Help! Fur loss and scab on kitten's forehead.

Hello everyone! This is my first post and I'm hoping someone can help me identify what's going on with my little guy. I adopted my kitten exactly a week ago when he was six weeks old. He appeared completely healthy. The first night, I set up the bathroom for him and shut him in there overnight as I needed to sleep and I have an older cat and couldn't supervise them while I was asleep.

When I went to get the kitten in the morning (only 5 hours later!) he had mysteriously gotten two small bald spots on his forehead. These spots were completely bald, but not red or irritated. I presumed that he had tried so hard to get out of the bathroom that he was sticking his little head over and over under the door and managed to rub his fur off and hurt himself. The next day, the bald spots completely scabbed over. Now it has been six days and the spot is still scabbed, and seems to have gotten a little bigger. I still have to shut him in the bathroom at night because of my older cat, so it's possible that he keeps rubbing and irritating the same spot.

However, I have been doing research online and now I'm terrified that it could be ringworm. I called the vet but the vet said to just wait and watch it and bring him in next weekend for his 8 week checkup and shots.  I scoured the internet for information and pictures of ringworm, and what my kitten has doesn't look anything like what I'm seeing online, but then I read it can present in different ways. I will attach a few pictures of the progression of the spots, so you can see them.

I would love some opinions/advice! I am hoping it is not ringworm, because I have carpets all throughout my house, plus carpeted stairs, and the kitten has been everywhere so there's no way I could disinfect the whole house.  Plus, I have my older cat to worry about...

Hi and welcome to the catsite!

Yes fur loss can be an indication of excessive rubbing, but it can also be a sign of mites or allergies. If it is mites you will probably want to get it checked out sooner than later. I would advise you to email these pictures to the vet and see what they say and ask about mites or other parasites. 

Here is some great information on allergic dermatitis which this could be (http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/07/01/pet-allergies.aspx). It may be household cleaners that are causing this or he may have some allergies to food. Cats are obligate carnivores, so a wet meaty diet is best and often helps with cats with allergies. Here is a great site on feline nutrition written by a vet (www.catinfo.org). My cats do not have skin issues but my dog had a lot of rashes that went away when I eliminated kibble from her diet. 

Good luck and keep us updated! 

I sure hope it's not ringworm,  but unfortunately there is just no way to diagnose or rule it out from those photos. As you read,  it can present in very different ways in cats.     Are the hairs surrounding the bald areas broken ? 

 You may be able to see with a blacklight.    ( but not seeing it turn yellow-green with a blacklight is not a definite sign there is no ringworm since i think there are some forms that don't react that way..)      or  I think  looking at hairs from the area under a microscope may show it.    but the most definite way is a fungal culture.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

As Franksmom says,  there are other possible reasons like allergies.  

Thanks for the replies! I'll keep you updated. I put a little white vinegar on the area last night as a precaution (which he immediately cleaned off, lol) but the area looks a little better today. I don't think it's allergies because he doesn't itch the area, but who knows.

I also bought some antifungal cream but I'm not going to use it unless the vet tells me it's definitely ringworm. I just want to have the cream onhand in case hubby or myself comes down with any weird rashes. 

The hairs do not appear broken in the area. It also did not begin as patchy baldness, as a lot of ringworm pictures I can find seem to indicate. Like I said above, the hair was just gone overnight! Since it looks a little better today, I'm just going to keep an eye on it. My vet is open until 8pm, thankfully, so if it gets worse this week then I can take him after work. 

If anyone else has any insight into ringworm, I would also appreciate it!

I think it might be from him rubbing it. I'm not sure ringworm would cause bald spots in only 5 hours ? I don't know...

Hope he's feeling better soon. He's a cutie!

Thanks, smitten! That is one of the reasons I want to doubt it is ringworm too. He was totally fine when I went to bed and five hours later, two bald spots! It just seems bizarre...

