skin sores

my 8 yr old male cat has opne sores on his folds of his front legs and between his back legs. They are red and he keeps licking them. I have been putting calendula on them, and the vet said it is either a food allergy or anxiety. I have tried changing his food, but nothing seems to be working. Does any body have any ideas?

Well, it's really impossible for us to diagnose anything via the internet, but it's good you're having him seen by your Vet. 

Are these sores fairly new or has he had them on and off his entire life.  I'm just wondering because some cats are "high strung" and anxiety might cause them to do things like lick one area constantly, or even pull their fur out.  Sometimes they don't have to be high strung, but something can change in their lives that can cause them to become upset, anything really, like a new person moving in, or a new animal, or even a new route of a school bus that now stops out front. 

food can also cause these type of things, although normally it causes issues around the head, but not always.  And cats can develop allergies to foods they have eaten for years. 

Has your Vet prescribed anything to help sooth the sores, any topical creams, or any medication to take internally?  As far as the change in foods, you don't want to keep changing foods.  You need to pick a new food that has limited ingredients, then stick with it for several weeks to see if there is a change.

Did the vet prescribe the calendula or it is something holistic / natural that you are using on your own? Did the vet not recommend anything you could try at home? Were any tests like bloodwork done at the exam? If the vet just said food allergies or anxiety and didn't offer a real diagnosis or treatment options, I recommend seeking an opinion from another vet. Open sores should be treated with some sort of veterinary ointment and covered to prevent the cat from licking at them.

For food allergies it's usually an ingredient in the food that the cat is allergic or really sensitive to. I think there is a test a vet can do to determine that exactly the cat is allergic or sensitive to. The other way is to eliminate ingredients one by one until you find which eliminaed ingredient solves the sore issues. The eaiest way to do a food trial is to feed raw or home cooked food since you can control the ingredients. Short of that, you can try any of the limited ingredient cat foods out t here such as Nature's Variety Limited Ingredients. Here are other threads that discuss limited ignredient diets if you want to give it a try to see if the sores are diet related:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/181578/good-dry-limited-ingredient-diets

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/247426/limited-ingredient-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/286882/...ted-ingredient-diet-cat-food-do-you-recommend

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/89403/need-hypoallergenic-limited-ingredient-food

if it's an allergy / sensitivity to protein, a novel protein may be helpful: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/306947/your-favorite-brands-of-novel-protein-canned-cat-food