New kitty has scabs and pulls her fur out

We got a new kitty last Wednesday from the shelter and when we saw her in the shelter we noticed that she was pulling her fur out. I asked the people at the shelter about it and they said it happens a lot in shelter cats because of the stress. But once we got her home, we noticed that she also had scabs running down her back. I combed her with a flea comb to see if she had fleas and didn't see any but after watching her scratch and chew, we thought maybe we should try bathing her to see if we missed something. She doesn't have any fleas but she is still scratching and chewing. We have been wiping her with ItchWipes per my mother-in-law's advice as they had worked for her cat but I was curious as to whether anyone else had any ideas or suggestions. I know some are going to suggest going to the vet, but I from the previous situations that I've been in with my cat I just had to put to sleep, I'm a little jaded on the vets I have to choose from, so I'd rather get some insights from cat owners who maybe have had similar situations before. Thanks!

One of my cats has a spot on her leg that she has always tended to bite. Her previous owner gave me a powder that her vet had given her that I'm assuming is to help deter them from biting, and also help that area. Maybe you could ask a vet about something like it? It works fairly well, and when I notice she starts to bite, I just sprinkle and rub some in along that area.

When my Polly came home from the shelter, she also pulled her hair out. It was never to the point of bald spots but it was definitely thinner in places. As she grew more secure in her home, she gradually reduced this behavior, though it never went away. At the time I did not know about the many calming aids availability like Feliway diffusers but I think these would have helped since it did seem to be related to anxiety.

Of course, you are right that it might be wise to take your kitty for a check up but since you are feeling less than happy with vets right now, maybe trying to reduce anxiety is a way to start.

Good luck! I hope you figure this out as in Polly's case it led to frequent hair balls which can be a problem all on their own.

I had idea this happened to cats coming from a shelter. Mine all did, so I never encountered it. Cats are so prone to reacting to stress.

What you are doing sounds as if it should help. Can you put a collar on her?

Otherwise, can you find another vet? It sounds like a skin condition of some sort.

Won't the shelter help you out. Seems as if they ought to.

Margd said:

Good luck! I hope you figure this out as in Polly's case it led to frequent hair balls which can be a problem all on their own.

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Yeah we had our first hair ball the other day and it was a pretty big one. I've tried to give her hair ball treats also but she doesn't like them. I didn't think about the calming remedies. I will definitely look into that. She's not too fond of the wipes and we obviously put her through the ringer with the bath so I'm sure she's feeling pretty anxious right now.

For those who have had this issue as well was the chewing and pulling fur out the only symptom or was there scratching also? I'd really like to hope that it's just her anxiety and that its not something that I have to go to the vet about just because I feel like I've been being taken advantage of with the vets I've seen and I just don't want to go in and have them give me the run around that they gave me with my other cat.

Polly only pulled her hair out - she never scratched. I don't know if it was connected or not but she also liked to chew on my hair!

I know she was very traumatized by her shelter experience so it took her awhile to get over that. She was surrendered by her family at age 8 after being one of them since she was a kitten and I think it really hit this poor baby hard.

You might also check into food allergies. I've been extraordinarily lucky not to ever have this problem with any of my cats but I think they can cause skin problems.

Could it be a flea bite hypersensitivity or an allergy to a flea treatment? I mean, she doesn't have fleas now, but the shelter she came from doesn't take surrenders, so she came from the pound and being in Florida, I assume that prior to coming into the shelter she had fleas and was treated with them. And if that's the case for either one, what time frame should I give for her to heal? The wipes seem to be deterring her from biting and pulling too much, so is it just a matter of healing?

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable about fleas and allergies to the fleas and their treatment in cats will answer this question. My cats never had a real problem with fleas. However I did have a dog that was terribly allergic to fleas and she pulled her hair out and bit and scratched until she had large open sores. Only a few fleas would cause her tremendous misery. So you might be right that fleas are at the bottom of this. Since it seems likely the shelter treated your kitten for fleas, you might call them and find out what they used.

Cats are able to take benedryl so that might help with itching. I'm afraid I don't know the right dose but if you search the site, maybe someone else has already posted it.

It could be a flea allergy. The scratching, fur pulling and scabs sound like my cat Niko, who was allergic to flea bites as well as being a very sensitive and anxious cat. You might not see fleas because cats with this problem get very good at catching fleas as soon as they bite. Unfortunately by that time the damage is done. Can you find out whether she was treated for fleas, and with what? It may take more than one treatment to get her flea-free.

If that is the problem, all you need is to make sure there are no fleas and then give her time to heal. It can take a few weeks. An antihistamine and an omega 3 oil supplement can help.

It could also be caused by something else, of course. A different allergy, or possibly something like ringworm or mites.

We have a kitty that started doing this.  Took him to the vet and she believed it was an allergy to something, gave him a shot  and sent him home.  We were very lucky in discovering what was causing his allergy so quickly....in our case it was the laundry detergent.  I started to make my own detergent and have been lucky enough to never have the problem again.  Good luck in finding the problem....they can be such a mystery sometimes.