Help! My Cat Scratched His Fur/Skin Right Off! What Should I Do?

[bellabean]

I currently have an almost 2 year old unneutered (yes hes going to be neutered soon) male, an almost one year old unspayed female (who is also going in to be spayed soon) and THEY just had a 3 week old female kitten.

Now my question is regardig the 2 year old male. He hasn't been allowed in our room since Bella got pregnant by him (about 2 and a half months now) and we know it has affected him in majy ways, which is why he is going in to be neutured on their next available appointment. He still gets attention, everything he needs and could want except his "only child spot" and his favourite spot at night on the bed. Bella and Buttons had three rounds of revolution to finally end a cycle of fleas that came through our hkuse as well as a round of milbemax. I know he's sad and upset but it has suddenly taken a hard turn to depression i feel. We woke up this morning to a tuff of his fur missing on the back of his neck, which looked at first like he had gotten into a fight with a visiting small dog that was here overnight. The dog was in a separate bedroom the whole time she was here though. I looked everywhere to see if he had caught himself on something and came up with nothing. This evening while giving him some love and treats, he started to get what looked like an anxious twitch, then he scratched with his back leg the exact part of his neck that is missing. Its like a chunck of skin clean off :/ I feel so bad that I don't know exactly wht is bothering him or if he's sick or not? Or maybe if he's going crazy because Bella keeps going in and out of heat after giving birth (as we're waiting for a date for her to be spayed) or if it's simply depression from not being in our room with us all the time and not being the "only child" anymore.

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this or knows why Buttons could be scratching to the point that he is missing fur / skin.. I have read and heard about calming stuff for cats and would also like to know if anything like that might be helpful in this situtation? Perhaps a diffuser or calming collar? Any information or tips would be greatly appreciated

 

[pushylady]

I think it could well be an anxiety/frustration response rather than say something like an allergic reaction from the fleas (which it could be, but I think you'd have seen this sooner). Certainly him being unneutered is not going to hic cat and he will find an outlet for his frustrations.

 

[bellabean]

I think it could well be an anxiety/frustration response rather than say something like an allergic reaction from the fleas (which it could be, but I think you'd have seen this sooner). Certainly him being unneutered is not going to hic cat and he will find an outlet for his frustrations.

I thought I would have seen a reaction to the flea med sooner as well, I also out the meds a bit further up. He's had revolution before and never had a reaction either. I'm no sure what your mean when you say "him being unneutered is not going to hic cat"?

 

[foxxycat]

sounds like it's stress related scratching. Maybe you can see if they can fast track his neutering so he can go back with his pal?

You can put some coconut oil on it to sooth it. If it's wintertime where you are it could be dry skin. coconut oil will help. It's safe for them to lick.

Fleas can also cause kitties to itch and that could be why he was scratching but I don't think that's what's going on.

It sounds like stress related.

you can try plug in feliway diffusers. I found them the cheapest on chewy.com. The pet stores/vets have them too but you will pay an extra $5 to $10 but if you want to try it asap you can pick up a complete kit for about $35 to $40 and just put it together and plug it in. The only thing I don't like about these plug ins is the prongs don't have those odd shaped prongs to keep it from plugging in backwards-I use a book to prop it up as I don't like to have anything hanging halfway out of the plug box. If you have a counter top with an outlet you can use something underneath to make sure it is perpendicular 90 degree angle to the plug in. You don't have to do this but I feel better not having it sitting halfway out and worry about it doing something funky.

I have found it seems to help my girls stay calmer. I have a very dominant female cat who bosses the old girl around and so far this seems to be helping.

 

[bellabean]

sounds like it's stress related scratching. Maybe you can see if they can fast track his neutering so he can go back with his pal?

You can put some coconut oil on it to sooth it. If it's wintertime where you are it could be dry skin. coconut oil will help. It's safe for them to lick.

Fleas can also cause kitties to itch and that could be why he was scratching but I don't think that's what's going on.
It sounds like stress related.

you can try plug in feliway diffusers. I found them the cheapest on chewy.com. The pet stores/vets have them too but you will pay an extra $5 to $10 but if you want to try it asap you can pick up a complete kit for about $35 to $40 and just put it together and plug it in. The only thing I don't like about these plug ins is the prongs don't have those odd shaped prongs to keep it from plugging in backwards-I use a book to prop it up as I don't like to have anything hanging halfway out of the plug box. If you have a counter top with an outlet you can use something underneath to make sure it is perpendicular 90 degree angle to the plug in. You don't have to do this but I feel better not having it sitting halfway out and worry about it doing something funky.

I have found it seems to help my girls stay calmer. I have a very dominant female cat who bosses the old girl around and so far this seems to be helping.

