He's been licking one spot on his front right leg and has it down to
bare skin around an inch long and half an inch wide. I think he's been
doing it for at least a year but I didn't notice that it was
self-induced until this past weekend. Because the spot is kind of
under the shoulder joint it's tough to see unless I hold him down and
spread his leg out.

I've seen a pink spot there before, which is why I suspect it's been
at least a year, but it was smaller and I just thought that one of the
other cats had gotten a good rip during a skirmish. But I saw it anew
over the weekend and pinned him down to get a good look. We went to
the vet on Monday.

The vet (bill $181) thinks that it is not stress but has a physical
reason, an infection or so. I was worried about stress because,
although is is pretty laid back, he is not really thrilled that Marlo
(female younger cat) joined us about six months ago. He tolerates her
now and even plays with her sometimes, but he still give me a nasty
look when I hold her. All the odder because he does not like being
held himself. Ah, jealousy.

So he's on antibiotics and some steroid for 10 days, and we'll find
out the culture results and see where we go from there.

Any advice on a similar condition would be greatly appreciated.