Bleeding Scabs And Constant Grooming Cat... HELP!

Hello.. I have 2 cats Ninja ginger tom cat and Rem female tabby cat... Ninja is 4 years old.. I have never had a problem with fleas or anything. He has always been treated and even when he has had fleas he has been fine.. He has always been a little bit under the weather. But about a month ago i noticed that both my cats had fleas.. Well i did what i usually do and i used a spot of flea thing... And within days fleas had gone.. But i noticed that Ninja had started cleaning himself a lot.. I thought at first he was just getting rid of the last flea paraphernalia. But it has become constant.. Hes licking himself right now as i am writing this.. But all of a sudden he had 2 really big grazes on his front leg at the top... They had dried and started to heal when i noticed them.. So i thought id leave them as i didn't want to irritate it anymore... But i was getting more and more worried when i started to find them all over his head.. And small tiny scabs all over his body... So i decided id take him to the vet.. I have an appointment.. But its not until January.. That's the soonest i could get.. But today i took his collar off as he seemed really weird acting very strange.. And underneath i couldn't believe what i see.. Thick clumps of fur torn away from  his skins.. Thick masses of blood and scabs all around his neck.. His collar wasn't tight at all so it couldn't have been that.. And he has never had this problem before.. I have bathed them with warm water... And he seems content apart from the constant scratching... He hasn't got fleas.. No worms or anything like that.. He has been eating a rather lot more recently though and my other cat is fine.. So i don't know whats going on.. I came on here because it has become extreme now.. And i need to know if there is anything i can do to help him feel a bit better before i go to the vet... I was thinking about bathing him.. But i really don't want to irritate it and make it worse.. Please help me.. I am so worried about him.. I was in tears when i found out the state he was in.... I have put some pictures up of some of the smaller ones... It looks so bad.. And that is not even the worse of it... What do i do?

I have just read something about bob martin spot of flea stuff and dewormer.. That is what i used.. I have used it before and it never caused such a problem.. But maybe that could the the problem? I don't know...

Oh and he has lost a little bit of weight recently as well which again is that something to worry about?

Hi. That looks so sore for your guy, and worrying when you can't get a vet appointment until January.  It must be really painful for him.  Are there any other vets you could take him to that would have a quicker appointment?

I haven't got experience with the treatments you have used or seen anything like this but I will check to see if any of the other more experienced advisors and site team can help. 

Have you changed food or added any news foods to the diet? My cat got really bad like that and when I took her to the vet it was a food allergy. It could also be an allergy to that spot on flea treatment, I have never heard of that one. My vet told me that when a cat scratches around the face or neck it is usually a reaction to something in the food. Wish you could find a vet that could get you in sooner, it looks very painful.

What kind of collar did you have on him? Was it a flea collar or a regular pet collar? If it was a flea collar that could be causing at least part of the problem.

Some cats are actually allergic to the flea bites, so even after the fleas are gone they're still itching.

Is the vet one you've seen before? Maybe they would be willing to give you some advice over the phone. They could at least tell you if there is a topical OTC medication that is safe for cats.

That looks like what one of my bridge babies had when he had food allergies.  He was constantly scratching at his face/ears and had scabs like that.  Is there any way to find a different vet who could get your kitty in sooner?  That looks really uncomfortable for your kitty.

Well the first thing is he needs a shot of cortisone or other anti-itch med.

Then start from square one.

There are only 3e reasons for this happening, and you can go down the list and try to treat each one, starting with fleas.

Next is food, although it may have something to do with the collar.

The third is not what is wrong here, and that is ringworm. Not him.

Be sure he is treated effectively with flea meds. Not only the adults but the eggs and larvae too.

Next, analyze what food change he has been given a month before this started.

If say, you only feed one type of food and have never changed it ever, you could rule this out, but many of us if not all have made changes. It will likely be a corn/grain of some type that is the culprit.

The collar....well I surely wouldn't put it back on him....ever. If it is not a woven nylon break away type, and is plastic or fake leather then that may be what's up.

It might be 2 of these things too, one is irritating the other to the point of the sores.

You can swab them with witch hazel. It will help sooth the burny feeling. May even ease the itch for a bit.