That's what I was thinking about, they have one at petsmart it's 60$. Winter I'd just ending here and I did notice both of my cats fur were dry over the winter. If a diffuser will help him while he's unable to be in the room I will get it for him. I'm a bit nervous to bring him and bella back together because as soon as we ever brought bella home, he basically started attacking her. Then as soon as she started heat cycles they were trying to mate all the time so the only times they were allowed in the same room together was when one of us was with them. I know he will be fertile for up to a month after neutering, after that though will he calm down and be able to be around bella and their baby?! There was definitely times when Bella and him were best friends! They would even sit on the bed and cuddle so I'm hoping they can just go back to that but I do worry :/

 

[pushylady]

I think it could well be an anxiety/frustration response rather than say something like an allergic reaction from the fleas (which it could be, but I think you'd have seen this sooner). Certainly him being unneutered is not going to hic cat and he will find an outlet for his frustrations.

I thought I would have seen a reaction to the flea med sooner as well, I also out the meds a bit further up. He's had revolution before and never had a reaction either. I'm no sure what your mean when you say "him being unneutered is not going to hic cat"?

Apologies- I meant to write "being unneutered is not going to help him" or words to that effect. :emba: I was editing that and my husband came in and started complaining about coffee. Grumpy, caffeine deprived husbands can be very distracting! :lol3:

 

[bellabean]

Apologies- I meant to write "being unneutered is not going to help him" or words to that effect. :emba: I was editing that and my husband came in and started complaining about coffee. Grumpy, caffeine deprived husbands can be very distracting! :lol3:

hahah understandable! Agreed, I'm on disability so it's been hard to get him an appointment but within the next week he should be in getting neutered but then he'll still have to wait about a month to not be fertile and calm down a little more before we bring him back in..or so I've been told :/

 

[Kieka]

Link had something similar to what you describe a few months back. My vet thought it was a spider bite or reaction to some other bite. At first it just looked like a small bump but when I took him in and the vet shaved the area to really look at it a quarter size area of skin and fur came off. The skin had reacted to the bite (or whatever) and died around it then all feel off at the same moment like a giant scab. 

I would keep an eye on it and if it gets bigger or still looks really red after a few hours then take him in. We got a general topical wound care anti-everything at the vet plus the exam was around $70 for me. He healed up really good and the medicine helped it not itch. The problem with using something like neosporine is that it doesn't really soak in so there is a risk of the cat ingesting it. Coconut oil can be good for things when you know the cause. If I use coconut oil on myself for the wrong thing I get worse skin reactions; but my skin is special too. 

 

[bellabean]

Link had something similar to what you describe a few months back. My vet thought it was a spider bite or reaction to some other bite. At first it just looked like a small bump but when I took him in and the vet shaved the area to really look at it a quarter size area of skin and fur came off. The skin had reacted to the bite (or whatever) and died around it then all feel off at the same moment like a giant scab. 

I would keep an eye on it and if it gets bigger or still looks really red after a few hours then take him in. We got a general topical wound care anti-everything at the vet plus the exam was around $70 for me. He healed up really good and the medicine helped it not itch. The problem with using something like neosporine is that it doesn't really soak in so there is a risk of the cat ingesting it. Coconut oil can be good for things when you know the cause. If I use coconut oil on myself for the wrong thing I get worse skin reactions; but my skin is special too. 

My dad has a bull mastiff who had some sort of anxiety thing about a year ago and she chewed a hole in her foot, he used saline and a healing salve that he got from a health place. It was the only thing that worked after the vet gave him expensive stuff to use (I know this is a cat site) he had some left and gave it to me to use yesterday. I put some on it in the morning and again in the evening. I'm afraid to use coconut oil because my skin is also sensitive and acts up if I use it for the wrong thing :/ we checked it again this morning and it looks like he left it alone last night so maybe the salve helped? We also gave him a good brush last night.

 

[Kieka]

My dad has a bull mastiff who had some sort of anxiety thing about a year ago and she chewed a hole in her foot, he used saline and a healing salve that he got from a health place. It was the only thing that worked after the vet gave him expensive stuff to use (I know this is a cat site) he had some left and gave it to me to use yesterday. I put some on it in the morning and again in the evening. I'm afraid to use coconut oil because my skin is also sensitive and acts up if I use it for the wrong thing :/ we checked it again this morning and it looks like he left it alone last night so maybe the salve helped? We also gave him a good brush last night.

The topical one my vet gave me was for all animals. What is the one you got called?

