Pet Skin Doctor

Hot spots, open or infected sores are not a delightful site to pet owners.  There are so many causes for hot spots it’s hard to know where to begin.  Was the problem spotted quickly, in the development stages or does your cat already have nasty, infected sores?

As our feline friends tend to “clean” and lick themselves more often than dogs do anyway, simply over-grooming can be the cause of the cat hot spots.  But how do you stop this behavior?  It depends on why your cat won’t stop grooming itself.  From OCD, to fleas, allergies or another medical condition.  Start by addressing the problem with your vet.

There are topical skin issues such as feline acne, found on the chin and lips and often caused by stress or bacteria toting plastic food and water bowls.  Although excesive shedding, constant scratching or licking and sores on the skin may seem like a topical problem, these are actually symptoms or signs of a much deeper issue.

If your cat is experiencing what seems like topical cat skin problems then one thing is certain: there is an underlying cause.  Common are allergies – such as a food allergy, flea allergy, inhalent or contact allergy.

If you have noticed red, irritated, dry, flaky or even open sores in a spot or spot on your cat, these are typically referred to as “hot spots”.  Unfortunately, finding the cause of these cat hot spots can be difficult, time consuming and often expensive.

It’s important not to mistake these hot spots, which are symptoms of your cat’s condition, and improperly diagnose them.  You’ll certainly want t o begin by monitoring the spots.  Is your cat licking, chewing, biting or constantly scratching these areas?  Is your cat loosing fur?  Is his coat dull?  For starters, a visit to the vet is definitely in order.

Nothing feels worse then thinking your cat has fleas.  One day, from the corner of your eye, you catch your fuzzy friend scratching suspiciously.  So reluctantly, already subconsciously itching yourself, you take Snowball into your arms and begin to search for the blood-suckers.  However, shortly after beginning the search, you don’t find any trace of fleas or flea dirt.

So what, aside from fleas, causes a cat itchy skin, you may ask?  Well let’s not jump ahead of ourselves.  A single flea may still be the culprit.  More specifically, a single flea bite could be the cause, depending on your cat’s other “symptoms”.  Yes, I said symptoms.  A cat may have an allergic reaction to a single flea bite.  If your cat has a flea allergy it means that he is allergic to the fleas saliva.  Much like the effects of allergies on humans, there are no cures, only treatment, but mainly prevention.

Love me. Love my cat.  Doesn’t have to mean loving cat skin problems!  Even the most faithful feline friend can become an irritation if she should develop a skin condition that could potentially take over both of your lives.  Constant and expensive visits to the vet could be one of these mentioned irritations.

It’s not that they don’t want to help, but in many cases, you will be able to diagnose your cat skin problems quicker than your vet.  Why?  Because your cat’s problems aren’t just scientific.  You know and understand your cat’s behavior.  You know his surroundings.  You know if he is an indoor or outdoor cat.  This knowledge is sometimes your most significant clues in figuring out what the problem MAY be.  When you’ve got a diary of your cat’s daily behavior, food intake and a list of symptoms, you can choose to research his problem and/or then take a trip to the vet.

Constant licking, scratching and biting will contribute to a hot spot becoming progressively worse.  However, parasites, infection, allergy or even excessive grooming can be the cause of cat hot spots.

Because there are so many possible causes, it is important to begin narrowing down the list as soon as possible.  Parasites may seem like the easiest possible cause to rule out first due to the obvious evidence of an infestation, but if your cat has a  flea allergy, a single bite could cause one or several hot spots to appear.

If your feline friend has been acting oddly lately; perhaps she’s constantly scratching, licking, chewing or biting.  Maybe you’ve noticed a little more shedding than usual?  It’s very likely your pet has a cat skin problem if you’ve noticed any of the above or worse.

Cat skin problems are not something that should be ignored.  They will not go away on their own, because they are typically a sign of something worse.  The problems will turn into nasty hot spots or open sores.  Excessive loss of hair can take years to grow back.  It’s time to take action!  The above signs are symptoms of an underlying cause most commonly known as skin allergies.  Your cat may be allergic to their food, fleas or another parasite, grass or pollen, or even her favorite resting chair!

 The first sign that your cat may be suffering from a skin problem may be what is referred to as a hot spot.  A “hot spot” may be a crusty, red and possibly even ooozing patch of skin.  In some cases, hair loss may occur as well. 

The most common conditions which can cause cat hot spots are abscesses, bacterial infection, eosinophilic granuloma, eosinophilic plaques, flea allergy dermatitis (also known as flea bite hypersensitivity), miliary dermatitis in cats, pyoderma-deep, ringworm, and squamous cell carcinoma.

As a cat owner you may be aware that when a feline has a health issue or skin disorder it will often reveal itself through the condition of the skin and coat.  Therefore dry skin may be a sign of a more serious underline cause such as allergy, or it may just be dry skin.

Excessive self-grooming may cause your cat dry skin.  of course, excessive grooming is a sign of an underlying problem as well.  Some cats just like to be clean or groom themselves.  The tell tale signs of a more serious underlying health problem, such as an allergy will manifest itself through numerous signals.  These include all or any number of the following; abnormal behavior or attitude, biting, chewing, hair loss, constant scratching and itching of the face or hind legs, rubbing and hot spots.