skin condition... ???

I just need to double check this - i have this posted on the health board but there are a lot of serious cases over there....

Because he is a stray maybe you guys can help (AGAIN)

Ive gone thru so much with this guy - hes now living with me and PRAYING this works out. Trying to introduce him to my 6 yr old cat and my dog. My dog growled and snapped at him yesterday. My dog LOVES everyone - so concerned with that.

ANYWAY - the cat IS in a dog crate right now - has tons of room and is in his own room. He is healing from a possible attack - the vet never told us what happened exactly but hte women from the organization who helped me - said they think he was bitten. The vet did write laceration on the cats chart though

I saw the other day that he now has hair loss on the other side of him. TOday i believe it is getting bigger!!!!

They saw it as well and believe this is probably from the same attack from at least last Thursday night and hair loss is normal.. She said they did take a black light to test for ringworm.

is there any skin condition that would cause this though? he had stitches because the other side started with hair loss with an amoeba shape (wrote about that a few weeks ago) - then a hole in the hair loss next to the discoloring- then the hole got deeper and really nasty.

Im just so confused... thanks!!

Hair losses, if there is no clear cut reason, may be very difficult to diagnose. Takes often time and several different tries even for good vets.
So it would be good if you talk with the vet again - about the skin problem.

Do I understand you right. On one side he has laceration because of being bitten. Treated by the vet.

On the other side of the body he has hair loss, without clear cut reason, and now also getting a wound in the middle of the hair loss?
The vet / woman from the shelter did looked at this too?


A couple of possiblilites here may be

sensibility to something -
probably in food. But it may be the litter or something else.
Some food is more suspected then others: Fish, shrimps, cow-meat, wheat meal in the food - are the most often causes in food.


A stress problem is quite possible.

For example, our older male had such one wound on his neck. there was several possiblilities. He got once a shot on that place. We believed he had sensibility against fish - it always got worse when he managed to stole a little tuna from our younger male.

But after neutering it disappeared entirely after a couple of weeks!
Thus, the main cause was - the stress of being a revire holding male...
(He continued to be the revireholding cat, but no longer stressed )

Issues with liver can also give hair losses and skin problems.




In your case: Do try with Feliway diffuser.
And perhaps also with a D.A.P. diffuser for your dog.
DAP is the equivalent for dogs - based on the the dog mothers hormone.
These advices because they can also help with his socializing.

Look at his food, if something may cause sensibility. Litter.
Try to change the sort.

And as said: good if you contact the vet again.


Good luck!

Wounds will cause hair loss around them. It's a combination of the trauma to the skin (swelling/infection) and from the cat licking and rubbing at those areas directly. As long as the hair loss doesn't spread or begin in new patches, this is likely all it is.

BUT not all ringworm will glow under a black light. The only definite way to make sure there are no infectious skin conditions is for a vet to take a skin scraping.

When under stress, many cats overgroom themselves - likely in an effort to calm themselves. Just like us scratching an itch until it bleeds, it can cause hair loss and infection. Try to keep him as calm and protected as possible. Hold off on the introductions for now. Feliway like StefanZ suggested.

Keep his routine as routine as possible - food and litter cleaning same time every day, etc. With the vet's attention and your care, he'll be OK.

Bless you for helping him!

Thanks so much for the help.

As I said the fur loss was bigger yesterday - today its the same.

I thought when I first noticed it that i felt a scab at the very top of hte hairloss - not in the middle where I 1st saw the amoeba discoloration on the other side of him - which is near where the hole was). I thought I saw red also (it was his first time out and he was moving about too much) i dont feel/see anything anymore. So maybe it was a wound.

The women from the cat organization DID see it - I dont think either vet did. He has seen 2 but in both cases it was about treating his wound and getting his shots.

Hes been eating the same food for hte last 3/4 months... Its pretty cheap in order to feed 10+ cats. I do mix in DE for pest control and nutrition as well as ACV now.

I most likely will buy him better food though now that HOPEFULLY he will be a house cat.

Another question i have is Ive often been told (by you guys) that ferals have stronger immune systems. If hes a stray (based on him being SO friendly towards everyone) its more likely he was born/raised a house cat - correct?

Im just wondering if he''ll be likely to get crystals etc as my housecat has.

OH and if it were ringworm - would I have it by now???

THANKS SO MUCH!!!

Fur mowing caused by stress

Ringworm (or other skin infections) which do not always show up under blacklight

Sensitivity to a food

So many different things can cause hairloss

I agree with the diffusers to help calm everyone, is the cat in your dog's crate? That may be the issue for him rather than the actual cat itself.

I never thought about the crate. My dog hasnt used it for hte last 3 years. Its been put away - but maybe she still feels its hers??

I tried a diffuser for thunderstorms and it didnt work. Bach's calming liquid seemed to help - maybe I can give her that at some point.

Ive been reading about music and was thinking of trying that when I move the cat to another room. Has anyone had success with playing calming music?? There are special cd's made just for cats - I couldnt get any customer reviews though to see if they actually work.

Originally Posted by m935

Ive been reading about music and was thinking of trying that when I move the cat to another room. Has anyone had success with playing calming music?? There are special cd's made just for cats - I couldnt get any customer reviews though to see if they actually work.

Click to expand...

Our forumist LDG is a great friend of calming music. Especielly harp music i great, she tells.
But classical or most calm music are also OK.

Originally Posted by m935

Another question i have is Ive often been told (by you guys)

that ferals have stronger immune systems. If hes a stray (based on him being SO friendly towards everyone) its more likely he was born/raised a house cat - correct?

Click to expand...

Yes, if he is so friendly he surely had home some time.

Yes, surviving strays and surviving semiferal has usually good immune system. It is nothing magical with it. It is simply so the weaker ones dies off...
As we all know, most strays do dies or are catched by predator within one year. So the surviving are SURVIVORS.

Ringworm has a 10-14 days cycle - if you caught it, that's usually when it shows up. DO NOT PANIC - all it is is a form of athlete's foot, really. A fungus.

If you have a normal to strong immune system, and so does the cat, both of you will get over it OK with treatment. Topicals are fine (anti-fungal creams). Add some L-lysine to his diet (yours too, it doesn't hurt).

See the doctor if you need to. DON'T scratch it - and it will itch. In fact, pay attention - you may scratch a lesion without realizing it when it first appears. That helps it spread and you can get an infection easier.

And like icklemiss said, it sometimes does not show under a black light. Just pay attention, follow the vet's suggestions, don't scratch, help the cat not scratch and your own immune systems will soon get ahead of it.

The shelter did some research into it and classical music works well

THANKS. you guys have been SO helpful.... AGAIN!

I know Ondine has mentioned L-lysine before - I looked into it just to get a price really.

My next question is.... for all these cats can I use DE, L-lysine AND apple cider vinegar in their food/water???

Im using hte DE and ACV now - but I alternate them. Dont think I can mix them together..

of course just trying to keep all these cats as healthy as possible - but dont have the funds to buy the best quality food.