Nasty rash on neck

Hello, my Devon Rex who is 4 months old, has a raised lumpy looking rash around his neck, only his neck. They look like flea bites but get very swollen and red and double in size even sideways.

He has been to the vets, had antibiotics, skin scrapes, cultures taken and grown, checked for ringworm, all with a negative result. He has been washed in Malaseb for skin fungal infection, still no change.

He is on revolution and has been since he was old enough, and as he has very little hair, im positive he has never had a flea, they all live indoors permanently.

If it were a food allergy it would be all over him i would think, but have cut out his dry food to see if it improved, it hasnt.

Could it be from playing too rough? i have 4 cats and they all get on very well and play alot, sometimes very rough, but he is the only one with the rash.

Any ideas anybody? has anybody else had or seen this? if the vets cant help me i am at a loss what i can do.

Thanks for your time.

I really have no advice for you, it perplexs me at this cats condition.

But I wanted to touch base on the food allergy, cats can become allergic to just about anything at any time just like people, and can have unlimited effects.

Generally with food allergies, they loose hair in one or a few spots, not their whole body, though it can happen.
What were you feeding him before?
When animals get allergies common ones are corn products and beef, some can even be allergic to preservatives that a brand might use.

You need to keep speaking with the vet and figuring out what is causing this.
Does this cat go outdoors ever, or does he wear a collar?

Is there anyway you could take a picture of this problem area for us?

Hopefully someone else can help you further. Good luck!

Thanks for the reply. No he has never been outside nor does he wear a collar, although i have made him a jumper so that the other cats dont lick his ointment, or bite him and make it worse.

He was eating Whiskers Advance dry food but i was told that some devons have an allergic reaction to a certain preservative in it and last week i changed him to Eukenuba, but as i understand it can take weeks for it to get out of his system.

He is going to another vets tomorrow to have the works done again and thoroughly checked out, so far it has cost me a fortune with no result. He is very happy and it doesnt worry him a bit, its not itchy or sore at all.

I shall let you know what the vet has to say tomorrow. He is also being desexed. Thanks.

I'm about to send you a PM. But I will follow up with part of that message here...

Some good foods I would advise.

Felidae
Wellness
Natural Balance
Solid Gold

Other good brands...
Evolve
Natures Variety
Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul
Nutro Natural
Nutro Max
Pinnacle
Pro Plan
Royal Canin
Timber Wolf Organics
Wysong

I hope you are able to find at least a few of these in your country, I don't know where all brands are sold.

Today we took him to another vet. He believes he has a "Hypo allergic disorder" and he is now on a couple of different medicines to help calm it down and to clear up what is there. I am about to do a full change of diet also, NOTHING with preservatives in it, and only fresh human quality food. It makes sense as the rash has continued to get worse over time, so it has to be diet related. I guess its one vets word against another, as the last one told me it wasnt an allergy at all. Time will tell. I shall keep you updated.

Thanks for your time and advice, i will keep it all in mind, and be VERY choosy with what brand name i give my money too.

I know Solid Gold does not do animal testing AND is preservative free. This is a very good food, it is either my first or 2nd favorite so far... I'm still a bit indecisive, going through my Felidae test run.

I hope you are able to find that food!


Some vets are weird, I am very weary of ALL vets, not all vets know everything, and some vets give incorrect information.
One of our cats growing up had allergies... though I don't remember to what he said, it might have been food, none the less he didn't tell my parents how to treat it, or that it even needed to be treated at all!! Poor kitty had to suffer because the vet didn't do his job.