Cat Chat Feline Forum

Dom has always suffered from dry & irritated skin since we adopted him as a stray almost 2 years ago. I havetaken him to the vet about it acouple of times, but they couldn't find anything obvious and suggested a possible food intolerance. The irritated skin on his neck improved a lot over time, but he still had dry patches ofskin on his back at time. Last week, his back felt quite scabby. I normally brush him with a ball-pin slicker to try to get undercoat out. A few days ago, I used a zoom groom, which got out loads of undercoat, but also seems to have stripped him bald on his back. I wonder if it is because he is too big to groom his back. Obviously I will take him to the vet if there is no improvement. The odd thing is, it doesn't seem to botherhim, although when I brush him, it can be sensitive at times. For the most part, he loves me brushing his back and I have to give in after 15 - 20 minutes and sometimes get a whack for daring to stop!

To give an idea, the patch on his back is about 5 inches long.

http://imgur.com/a/UgFtB

PS - a flea allergy crossed my mind. I have been a bit lax with Kylie being ill and losing her, but I gave him an advocate on Thursday (the previous time was about 8 weeks before then)

To me, that looks like a classic case of miliary eczema (those little scabs.) I owned an Alsatian in the days of the dreaded (and inefficient) Nuvan Top, and the poor girl was a martyr to cat fleas, the usual cause of this eczema (those scabs aren't flea bites but scabs, hence the name miliary from 'millet seed' ie speckled - useless fact for the day lol)...got on top of them and the eczema in the end but during the worst, her back was mainly bald and pitted. I don't say I was the most houseproud and methodical of people either when it came to defleaing and spraying the house (shame on me.)

So. Sounds like there could have been a flea or two about and you've probably zapped them but the eczema is taking a bit longer to go. With Hannah (Alsatian) the vet said that grooming was the best thing; it kept the skin free of scurf etc and stimulated fur growth.

Hope you don't have to have him to the vet's and that if this has been the case, the lurgy calms down by itself, good luck Dom

Thanks. As it isn't bothering him, I will give it a bit longer. I have also started putting Dermisol on the area

I've just had to have a flea blitz as well.

Hopefully, that's all it is and now that you've dealt with the fleas, the skin will go back to normal. xx

While not quite the same, my Mum's cat has something similar but only for about 2-3 weeks every June. It's basically been decided that it is an allergy reaction to something in the garden that is out during those few weeks. As it obviously irritates my Mum's cat and she ends up pulling her fur out she has an injection (not sure what, something like anti histermines or steroids I think) when it first starts to show up each year which helps keep it under control for those few weeks.

Like I say it isn't quite the same, but it could be an allergy to something other than fleas either inside or out, if flea treatments doesn't clear it up, it might be worth looking if you have started using something different around the house, cleaning solutions, washing powder etc. or have introduced something new in the garden. I know its a long list, but by trial and error you might be able to pin it down.