 

[hbunny]

Is it near the spot where you applied the Revolution??  If it is, please check with your vet.  My little female has a permanent bald spot from where Revolution was applied.  And it was applied by my vet, not me, so it was in the right spot.  Her skin never showed any sign of irritation or redness, her fur just fell out, and has never grown back, and that was back during last summer.  Her fur patch didn't go bald until about a week after it was applied. My vet said he would not recommend revolution at all any more for her.  I now only use Advantage II on all of mine. 

It is about the size of a quarter, a permanent bald spot.  She is a solid black kitty too, and the round white bare spot just glares.

My cats always hated it.  I got some on me one time applying it to one of the boys and I swore never to use it again.

Apparently Revolution is notorious for it.  Read through this thread-

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/161579/revolution-does-it-burn

 

[bellabean]

Is it near the spot where you applied the Revolution??  If it is, please check with your vet.  My little female has a permanent bald spot from where Revolution was applied.  And it was applied by my vet, not me, so it was in the right spot.  Her skin never showed any sign of irritation or redness, her fur just fell out, and has never grown back, and that was back during last summer.  Her fur patch didn't go bald until about a week after it was applied. My vet said he would not recommend revolution at all any more for her.  I now only use Advantage II on all of mine. 
It is about the size of a quarter, a permanent bald spot.  She is a solid black kitty too, and the round white bare spot just glares.
My cats always hated it.  I got some on me one time applying it to one of the boys and I swore never to use it again.

Apparently Revolution is notorious for it.  Read through this thread-

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/161579/revolution-does-it-burn

Is it near the spot where you applied the Revolution??  If it is, please check with your vet.  My little female has a permanent bald spot from where Revolution was applied.  And it was applied by my vet, not me, so it was in the right spot.  Her skin never showed any sign of irritation or redness, her fur just fell out, and has never grown back, and that was back during last summer.  Her fur patch didn't go bald until about a week after it was applied. My vet said he would not recommend revolution at all any more for her.  I now only use Advantage II on all of mine. 
It is about the size of a quarter, a permanent bald spot.  She is a solid black kitty too, and the round white bare spot just glares.
My cats always hated it.  I got some on me one time applying it to one of the boys and I swore never to use it again.

Apparently Revolution is notorious for it.  Read through this thread-

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/161579/revolution-does-it-burn
It's not far from where we applied the revolution and it was applied 2 weeks ago now. We've used it on our pets before. This is probably the 7th time we've put it on him so it's strange that he would all of a sudden be reacting to it now :/ buttons us all black with a small white patch on his chest

 

[bellabean]

The topical one my vet gave me was for all animals. What is the one you got called?

do you mean the stuff my dad got or the salve I'm currently using? I have no idea what he the vet had given him..I just know it didn't work :/ and the salve did! He salve is by Mother Earth Naturap Products Inc and it's called Herbal Healer

 

[Kieka]

Glad the salve worked. Doesn't have anything that stands out as harmful to cats. You have to be a smidgen careful with herbal rememdies only because dogs can handle some things that cats can't.

 

[bellabean]

Glad the salve worked. Doesn't have anything that stands out as harmful to cats. You have to be a smidgen careful with herbal rememdies only because dogs can handle some things that cats can't.

oh! Okay..I have a different one that say's what it is infused with. Maybe you could tell me if it would be harmful to him or not? It just says healing salve infused oils of lavender, chamomile, calendula, st John's wort and vitamin e oil.

 

[bellabean]

Also, I'm going to petsmart today so should I look into a calming..something? Like the diffuser or a collar? They have a lot of different options at he store here. There are sprays, a shirt lol, gummies, something called licks and the diffusers. Any suggestions?

 

[Kieka]

I would stick with the one that is working. The ingredients were listed on their website : A soothing, petroleum-free healing salve for all animals, made with the contact-healing herbs; Plantain, Chickweed, and Comfrey. Based in 100% food-grade, cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil and Vancouver Island beeswax.

I would not do the lavender one as lavender is a debatable herb for cats. In general cats don't process a lot of essential oil or herbal products as well as humans or even dogs. Some can be deadly in small amounts (like tea tree oil). There is some debate of the safe ones are wholly safe or if they just build up in the cats system until they cause harm. In general limit use on cats of any herbal remedy.

The following is a list of some to avoid. I know lavender is on this one and I said it is debatable. You will find just as many people saying it is harmful and not harmful though.

IMG_0353.JPG

• Kieka
• Mar 23, 2017

 

[bellabean]

Wow! Okay, what about the calming stuff?

 

[Kieka]

Feliway? That is a cat pheromone one and is safe for cats. Other calming ones just check the ingredients and make sure they don't contain anything harmful.

 

[bellabean]

Was asking for suggestions. But okay