What are these denuded spots on head?

[flycaster]

Luna is a 6 yo, indoor (also screened patio,) medium haired, Russian Blue mix. She is in very good health, not having ever experienced any issues. Over the years, on an occasional random basis, she gets these apparently denuded spots appearing on her head and ears (but not her body.) As far as I can tell, I have never seen her scratch herself in any manner that would cause these spots...the skin shows no signs of trauma, nor does she have bugs. It is not ringworm as there never are any lesions. She pays no attention to the spots when they occur, and they always go away without any ensuing problems. In fact, they go away within a week, or less. Any idea what is going on? There is a pic of the spots. Thanks.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Seasonal changes causing a brief allergy until her system adapts, maybe?

 

[flycaster]

Hi. Seasonal changes causing a brief allergy until her system adapts, maybe?

Yeah, maybe?

 

[stephanietx]

Could be some kind of bite?

 

[blumarine916]

Hot spots? My Meffy gets it all around her neck and head and it’s quite bad. But yes it goes away. Sometimes it could be caused by fleas too.

 

[flycaster]

Could be some kind of bite?

No bite. Never any signs of skin irritation. Skin always clear and normal looking in denuded areas.

 

[flycaster]

Hot spots? My Meffy gets it all around her neck and head and it’s quite bad. But yes it goes away. Sometimes it could be caused by fleas too.

What's a hot spot? As for fleas: Never saw a flea, cat doesn't scratch much, skin not irritated or marked.

 

[stephanietx]

Have you recently changed litter brands or food brand or opened a new bag of dry food (if you feed dry)?

 

[flycaster]

Have you recently changed litter brands or food brand or opened a new bag of dry food (if you feed dry)?

No, same stuff since we have her. These spots (always on her head, but different areas) have been coming and going for a very long time.

 

[stephanietx]

I wonder if it's some kind of allergy reaction to either something she's eating or her litter. Litter allergy usually affects the paws, but I've seen it affect head and face as well. Is her food chicken or fish flavored? Those are known allergens to some kitties.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I would go back to the seasonal allergy possibility. If you have ever logged or made note of when these spots occur and can chart it to weather/season changes, that would be a good start.

 

[flycaster]

I would go back to the seasonal allergy possibility. If you have ever logged or made note of when these spots occur and can chart it to weather/season changes, that would be a good start.

A reasonable suggestion. But, I do think she gets these spots all year at odd, random times.

 

[FeebysOwner]

You want to ask your vet if a skin scraping would be worth it to see if looking at the skin cells under a microscope could shed any light on what could be causing it.

Is the screened patio exposed to an area where lawn treatments might be occurring - something like a liquid fertilizer/pesticide/herbicide that mists into your area? These fertilizer companies are out every couple of months to treat some of my neighbors' yards!!

 

[flycaster]

You want to ask your vet if a skin scraping would be worth it to see if looking at the skin cells under a microscope could shed any light on what could be causing it.

Is the screened patio exposed to an area where lawn treatments might be occurring - something like a liquid fertilizer/pesticide/herbicide that mists into your area? These fertilizer companies are out every couple of months to treat some of my neighbors' yards!!

As these spots do not seem to be causing any problems at all, I'm not into skin scrapings. Lawn treatments do happen, but none of them are liquid and I believe that they are pet friendly. All I really want to know is if someone has seen the same denuding and can tell me what caused it.