Skin problems

My 2 year old cat has some kind of skin problems on her neck and back where the shoulder blades meet. She keeps scratching at those areas and now there are bloody scabs there. I put some neosporin on the areas and she stopped trying to rip her own neck open, but I'm curious about what could possibly be causing it. I know it's not food allergies because I've been feeding her the same food for over a year. I think it might be the flea and tick formula that you squeeze on their necks. My vet use Frontline on her the last time we got her checked and we had to bring her in a week later because she could barely walk and was unfocused and dizzy. I thought that maybe she just licked some of that stuff off and got poisoned so I tried a weaker product on her and watched her. She didn't lick any of it off and seemed fine for 2 weeks. Then she started getting those scabs around the area where I applied the stuff. Could it be that she's just allergic to anything of that nature or is it something else? Should I bathe her so maybe I can get the stuff off of her?

Did you buy an over the counter flea medication to apply on her shoulder? What brand was it?
They are notorious for causing reactions in cats, sometimes deadly.

At the very least, yes, I would wash it off.

You would be much better served however, by taking the cat to the vet so the condition can be properly assessed and treated. If this cat had a reaction to a topical flea medication previously, I know I would go to the vet, as often the reactions are worse each time.
And as I said- they can be deadly.

Originally Posted by Cearbhaill

You would be much better served however, by taking the cat to the vet so the condition can be properly assessed and treated. If this cat had a reaction to a topical flea medication previously, I know I would go to the vet, as often the reactions are worse each time.
And as I said- they can be deadly.

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I agree, best to go to the vet, they may be able to give her medication that will help, and next time I would suggest getting flea meds from the vet, the over the counter ones can cause very serious problems.

I agree with needing a vet check

Believe me, I would love to take her to the vet but i have a bit of a problem right now with money. I have college starting in less then a week and i still don't have a job or a car. I'm borrowing money from friends right now jsut to pay for my books and I really can't afford to take her to the vet. Plus no one in my family has money right now either because they are going through their own problems at the moment. And.. I kinda don't trust the vets, they almost killed my cat last time and then made me pay almost $300 for THEIR mistake. Plus, no more flea meds will touch my cat... stupid chemicals do nothing but harm.

And yeah, it was over the counter but i don't remember what brand, I threw out the box.

If she had a problem a week after the Frontline was applied, it probably wasn't related to that. After 4-8 hours it is absorbed into the sebaceous glands, if she had a reaction to the Frontline, it would have been pretty soon after you put the flea meds on her.

I am not a vet, but what you are describing sounds like a eith a reaction to the OTC flea meds or Flea Allergy Dermatitis. Itching and digging around the neck area (or by the base of the tail) with scabs, hairloss, etc. I would strongly suggest taking her into a vet so that they can diagnose her and hopefully give her some relief.

Flea meds that you buy from a vet's office is actually quite safe, it's the OTC brands (Hartz, Control, Biospot) that can be extremely toxic and cause adverse reactions around the application site.

Good luck, and I hope she feels better soon.