My cat has a history of allergies and is on Hills Z/D food and super low dose prednisolone and has been doing great. In the past he had issues with chewing his paws, and some barbering on his back hocks. As of recently I’ve noticed some spots on his back hocks. I know it’s pretty normal for some cats to get “pressure” spots on their back hocks from laying down and running/jumping. Having a hard time distinguishing. The skin in that area does not appear red/pink/or irritated. I haven’t seen him lick his back hocks at all lately and his fur quality is currently super soft, shiny, and not greasy. I will add that I live in northern Michigan so we are currently in the middle of fall, and I know usually August-October is when cats shed their summer coat and grow in their winter coat. Just looking for some feedback. First photo is what they look like normally, and second photo is what they look like after being brushed. Would greatly appreciate any input! Hoping I’m just overreacting
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Is this barbering? Or simply just pressure spots?
- Thread starter vsvpflex
- Start Date
I think it looks like the typical wear spots cats can get in that area but given his allergies it would make sense for you to wonder. If related to his allergies, I would guess the spots will get bigger/spread out and you might see him licking at them. This is especially true if he did that before when his bare spots were from allergies. At this point, keep an eye on them and see if they get worse.
Has anything changed in his home environment/where he lays/sits/etc. that would explain the spots since he hasn't had them all along? I am not sure they would be caused from seasonal shedding, but anything is possible.
Has anything changed in his home environment/where he lays/sits/etc. that would explain the spots since he hasn't had them all along? I am not sure they would be caused from seasonal shedding, but anything is possible.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
Nothing has really changed aside from the weather. Its colder here now so all of the cats in the house tend to spend more time sleeping/ lounging around. With him being on the hills z/d diet, we were also giving him the hills hypoallergic treats that were compliant with his diet, but over the past half a year the treats have been out of stock everywhere and after contacting Hills directly to enquire why, I was told it was due to shortage of ingredients to make them and that they should be back this upcoming year. Because we haven't been able to give him those treats, we have been trying to supplement with other things. We never completely pinpointed what his allergy was, but it had to have been either chicken or fish, as those were the proteins in the food we were feeding him prior to switching to the hills diet with hydrolyzed protein. We have occasionally been giving him little pieces of freeze dried beef, as its a protein he's never had before, therefor not one he'd have an allergy to. We have also occasionally been giving him a little dollop of novel protein wet food as a treat. The novel protein food we were using as a treat was rabbit and quail, but now im reading online that some cats that are allergic to chicken are allergic to ALL poultry, so quail could be an issue as well. I went to my local feed store today and grabbed 2 cans of Beef & Lamb wet food to use as a treat supplement and plan on discontinuing the quail stuff and seeing if i notice any changes. In the past when he had allergy problems, he would groom CONSTANTLY, so much so that we had him consistently in an E-Collar for upwards of 6 months while we sorted things out. At that time he was also having gastrointestinal issues, as well as barbering his fur and chewing on his paws to the point of causing sores and making them dry/flakey. As of right now I have notice no excessive grooming, no loose stool, no bloating, no scratching, no chewing at his paws, and no wounds on his paws (he does currently have 2 little scabs by his nail bed on ONE paw, but this happens occasionally with him as him and his brother play really rough and like to lay on their sides and kick each other, and occasionally he will get a few little scratches). When he was suffering from allergies before, we would also notice his fur getting really dull, thin, and greasy, and currently it is extremely shiny, soft, and thick. So aside from the spots i showed in the pictures above, I have noticed no other signs, but with how big of an issue this became in the past I tend to overreact anytime theres any little signs that could potentially point towards allergy flare ups.
Also for more context:
Diet - Hills Z/D dry and wet
Litter - Naturally Fresh Walnut Shell Litter
- We use absolutely no chemical cleaners anywhere in the house that he could come in contact with
- We use no fragranced room sprays or candles
- Hes on monthly flea and tick prevention
- He gets 2.5mg prednisolone every other day
If it is getting colder chances are the air is getting dryer too. It does look like the typical calouses cats get on their hocks (dogs get it too but on their elbows).
Dry air means caloused skin.
Dry air means caloused skin.
