what is this on her head?

It's crusty, can peel and bleed, ooze, it causes the hair to fall out. She constantly rubs her face on furniture. She is very active and hyper, but does have days where you can tell she feels bad. She is thinner than her sister. She got this the first time around 1 year old and has only gotten rid of it completely once. Its back and won't go away this time. She has been to the vet, no help. Her sister is fine and lives the same life, just more casually.

What did the vet say and what treatment was prescribed? 

Its been a while. They said its not mites, not mange, and not something else, from a scrape test. And then she offered the high priced food, as an option, that might work. I hate that. I'm cheap.

Anyone have input?

But for the size/amount, I would *guess* ringworm.

High price foods aren't necessary bad--or good.  Or expensive or cheap.  Depends on the food.

Yeah, it could be allergies.  Or stress.

Any vomiting?  What is different one year ago versus now?

No vomiting. Nothing is different except it won't go away. I think ringworm was the other thing the vet tested for. They eat Nutro chicken. She has had this regardless of several different foods they have had.

I don't have any ideas as to what it is, but thought food allergies presented more on their stomachs (like a rash there instead of on their heads).  And doesn't ringworm present more like a circle that would be completely hairless within the circle?  This looks more like contact dermatitis to me...something she is coming in contact with is irritating her head.  How did she get rid of it once?  What were the circumstances then?  That may help with trying to figure out what is causing it.

I used my steroid lotion on it. It wasn't gone long, and came back quickly. I'm saying I'm not sure the steroid was really a fix for it, but more of a bandaid.

my cat gets something like this. we thought it was a food allergy but it wasn't. near as we can figure it's an inhalant allergy, meaning something in our home that she breathes in is causing an allergic reaction (as opposed to a contact allergy from touching something). We had a little success switching to a free & clear laundry detergent but it still comes back. It may be a dust allergy, or even a cat allergy (ie the cat is allergic to other cats!) we haven't figured it out yet but keep trying. In the mean time, the only thing that helps are steroid shots. We are trying to find alternatives to this because it can cause diabetes and other problems but so far nothing seems to work.

It is interesting to note that when our cat was an alley cat she didn't have this problem. In the summer, she likes to go out and sit on our stoop and spends a lot of time there, she is mostly free of the allergy then. This points to it being something inside the house, but it's gonna be pretty hard to lock it down. We're thinking of employing a heavy duty air cleaner. 

I wish I could help you.  The poor girl.  I hope you are able to figure it out.  I think if I were in your shoes I would do some serious internet research on an elimination diet (where you eliminate certain ingredients one at a time to see what could be causing allergies.)  Or I would feed the food the vet recommended.  If after a month or so it doesn't help I'd ask "What next?"  Surely the vet could come up with some way to help her.  If not, I'd find another vet.  Good luck.   ETA:  Good idea in the post above to consider inhaled allergies too.  Maybe the cat litter?

Pikeax, other than my pure guesses, I have no idea, though contact dermatistis seems logical.  Given the location--on top of head--it might be something she crawls under, that is, a little taller than she is.  Like a bush, under a couch.

I'd go back to your vet; if you're unhappy with your vet, try another one.

Good luck!

Yes, I do think based on what it looks like and the location of it, it seems like contact dermatitis, although that is very rare in cats.  But narrowing down WHAT is causing it would certainly be difficult.  And using steroid lotion to "cure" it won't keep it from coming back if the irritant remains. When you said she is rubbing her head against all your furniture, I'm guessing she is doing that to scratch the itch she has maybe?  Poor thing

What is the high priced food the Vet recommended?  (out of curiosity)  Maybe it's something to improve her immune system? 

I'm really at a loss as to what it is, but would definitely try to think if anything at all changed about the time she first contact this.  Laundry detergent, new rugs, new furniture, new anything at all, new food, new plants, new other pets, new baby, new pair of jeans for anyone in your household, new bedding, new towels, new throw pillows (you get the idea). 

In the meantime, if it IS allergies, I wonder if you could see if your Vet thinks giving her a portion of a benedryl might help?  I know in the springtime with things are blooming and cats start sneezing the benedryl works, so wonder if it could help here (at least with the itching?) 

What kind of laundry detergent do you use? My cat Chloe used to get a round sore about the size of a dime in that spot in front of her ear. I was using ALL detergent. I switched to gain and she hasnt had a single sore in almost 2 years now. I dont know *for sure* that the detergent did it but it seems pretty coincidental for it to just clear up like that. Hers would go away and come back all the time. The vet also did the scrape test, tape test and one other test that I cant remember now and couldnt come up with anything.

Interesting! We use All, but we use their free and clear version. Hmmm I guess it's worth a try to switch.