I wanted to go ahead and post an update, since it's been a couple days. Here are two pictures I took tonight. The scabs look a little better but he is now losing a little fur over his left eye. My husband thinks this is because he was rubbing his eye under the door instead of his hurt head. I decided not to put him in the bathroom anymore at night because if he's hurting himself then it's not worth it. Last night I just shut both the kitten and my older cat out of the bedroom. I know my older cat was probably kind of pissed because he loves to sleep on the bed with me, but I don't want the kitten in the bedroom yet. It's the only room in the house I won't have to completely sanitize if it is ringworm, lol. 

Anyway, here's the two new pictures. Let me know what you think. Does it look better to you? Anyone else have any insight into whether this might be ringworm? Thanks in advance!!

 It might be from  an allergic reaction  and then he has just been rubbing his head?    

It actually reminds me of what one of my cats has occasionally had   --  which is definitely not ringworm.  When he first had it  I took him for a vet exam and they did a fungal culture .  

maewkaew said:

 It might be from  an allergic reaction  and then he has just been rubbing his head?    

It actually reminds me of what one of my cats has occasionally had   --  which is definitely not ringworm.  When he first had it  I took him for a vet exam and they did a fungal culture .  

Click to expand...

Hmm, maybe. I live in a brand new house that was just built in April. I wonder if the paint that was used on the bathroom door could have some allergen in it and him rubbing on it caused the hair loss and scab? Do you think that could be possible? 

I am sorry I missed seeing this.  

Well,  I've heard of cats  having an allergic reaction to latex paint.      It's mentioned here   http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...-pets-who-suffer-from-seasonal-allergies.aspx

  So  I suppose it is possible? 

Thanks! The scabs are peeling off again today. Once the kitten settles down for a nap, I'll take another picture. It seems like maybe the hair might be starting to grow back, but he won't sit still enough for me to really see it! Lol!

  Have you had a skin scraping done? If not you definitely need to.

   I hate to say this but it does look like it could be ringworm to me. I definitely don't like the way it has gotten larger.  A few years ago Maia had the exact sudden bald patch on her upper chest, it was scaly hard skin surface, little red scab in one part. When I took her to vet he didn't even think it was ringworm because it wasn't typical symptoms. Sure enough tests came back positive. We did get rid of it after a 2 month topical treatment and persistent cleaning.

Thanks for the info Cheylink! With your cat, did the scabs keep flaking off? Last week, the scab peeled off in one piece (I kept it in a baggy to show the vet) and after it has looked about the same:  Greyish white, hard scab skin.  Today it looks different again as the scabs are once again peeling off. It looks better underneath and like it's finally getting smaller. It did get bigger on one side last week but I think that's because it was when we were still locking him in the bathroom and he was rubbing it. For about the last 5 or 6 nights, we haven't locked him up and it hasn't gotten any bigger. My husband is 100% positive I am worrying over nothing, but I still am not sure!

Regardless, I am planning on taking him to the vet this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes!

P.S. - We've had him for 13 days and neither my older cat, my husband, or I have gotten any lesions. Wouldn't one of us have gotten it by now if it was ringworm?

Here's new photos for today. In the top picture (where he's fighting me, lol) you can see what it looked like when I got home from work today. Peeling scabs, looking a little better. The next two I just took right now. The scabs have almost peeled entirely off. No more redness. I can't tell if it's getting smaller or bigger or hasn't changed.

Update:  I took the kitten to the vet today. Diagnosis: Ringworm. Ugh!  It didn't glow under the light, but the vet took a skin scraping and checked for a bacterial infection. He's pretty sure this is ringworm, so he prescribed some oral meds I have to go get from the pharmacy later. He'll call me when they have a positive or negative on the fungal culture. 

I've decided to isolate the kitten in my spare bedroom which is my office. It's not ideal because it has carpet, but it's better then the bathroom where he would be 100% miserable. 

I have a two story house which is mostly carpeted. Does anyone have any tips for cleaning/sanitizing the house so that this infection doesn't come back?  Thanks to everyone who gave their opinion earlier, too!