Cat losing pigment around his ears.

cata_mint

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Hi Dr Jean,

I'm sorry if this is a little long, but it has been worrying me for a while.
I have a 2 year old grey cat called Archie who started changing colour on his ears about a month or 2 ago. He had random splotches of colour on his ears go pink and then skin colour pinky white. A little like an inverse dalmatian.

We took him to the vet who said she had no idea what had caused it, but as his ears had seemed to be getting better, and he is otherwise fine that it was just 'one of those things'.

Now although his ears are less starkly white than they were, its not getting any better, and you can clearly see the translucent splotches through his ears if you hold him up to the light. The pigment loss is also spreading to the area of skin between his ears and eyes.
In the picture of him in my signature, the area where the light hits him just in front of the ears is almost the exact size and appearance of the splotches.

The hair that grows from these patches is also either white or heavily flecked with white. The hair also seems more sparse, although its hard to tell if that is simply the placement in front of the ears, or the white skin showing through.

I was wondering if he could have vitiligo, and if there is anything I can do to help him?

Our other cat is in the pink of health, with no baldness/pigment loss whatsoever.

I would be extremely grateful for any help you are able to give me.
 

mews2much

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Im going to post this here. I have a Question too. Coco got very Sick with a terrible cold in Dec 2005. There was alot of thick Snot. Her nose was all Black but after that the Pigment changed. She has Pink Splotches in her Nose now. What would cause that? I do have before and after Pics.
 

drjean

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Cat #1 -- yes, cats can get vitiligo but it's very rare. This is more commonly an autoimmune problem like pemphigus foliaceous. However, many holistic vets have reported a return to normal nose color with homeopathy and homotoxicology. The white flaky areas of hair loss are vaguely reminiscent of ringworm, so it may be worth culturing one of the spots to rule that out.

Cat #2 -- I would also be thinking about an auto-immune condition like pemphigus for this cat. It's possible that the immune system "over-reacted" to the virus and made antibodies to other things in the area, like the melanocytes that produce skin pigment.

If you're really about it, the vet could do a small wedge biopsy that would probably give you more info, but dang that would hurt!
 
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cata_mint

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We asked our vet about ringworm and she said it definitely wasn't that, thank goodness! I was a bit scared it was ringworm, but the splotches aren't circular at all. I may bother our vet about it again though.

I don't want to put him through anything painful if I can possibly help it.
I just thought, my best friend's mother is a homeopath and she treats her cats. I'll ask her for advice too.
Does auto-immune mean dangerous? If he does have pemphigus foliaceous, will he get pustules?
I think I'm more worried now than when I thought he was randomly going white.

Thank you so much for the advice
 

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That form of pemphigus is pretty benign (pemphigus vulgaris is the baddest of the bad). So stop worrying already! If it ever gets worse (which it probably won't) you have my permission to start worrying again!


A classically trained homeopath is as good as you can get...go for it!
 

mews2much

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Coco just had another bad cold but it didnt remove the Pigment this time. The Vet did say not to worry about it. That Cat is Allergic to so many things.
 
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cata_mint

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Originally Posted by DrJean

That form of pemphigus is pretty benign (pemphigus vulgaris is the baddest of the bad). So stop worrying already! If it ever gets worse (which it probably won't) you have my permission to start worrying again!


A classically trained homeopath is as good as you can get...go for it!
Ok, I'll stop worrying, and I'll call the homeopath today

Thanks for all the advice
 
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