Boy am I glad I found this site.  This is exactly what I'm going through with Yodee.




These photos were taken in July right after she came home.  It's the back of her ear.  She was treated for fleas and ringworm and one vet actually put her on an antibiotic thinking it was a skin infection of some kind.  That was when I switched vets and went back to the one I've had for about 15 years.  He is certain that it's a food allergy and she can be tested for about $600.   I just don't have that kind of money so the first thing I did was to change her food to grain free.  Oh yes, and she did have a couple of injections that worked for a couple of days only.   Fast forward to now.  She constantly grooms and scratches and has lost alot of fur all over her body and the scabs show up all over as well.  I did not know about the Witch Hazel, Catwoman, so I will give it a try. Zobo, I'm so sorry that you are also dealing with this.  Since Yodee is 17 I'm not sure what else can be done.  Will be watching this thread for suggestions.

I just had a couple leave and adopted 2 of my little kittens for their 2 daughters for Christmas So I have more time to go into detail.

Zobo, without seeing this in person, it does appear to me to be an allergic reaction. You have not however told us what the collar is made from. That might be helpful.

So I'm assuming it';s a food allergy.

The first thing I need to know is what food your kitty has been eating, and for how long.

I also recommend buying some Natural Balance limited ingredient, green pea and duck formula. It is also grain free. He might not be crazy about it, but for the dry food, this is the only one you will want to feed him. You can also give canned food. Canned rarely if ever causes issues like this one. It's the dry food that is the bad guy.

This will take literally weeks for the old food to be out of his system and the wounds begin to heal, because as long as there is an allergin creating havoc with him, he will continue to scratch and overgroom himself.

I wouldn't call this an urgent/emergency if you are able to get started with the food change asap as well as get something to coat the wounds, and make them stop itching and settle down a bit.

This is where the vet comes in handy since he would be giving him an injectioon that will make his itchy skin settle down.

There is a chance, with continued scratching that his nails will dig in where it's raw and create a skin infection. Now it's going to start getting costly. So you want to prevent this if possible.

I'm tempted to say to give him a bath with gentle soother, the best thing would be Aveeno Oatmeal Medicated Bath, or like cat bath for sensitive skin, or hypoallgenic. If needed use baby shampoo.

Don't go scrubbing the sore areas, but gently work the soap in around and over them, be sure to rinse very well. Pat dry.

This is takling steps from the beginning, assuming a possibility of the collar sending a major irritation, and his nails doing the dirty work causing the sores.

Next I would dab with witch hazel, it is soothing and sort of an anti-itch temporarily. You can skip doing this if you are going to put Cortaid or other anti-itch med on him.

Cortaid, is an anti-itch med and A&D ointment is an antibiotic cream. These can both be used on all open sores.

Don't cake it on, less is more in this case.

If not the A&D then another triple antibiotic cream is okay, ointment is better than cream though, it will stay on longer.

If possible give his nails a good trimming if he will allow the back ones to be done as well. He is likely using the hind legs to scratch.

Then get him on the green pea and duck food. This will tell all, give it 3 weeks to see the early signs of recovering.

You might also try calling the vet and asking if you can pick up some Animax. If so, scratch using any other topicals. You can however still bathe in the Aveeno. He will feel so much better.

My cat Biddy has a skin disease that causes him to constantly itch until he bleeds. We just keep him on a pill that works wonders- no scrathing, no blood. Ask your vet about it

Canned food can cause an allergic reaction like the first photos and it can suddenly happen. My cat ate nothing but Friskies canned food without any problems until she had a bad reaction to some vaccines when she was 3 years old.. I did not have any tests done but tried different foods we have found out so far she is allergic to fish of any kind in the food even if it's just a small amount. She also can not have any soy. She has not had a reaction with her dry food and it's not even a good dry food. I'm not saying that it couldn't be the dry food but my cat does not have the problems with dry food just the canned.

My cats face looked exactly like the photos Zobo posted. I hope you are able to see a vet soon but just by trying a different food might help. My cat was not given anything but eye drops because she kept rubbing the her eye and made it so swollen. I went and got new food and she now only does this if I didn't read the ingredients very well on the can but if I stop the food right away she does not get all bloody around the face.

Good luck!