Wendy:
My mom's cat is a very allergic cat. When I first found her outside, all the fur on her head was gone and she had scabs on her head on the exposed skin- she looked like hell. No one was willing to help us (not even the Humane Society!) because they thought she had mange. Turns out, she just had fleas and she is very allergic to fleas (more so than most cats). One flea bite and she can flare up. All we needed was Advantage- to keep the fleas from even biting her- and antibiotics for a few weeks (just in case). Everyone was shocked when all the fur on her head grew back and she became a beautiful, all white cat!!!!
However, she clearly still suffers from seasonal allergies like a person. In the spring, her eyes get really weepy and red and the Advantage really seems to help her with her overall allergies. Sometimes she will get what the Vet calls "hot spots"- which sound a lot like what you are describing. The fur is missing and it looks like raw skin and she gets obsessive compulsive about licking at it. When she got her first one a while ago, the Vet gave us a medication- but I can't remember the name of it???!!! It stays in the refrig and it's topical. We apply to it the hot spot with a cotton pad a few times a day when she has an active hot spot and it works like a charm. We've never had a serious hot spot issue since the Vet gave us this medication.
I would recommend you take the cat to the Vet to get confirmation that it is indeed a "hot spot"- which actually are pretty common in cats- and get this topical med for your cat. It clears up Tally's hot spots right away. Unfortunately, with allergic skin reactions, it's really hard to know what the source was...whether it was the flea med, or even the fleas itself causing a skin reaction, or a spider bite, etc.. Either way, I recommend the Vet having a look at it if this is the first time THIS cat has experienced something like this.
-Caroline
From: wendy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: A bit OT: Need help with sore on kitty's back; reaction to flea meds?
Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 09:06:38 -0700 (PDT)
>Hi guys,
>
>I put flea medication on my cat's back 2-3 weeks ago. We left for a short vacation (4 days) and when we returned, she had this big sore on her back about the size of a quarter. The hair and top layers of skin were gone, and it was just raw skin, so I started spraying Bactine on it. After a few days of that, I could tell it was infected, so I put her on antibiotics (Clavamox), and the infection (pus) went away. I also started putting topical antibiotics on it. But even after several days of this, it is still not scabbing over! I am fairly sure it's a reaction to the flea meds, because my dog had the same reaction a few weeks before, but Bactine worked great on her. Although, it could be a spider bite or something else. Any ideas on what I can do for her now or what might be causing it? What about liquid skin? Has anyone used the human formula on their cats? I know it's not ringworm. I know what that looks like and it's not this! I can send a
>pic to anyone if you think you might be able to help by looking at the sore. I don't want to wrap gauze around her b/c she will just tear it off. Thanks guys!
>
>Thanks,
>:)
>Wendy
>
>"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has!" ~~~ Margaret Meade ~~~
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