Cat suddenly missing fur on face

[Ruthmart]

Hi there,
Looking for any thoughts until my vet opens tomorrow! My cat is suddenly missing a patch of fur on his face and the skin underneath looks sore. It has only happened today as he was perfectly fine last night. My first guess is that he might have got into a scuffle or caught his fur on something but I’ve now got myself worried that it could be ringworm! I don’t suppose that would show up instantly though? Has anyone seen anything similar?
I’ve added a photo of his injury plus a photo from last night so you can see what he normally looks like!
Interestingly his left eye (the same side of his face) was squinting and watering a bit when I spotted the bald patch although that seems to look better now. His safety release collar was also missing which does seem to point to him getting into a spot of bother. Otherwise he seems fine and is happily lapping up the fuss and attention and purring away. Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

 

[fionasmom]

Cute little boy, missing fur or not. You are going to the vet almost immediately, so I would not panic just yet. We are not doctors and the pic of his face is not clear enough for me to make a guess about ringworm, but from your description of him having been outside, along with the sore left eye, it sounds as if he encountered something. Ringworm is usually scaly and crusty in appearance. If it is ringworm, the vet will tell you what to do and we have a lot of info here as well. Please let us know what you find out.

 

[Ruthmart]

Cute little boy, missing fur or not. You are going to the vet almost immediately, so I would not panic just yet. We are not doctors and the pic of his face is not clear enough for me to make a guess about ringworm, but from your description of him having been outside, along with the sore left eye, it sounds as if he encountered something. Ringworm is usually scaly and crusty in appearance. If it is ringworm, the vet will tell you what to do and we have a lot of info here as well. Please let us know what you find out.

Thanks for your reply! He is my adorable little baby, but he is a real scamp, highly active and adventurous. He is often losing collars scrambling up trees and around the garden so I am starting to think that he might have got into a scrape this afternoon given that he turned up having lost his collar, with an irritated left eye and lost fur on the same side of his face. Fingers crossed he has just got into a bit of a scrape and I’m worrying about nothing!

 

[fionasmom]

This really does sound like an adventure gone wrong and hopefully he will heal and learn his lesson about whatever got him into this!

 

[neely]

He is often losing collars scrambling up trees and around the garden so I am starting to think that he might have got into a scrape this afternoon given that he turned up having lost his collar

Just out of curiosity, if he is often losing collars outdoors is he microchipped? The reason I asked is in case he should ever get lost.

Fingers crossed he has just got into a bit of a scrape and I’m worrying about nothing!

Fingers crossed but if he doesn't improve or develops any new symptoms please contact your vet.