Rapid Fur Loss With Tiny Scabs Underneath

[lavishsqualor]

I was wondering if you ever figured out what was causing your cat's hair loss. One of my ferals has what looks to be a similar condition and I'm at the end of my rope. I've wormed her and administered several doses of Ivermectin.

 

[thunderseed]

Hmm very, interesting! The antibiotics stopped the patches from getting any worse, but she's still licking all the time, plus I see way more of those red dots, that I first thought looked like scabs. They do feel kind of like scabs, and are slightly raised. The red dots are also now in areas under her fur along her back, so I know they are not just scabs from her ripping her fur out. To me it almost resembles chicken pox or hives or something like that.
I think that's why the vet originally thought it was an allergic reaction.
I'm still doing the flea treatment just in case, that was the first thing they thought it might be (an allergy to fleas).
The good news is that today her dandruff is gone, no flakes when I brush her or anything and I think that might be due to a combination of me adding water into her dry food to make sure she's staying hydrated and also giving her the probiotics! But I still see the red dots/scabs. No shedding because she's grooming way too much still, and her fur seems to feel really thin to me everywhere (she once had a very thick coat) but that may also be the overgrooming.
I remember before this started happening she started shedding lots and I saw dandruff. Well, now I'm worried it might happen to my other cat too because all of a sudden he has started shedding lots plus I noticed dandruff when I was brushing him. And I don't think it's a normal amount of shedding although he does have very thick medium length fur, and I haven't been brushing him and it's summer, but yesterday when I was petting and brushing him fur was literally flying off into the air in every direction it was that bad. After an hour of brushing him it still didn't get better.

Anyway, still trying to figure it all out, and this is a photo of Sage this morning. The patches got worse since the last photo I shared, but don't seem to be getting any worse since the round of antibiotics which she's been off of for awhile now, but doesn't seem to be getting any better either, like I don't see any new fur growth and I see a lot more of those red dots.

 

[lavishsqualor]

My feral, as incredibly sweet as she is, won't allow me to touch her so I can't speak for the condition of her skin. It's all very, very frustrating. I sure hope your cat recovers fully.

 

[thunderseed]

Oh god, today it has gotten worse again. I've made another vet appointment for tuesday.

 

[lavishsqualor]

Let me know what your vet says. I've tried THREE TIMES to trap my feral for a vet visit and I've failed each time. Crafty little kitty.

 

[maggiedemi]

Have you tried Frontline Plus as your monthly flea topical? It can sometimes help with mites or mange.

 

[kashmir64]

I had not mentioned that I did have a cat that did this. Would pull her hair out until she bled. Vet said she had anxiety and that she was almost OCD about it. She also had a heart condition which, we believe, led to the anxiety.

I didn't mention it because of the heart issue, and didn't want to freak you out. But, it doesn't sound like yours has one. But your cat may have anxiety over something.

 

[thunderseed]

It is an infection! This time at the vet they found LOTS of bacteria on her skin near the red sores, so she's going on another round of antibiotics and prednisone and after 2 weeks a more expensive type of prednisone that doesn't cause cat diabetes, because apparently, this prednisone can, but they have to order the better stuff in. They found some bacteria last time, which is why they put her on antibiotics last time, but they found way more this time. That's why the antibiotics seemed to prevent it from getting worse last time. Obviously, she just needs another boost to help her body fight the infection.

They said there has to be something that caused the infection though, such as an allergy, wound or underlying health concern.
Since we're not entirely sure what caused the infection, the vet rechecked her blood work again just in case. Apparently, allergies can get bad enough that they cause infections too, so I've been advised to keep her on the hypoallergenic food, which I am going to anyway because it helps her digestive issues.

But, quite a while before this started happening, I would say a few months before, Sage got a really bad cut on her belly (I was never able to figure out where it came from and she is an indoor/outdoor cat so it was most likely from something outdoors) and even though it's healed, it's all inflamed right now and the fur never grew back, so I think that may also be where the infection came from!
Plus, due to her vomiting issues over the years, and the recent switch to the hypoallergenic food that cured it, I now know she has food allergies, so it's possible she's also having an allergic reaction to something that got into the cut and into her blood stream all this time.

Thousands of dollars later I'm feeling pretty positive that we've figured it out. I know what her food allergies are now too by comparing all the foods she ever ate to the hypoallergenic stuff that works, I know there a few ingredients she can't have: potatoes, chick peas/garbanza beans/ chicken meal (real chicken is totally fine) and I'm suspicious about sweet potatoes and peas as well.
There aren't a lot of dry foods on the market that don't have any of those ingredients, so I've been experimenting with some wet foods instead that are free from those ingredients (I am giving her some Royal Canin recovery right now along with her hypoallergenic food) just because I am 100 percent sure I know what her food allergies are and the royal canin recovery is free from those foods and it's meant to help cats recover from illness so I want her to have that extra nutrition right now, and she's doing fine on it too, plus the wet food will keep her more hydrated.

During this, I've been also giving her probiotics especially since she's on antibiotics right now.
The chicken flavoured Fortiflora probiotics I got at the vets office were soooo expensive, but I found some amazing turkey flavoured cat probiotics on amazon.ca for super cheap, and they are in a treat form that she loves to eat by itself.

So anyway, what I've learned from the vet is that hair loss and red spots are a pretty common symptom in cats and there are many, many possibilities that can cause such symptoms. In Sage's case, it's an infection, that could have been caused by a wound, underlying illness or possibly an allergy. We'll know it's not an illness as soon as they recheck her blood tests, which should be here in a couple of days. But I bet it's either from that cut on her belly she had previously, or from some type of allergy, and if it's the latter I'm going to have to try and figure out what she is allergic to.