Irritated bald spot inside leg

[jolie0216]

Hello everyone!

I saw something on the inside of one of my cat's back leg that worried me - it looks like spot that he has irritated and made bald and raw.  I haven't noticed him over-grooming himself in that area (although I suppose it's possible while I'm at work or something - but when I am here, I don't notice him honing in on that spot inside in his leg).  I have 3 other cats and nobody else has any spots like this on them.  I have googled about ringworm, but this doesn't look like ringworm to me - it looks like something that is self-inflicted?  Nothing has changed around here - everyone is on the same schedule as always, same food, same litter, no changes of any sort that would have induced a stress response, etc.   What does this look like to you guys?  Is it worth a vet visit?  Any ideas for things I can try at home - is it safe to put aloe on this spot to soothe it?  Anything I can put on it to encourage him to leave it alone?

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• jolie0216
• Mar 5, 2016

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• jolie0216
• Mar 5, 2016

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• jolie0216
• Mar 5, 2016

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• jolie0216
• Mar 5, 2016

 

[hexiesfriend]

Looks like it may becoming infected but it might be ringworm too. Do you have a black light you can shine on it? To see if it glows? You probably want to take him to the vet if it's ringworm it needs to be treated before it spreads to you and the other cats. If it's not antibiotics may clear it up.

 

[jolie0216]

Do you guys think the red streaks look like teeth or scratch marks?  I don't have a black light, so I can't test that out.   It just doesn't look like ringworm to me after having viewed a whole bunch of cat ringworm pics on Google Image.   It looks like a scrape or something otherwise self-inflicted.    It doesn't seem to be getting bigger or anything, so if it heals on its own, I'll just chalk it up to a weird occurrence.  Is it safe to put aloe or iodine (Betadine) on that spot?   

 

[jolie0216]

Just an FYI in case anyone else ever sees a similar spot on their cat:

Ended up not putting any ointment on it, and ended up not going to the vet either.  It healed up perfectly fine on its own and it is now fully covered up by fur!  So I guess it was just a scrape or maybe a scratch from too much rough-housing, they are boys after all 

  But it ended up fine, no action taken!

 

[talkingpeanut]

I'm glad your cat is better!  

I would still advise anyone who is reading this to take their cat to the vet if they see an injury or anything abnormal, though.  You never know what caused it or if infection is likely.

 

[jolie0216]

Yes, I definitely agree.  If it hadn't shown signs of improvement within a couple days (or if it looked like it was getting infected) I would have definitely gone to the vet.  But, at least in person, it looked like a scrape or a claw-mark from horsing around.  It's so difficult to know when something is serious and warrants vet attention, or if it's something simple that will heal on its own.   At least in this case, we got lucky and everyone is fine!