Cat is removing skin when scratching

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Aaron Freeman - 17 Jan 2005 18:33 GMT

My 2 year old Bengal cat as of yesterday had a pretty bad "hot spot" on her
neck which she had been scratching at with her hind leg until she had
managed to remove a patch of fur and a patch of skin the size of a nickel. I
woke up this morning to find she had created a second patch a mere two
inches away from the first.

What could possibly be the cause of this? It's not fleas as she's a 100%
indoor cat and hasn't seen another cat since we adopted her a year and a
half ago. She seems to have this problem once every six months or so.

Is it time to take her to the vet to get a "cone" put on her? What's to keep
her from doing this in the future?

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Mary - 17 Jan 2005 19:03 GMT

> My 2 year old Bengal cat as of yesterday had a pretty bad "hot spot" on her
> neck which she had been scratching at with her hind leg until she had
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Is it time to take her to the vet to get a "cone" put on her? What's to keep
> her from doing this in the future?

Your vet will have answers for you. She may be having an allergic
skin reaction, in which case determining the allergen and/or treating
the allergy with drugs will keep her from doing it again.

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Charlotte Dunne - 17 Jan 2005 20:17 GMT

One of my cats just did this, scratched herself raw in a dimesize spot
on back of neck. I checked her ears and found one was just filthy with
black gunk. Some ear cleaner and very careful qtip cleaning seems to
have sorted out the problem.

If you can't see a source for her scratching, it's time for a vet trip.
At the very least you can get a cone to prevent her from scratching
while the spot heals (and you get to keep the cone in case it happens
again ;-)

Charlotte & the kitties.

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Gary - 17 Jan 2005 23:43 GMT

A trip to the vet may be in order. The possibility of ringworm comes
to mind, as cats can get this and pass it on to people who come in
contact with them. Then infected people can then pass it on to others.
My understanding is that this can become quite a nasty cycle if not
dealt with early. I believe the treatment for cats is an oral
anti-fungal medication, but check with your vet.

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Karen Chuplis - 18 Jan 2005 00:40 GMT

> A trip to the vet may be in order. The possibility of ringworm comes
> to mind, as cats can get this and pass it on to people who come in
> contact with them. Then infected people can then pass it on to others.
> My understanding is that this can become quite a nasty cycle if not
> dealt with early. I believe the treatment for cats is an oral
> anti-fungal medication, but check with your vet.

More likely fleas. They don't have to be IN the house to get flea dirt. It
gets tracked in. That is the most common skin allergen. I'd sure take kitty
to the vet.

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Zythophile - 18 Jan 2005 22:17 GMT

>> A trip to the vet may be in order. The possibility of ringworm comes
>> to mind, as cats can get this and pass it on to people who come in
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> kitty
> to the vet.

Definitely sounds like an allergy to me, especially as the cat is an indoor
cat. When I got my first cat, she was indoors most of the time (it was
winter) and she kept getting large bald patches. These were treated with
steroid injections. Strewth - did that cost! The vet recommended that she
stay outdoors as much as possible, including sleeping in the garage instead
of the utility room. His view was that she was probably allergic to some
cleaning product or air freshener that we were using. It could even be the
chemicals given off by the flame retardants on the furniture (his theory
about the increase in human asthma & eczema was that it coincided with all
furniture being flame-proofed - i don't know that I agree with that, but I
can see the coincidence in timing). Anyway, said moggie is now mainly an
outdoor moggie, coming inside for a few hours in the evening, and sleeps in
the garage at night. She hasn't had a problem since.

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Z
www.makepovertyhistory.org

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Monique Y. Mudama - 18 Jan 2005 22:43 GMT

> steroid injections. Strewth - did that cost! The vet recommended that she

Hold up, hold up. Strewth? What on earth does that mean?

(I'm guessing it's a bastardization of "his truth" -> "'s truth" -> strewth?)

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monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

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Mary - 19 Jan 2005 00:39 GMT

> > steroid injections. Strewth - did that cost! The vet recommended that she
>
> Hold up, hold up. Strewth? What on earth does that mean?
>
> (I'm guessing it's a bastardization of "his truth" -> "'s truth" -> strewth?)

