Yukiko has the Blues

Our youngest cat, Yukiko Kikkoman Teriyaki ("Coco" for short), is feeling sick lately. I hope you guys can help us avoid a trip to the vet, or at least point us in the right direction to get her feeling better.

Two days ago she started scratching directly in front of her ears and there appeared red bumps. There are some small red dots on her head, but I am not sure if it's from scratching or not. She may be creating them? Here are the best photos I could get the first day:



She is scratching until she bleeds. It's mainly localized to the two spots in front of her ears on either side of her head as seen in the photos. Last night we cleaned the sores with light hydrogen peroxide and covered with triple antibiotic ointment. We trimmed her nails as well. 

Some facts:

• Generally inside only. They go out on the very short balcony of our second-story apartment.
• Coco lives with two other cats - one female, one male, neither showing any skin problems.
• She is a sweet little darling, and she needs to feel better.

What are your thoughts? By the way, thank you so much for reading -- and for any help you can forward! I will be around (at work) but can answers any questions or comments.

She is a cutey and I can tell you  love her.  So....... I'd take her to the vets or at least call him/her for advice.  There's no substitute for real vets.

Glad you trimmed her nails.  A little concerned about the antibiotic cream, if she is grooming herself she could ingest it.  But don't have any real life experience with this.

My first thought--since I blame everything on food -- is:  have you changed her food?  Her litter?  And, any changes in the household, new people?

Thank you. She is really cute, and very gentle and sweet. We tried a jug of Tidy "Small Spaces" litter which is not our usual litter, on review from a friend. However we didn't use a full litter tray of it yet, just a bit. I wonder if she had a reaction to it? Nothing else has changed. We had a decent gathering over on New Year's -- however, she really didn't come out. The other two cats are more social, and she isn't as used to people.

- We used very little triple antibiotic, just enough to cover the spot; a few places online said it was safe (so hopefully it is). 

- I'm afraid it probably will come down to the vet. I was waiting for another symptom to appear, but as you can tell I'm anxious about her :/ 

Vet bill, $100; peace of mind, priceless.