Scratching Himself Bloody

I am temporarily keeping my daughter's cat, and have noticed bloody marks on his face, between the eyes and ears. He also has what feels like scabs on his head and around his neck.

I haven't actually seen him scratching. He is normally an inside cat, but we know he got outside for several days.

He has been Frontline Plussed. I am keeping him separated from my other cats. What is going on, and what else should I do?

It could be ear mites. Please have a veterinarian look at him.

Frontline and other flea treatments won't prevent flea and tick bites - it'll just kill the fleas that do bite or stay on the cat long enough to be affected by it.

The kitty needs to go to the vet. Antibiotics could help heal up the sores and scratches. But I suggest you try keeping the cat inside. I have one that is very allergic to flea and mosquito bites, she'll get weird bumps from them and tear herself up. Once caught and brought inside she healed up and stopped scratching at herself, and she hasn't torn chunks of fur and skin out anymore.

If treating for earmites and kept away from fleas as much as possible doesn't help the scratching it could possibly be a food allergy.

This has been a little helpful. I'm sorry I can't offer a solution or suggestion but Amadeus has been scratching too. When I pet him I feel little scabs all over his neck. We don't think he has fleas, none of our other 3 fur babies have any problem and nothing is spreading. Plus we haven't seen any fleas. Hope you figure it out.

Originally Posted by greenvillegal

This has been a little helpful. I'm sorry I can't offer a solution or suggestion but Amadeus has been scratching too. When I pet him I feel little scabs all over his neck. We don't think he has fleas, none of our other 3 fur babies have any problem and nothing is spreading. Plus we haven't seen any fleas. Hope you figure it out.

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just because you haven't seen any fleas doesn't mean they aren't there. Once single flea bite can cause serious problems for a cat who is allergic to fleas. Do you treat them with frontline plus or any other spot on?

My advice to both you and the original poster is trips to the vet.

My cat does this because she has seasonal allergies (just like humans!). The allergies bug her ears especially and she'll scratch them until she makes herself bleed, like you said between the eye and ear in that part where the hair is a bit thinner. I put Neosporin on the scratches to help them heal.

Under the supervision of my vet, I give her 1/4 tablet (5 mg) of Claritin when her allergies are bugging her. She also rubs her eyes and nose a lot when her allergies flare up and gets sorta snotty sounding. We buy the generic Loratidine 10mg tabs at Wally World and cut them into fourths. The tablets dissolve very easily in water, so I add about a teaspoon or so of water to her food dish, drop in the tablet and let it dissolve. Then I spoon in some canned food, mix it all around and serve. Works like a charm!

So....talk to your vet about allergies and Claritin.