Help! Contagious (?) skin lesions on all 3 cats' nipples, 1 of the cats' hind legs

I have three cats, all indoors. One of my cats had scabs on her lower nipples that I noticed, which prompted me to check the other cats. Lo and behold, the other two (Goku and Marley) had varying degrees of 'scabbiness' on their nipples. The first cat, Lolita, has the most sever lesions, with some scabs on her back hind legs as well, and black dots (blackheads?) on her middle nipples as well as a bit of roughness. The other two only seem to have the slight lesions/scabs on their lower nipples. They all seem to be acting normal, though Lolita may be more lethargic (it's hard to say... she has always been the lazy one). I have taken them to the vet and she seemed to be confused by the contagious aspect so we have been waiting for weeks on cultures from the lesions with no replay. Any advice? I'm concerned as I have to leave town in a week and will be gone for 7 days. Would really like to get them started on whatever treatment is necessary before then. We have already tried an antibiotic treatment to no avail. I also give them all 500mg L-lysine daily. Thank you so much.

The vet also tested for mites and gave me a negative result there.

I know I'm just a newbie but I would really appreciate any advice you guys have...

Hey there --

I don't have any experience with this, but I just wanted to say hi, welcome to TCS!! and that someone will be along shortly to help you. Most of our members work 8-5 type schedules so you might need to wait just a bit.

Good luck and PM me if you have any questions about the site

Thank you! I've been meaning to join this forum forever.

I've been refreshing this page all day while I'm at work haha... I guess I shouldn't be surprised other people have jobs too

You live in a dry area of the country so don't know if this would be possible, but could it be a fungal infection?
 

We're waiting on the results of a culture which can take weeks... the vet seemed skeptical that it would be ring worm though because she says it's not normally localized to nipples, which all 3 of the cats are displaying. Do you know of other types of fungal infections?

Could just be itchy skin??  Angel has always had itchy skin & was diagnosed by a Holistic Vet (In Chinese Med)  saying he had Damp Heat in his body. The damp heat causes inflammation, & he was itching & chewing. This also was because the areas he was doing this in, is what told the Dr. this. (mostly lower body, sides, stomach, lower nipples, inside of thighs ..)  I had already been grain free w/ his foods for a long time, so I knew that wasn't it. Could be a number of factors, but if you have a Holistic Vet in your area, it would be worth checking out. I finally went after the regular vet would only put him on a round of Pretnasone. After a few seasons of that, I wanted to get to the bottom of it, rather than put a "band-Aide" on it w/ meds.   There are Chinese herbs, or "Tea Pills" to treat this, IF that is what it is, but of course, you need a diagnosis first.  Even on Chinese Herbs, Angel will sometimes still chew at his lower nipples. I will put Colloidal Silver on them & say, "No chew the nippies!"

I hope some of this helped. It really is worth seeking out a Holistic Vet. The cost was very reasonable. About the same as the regular vet, or even better, because the Holistic Vet spent WAY MORE time w/ us! (Like, an hour! But that was first visit work up etc...)"Still") 

More members will be along soon to offer more advice, I'm sure!  They have helped me a lot!  I have learned so much sense I have been on here, myself!

"Good Luck & keep us posted."

I don't have any advice for you but I really wanted to send some positive vibes. Good luck hon!!

Thank you so much! I appreciate the good vibes 

I don't have any advice to offer, but wanted to add some good vibes!

Did you ever get results back on the culture? My cat has something that sounds very similar and I looked all over and never found an answer. 

Your cat might have a different problem to the OPs.  Best visit the vet.

We're still in the process of figuring this one out unfortunately... Cultures came back and it wasn't ringworm, nor was it mites. We couldn't find any evidence of flea debris on the cats either, and they're indoor cats (though in Texas 1 or 2 stray fleas may still have found its way inside). Best guess right now is some type of skin allergy and so 2 of my 3 cats are on steroids and antibiotics, and we started flea treatment. I am still concerned though bc while the lesions on Lolita have improved significantly, Goku is still licking his bottom nipples raw. And to top it off, I just found a bald spot behind his head where I applied flea treatment yesterday so now I'm thinking maybe he's allergic to the flea treatment! (Could the hair loss occur so fast, in one day?). Really very perplexed by this whole situation...

lizfig said:

We're still in the process of figuring this one out unfortunately... Cultures came back and it wasn't ringworm, nor was it mites. We couldn't find any evidence of flea debris on the cats either, and they're indoor cats (though in Texas 1 or 2 stray fleas may still have found its way inside). Best guess right now is some type of skin allergy and so 2 of my 3 cats are on steroids and antibiotics, and we started flea treatment. I am still concerned though bc while the lesions on Lolita have improved significantly, Goku is still licking his bottom nipples raw. And to top it off, I just found a bald spot behind his head where I applied flea treatment yesterday so now I'm thinking maybe he's allergic to the flea treatment! (Could the hair loss occur so fast, in one day?). Really very perplexed by this whole situation...

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It's possible. Which spot treatment did you use?  I would call the Vet & let them know this happened & see what they have to say.  When Angel still went outside, I used the Advantage-Muti on him, & it was always fine. I tried the Revolution for a couple of months, & I noticed his hair was a little thinner in that area, so I went back to the Advantage-Multi.

Now, he is strictly indoors, so I only have to give him heart-worm treats instead.

Good luck, I hope you can figure what is going on soon. - Did they check for fungal &/or yeast??