but she slips out of both. She had the initial patch in October, which I put down to stress of being seprated while I went on holiday with my then partner whom treated Bess like a baby. He moved out shortly after.
Bess hasn't changed in personality and still gets along with the two other cats who are healthy but spend a lot more time outdoors. I think it is stress related but apart from distraction and TLC I do not know what to do. One vet has suggested that I do not worry to much as long as her skin is healthy, which it is at the moment. The vet has suggested an expensive food trial which I can't afford.
Today I unplugged my air freshener diffuser just in case its a trigger and I'm going to replace it with a pheromone scent.
I just wondered of anyone has seen or heard about anything similar.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Cussypat1974]

Jan, if Blackie has had Convenia before then he should be fine having it again. The only problem with it is that if ere IS an allergic reaction (like any of us can get to any drug) it is impossible to remove it from the system. If you are allergic to penicillin and take a tablet of it, you will be sick and be treated, and it will leave your system in a day. If you get a shot of it that lasts for 2 weeks, you will be in serious trouble!

That's why I said housecat. For a feral being released convenia may be the best option, as otherwise they would die. But a pet cat can be polled, or given a 3 day injection and repeated. A least then you'd only be battling the allergic reaction for 3 days!

[Jan]

Jan, if Blackie has had Convenia before then he should be fine having it again. The only problem with it is that if ere IS an allergic reaction (like any of us can get to any drug) it is impossible to remove it from the system. If you are allergic to penicillin and take a tablet of it, you will be sick and be treated, and it will leave your system in a day. If you get a shot of it that lasts for 2 weeks, you will be in serious trouble!

That's why I said housecat. For a feral being released convenia may be the best option, as otherwise they would die. But a pet cat can be polled, or given a 3 day injection and repeated. A least then you'd only be battling the allergic reaction for 3 days!

Thanks for the clarification.

Unfortunately we had to take him to the vets again a few days ago because I'd noticed him scratching and a bald spot with red marks had appeared on one of his shoulders - quite apart from the fact that he'd been biting himself down below and I was horrified to find how much fur he'd taken off when I held him up to have a look.

I queried the Head vet's decision to give Blackie another dose of Covenia + Dexafort - but when she said 'well, it worked the last time', I couldn't argue over that - it had. And it did again almost immediately. As soon as we got Blackie home, the scratching seemed to stop, he was happier, and just like his old self. He was also happy that night to sleep on his own in the small bedroom, whereas he'd been rushing into our bedroom to sleep on our bed, as if he didn't want to be left alone at night. He seemed all round a much more relaxed cat - the itching must have driven him mad ... poor little soul. I should have picked up on it sooner.

The vet says she believes the itching is caused by 'seasonal allergy' which wouldn't surprise me as we live in what was once a wood with lots of original trees, bushes, grasses etc. I also suffer from allergies to our environment so we're a pair well matched

[Cussypat1974]

I would be more worried about using dexafort long-term than the convenia (now you know he isn't allergic). If it is a seasonal allergy and he just needs a steroid now and en, that's grand, but I wouldn't use them long-term if the itching continues. Steroids are WONDERFUL things, but in moderation!

I'm not trying to second guess your vet. If it is a seasonal allergy then using dex once or twice a year won't cause any harm (I had them myself when I had pneumonia and the relief was FANTASTIC!) but I certainly wouldn't put him on them long term.

Steroids are great though, I have no doubt that he was feeling far better in no time!

[Jan]

The vet also thinks that long-term use of steroids isn't a good idea either. She gave him a shot of Delvosteron last year for his persistent scratching after the another vet at the same practice had given him two other steroid injections (on separate occasions) which failed to work.

Within 3/4 days the scratching seemed much less and by the time we took him back for the 2nd shot, he was well on the road to recovery.

I definitely don't want him to have repeated steroid injections but neither do I want him to be so uncomfortable/miserable with his itchy skin.

[Cussypat1974]

Of course he has to be kept comfortable or he will tear himself apart. Steroids have a great place in medicine, but are overused by a minority of vets. It doesn't sound like yours falls into that category

I once rescued a colony, and one cat had AWFUL skin from inflammation. He also had sever chronic flu, and his eyeballs had already burst from uveitis caused by untreated catflu. Steroids were NOT an option as they decrease immunity, and the flu would have taken over and killed him. We tried NSAIDs to no avail. Steroids WOULd have cured his skin trouble in a week, but they would have killed him too. We almost had him PTS, because honestly, the skin looked like it had been burned (before going to the vet I actually thought he had gotten into battery acid from a car or someone had scalded him. It was painful to even LOOK at him)

Ww decided to give him one last chance with the NSAIDs and at the same time I switched to a grain free food. His skin was cured COMPLETELY and he lived for another year and a half or so, before finally going in his sleep on the straw bed in our garage. I would have SHOVELED the steroids into him for his skin though, if it hadn't been for his other problems.......