Not too shabby, Mo. Have you studied history or literature or, more
likely, both? And is it possible to study them separately, she said,
waxing philosophical ...

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Monique Y. Mudama - 19 Jan 2005 18:42 GMT

>> Hold up, hold up. Strewth? What on earth does that mean?
>>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> both? And is it possible to study them separately, she said, waxing
> philosophical ...

Not much of either, actually. I read a lot, and I find words fascinating.
When I was a kid learning about compound words, my teacher tried to correct me
when I listed "instead" as a compound, saying that "stead" wasn't a word.
Boy, was she surprised when I pulled out the dictionary and proved her wrong!

I think I guessed it because one of my favorite books uses "'sblood" to curse.
The book is The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams, and if you like fantasy it's
about the best book you'll ever read in the genre. (Of course, being fantasy,
it's part of a series, and you'll want to read all of them.)

I've taken a few lit classes, mostly in German and French, but I found
English lit a little frustrating. A prime example is William Faulkner's
The Sound and the Fury. Seems like Lit folks feel the need to pull
apart each sentence in the first chapter and figure out the actual
history of the family. Me, I felt that it was best read as a piece,
without intellectualizing it too much. The confusion is a perfect intro
to the state of affairs within the family.

I mean, sure, it's amazing to realize what Faulkner did, but as a reader, I
prefer not to dissect it too much. I'm also awful at noticing symbolism and
whatnot. Go figure.

I do find language fascinating, though. I took a seminar on the philosophy of
language. Sadly, the professor leading the class had little familiarity with
the subject, and she also had no experience with any language but English.
Opinions about language in that class always divided sharply between those who
spoke only one language, and those who spoke more than one fluently.

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monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

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Karen Chuplis - 19 Jan 2005 01:39 GMT

>> steroid injections. Strewth - did that cost! The vet recommended that she
>
> Hold up, hold up. Strewth? What on earth does that mean?
>
> (I'm guessing it's a bastardization of "his truth" -> "'s truth" -> strewth?)

Isn't that an older English expression compressed of "God's truth" ?

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Mary - 19 Jan 2005 01:44 GMT

> >> steroid injections. Strewth - did that cost! The vet recommended that she
> >
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Isn't that an older English expression compressed of "God's truth" ?

Yep!

Like "Zounds" was "God's Hounds."

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Monique Y. Mudama - 19 Jan 2005 18:43 GMT

>> Isn't that an older English expression compressed of "God's truth" ?
>
> Yep!
>
> Like "Zounds" was "God's Hounds."

I did not know that. (re: zounds)

Signature

monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

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Zythophile - 19 Jan 2005 20:18 GMT

>> steroid injections. Strewth - did that cost! The vet recommended that she
>
> Hold up, hold up. Strewth? What on earth does that mean?
>
> (I'm guessing it's a bastardization of "his truth" -> "'s truth" ->
> strewth?)

No idea of it's etymology, but it's a lot more socially acceptable than what
I actually said when I got the bill!!!

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Z
www.makepovertyhistory.org

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Jim Lawton - 18 Jan 2005 09:16 GMT

> My 2 year old Bengal cat as of yesterday had a pretty bad "hot spot" on her
>neck which she had been scratching at with her hind leg until she had
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>Is it time to take her to the vet to get a "cone" put on her? What's to keep
>her from doing this in the future?

Our female had very similar symptoms - every now and again she'd get a little
raw patch which would track along for an inch or two and then die out. Vet gave
her anti-inflamatory injection, and cortisone cream first time, and it cleared
up

This time she took a "pluck" of hair, and it was positive for ringworm, but
whether that is a secondary infection or not we don't know, lesion looks like
eczema more than typical ringworm.

She's on systemic fungicide and medicated shampoo now.

Vet say such things can be caused by ..

1) flea or tick allergy
2) eczema
3) ear mite allergy
4) ringworm

and I bet people here can think of others too

so best to go to vet, and see what they say ...

Jim

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