Bald patch on my cats back

sparkle_23

Hey not really sure how to describe this! Before breakfast I looked out the window and saw Smudge lounging on the outside table.

I went out to pet her and when she was stretched out I noticed this



What could have happened?


She doesn't seem to be payin too much attention to it but it gave me a fright

Pumpkinseeds

Ouch that looks very sore:eek:

Hamhide

maybe she just got into a fight with another cat or a skin infection.Take her to the vet if shes in pain.

inocybe

Have you used a spot on recently? One of mine had a reaction like that. It looks nasty though, I'd keep the cat inside to keep it clean.

anniehoo

Sparkle that looks rough, but it's pink and healthy, with no oozing or necrosis. I can't gauge a size (is it about 2 inches wide?). She's probably not "at it" because she can't reach it, which is a good thing. It'd be a VERY dramatic reaction from a spot on but could be an infected tick bite. It doesn't look like ringworm or a dermatology related skin issue, so my guess is she's been in a fight or rubbed off something and it's punctured her skin.

It's a tough one as it doesn't "look" infected but is very very raw and angry looking.The problem is if there's a fistula underneath which you won't see.It is in a perfect spot for easy healing though as she won't be constantly grooming it. My advice would be to bath gently with hibiscrub and watch for changes tomorrow. If it starts oozing or spreading I'd be at the vet Monday.

Again, it is a hard one to call and honestly there may or may not be a need for antibiotics but as you know we're no subsitute for your vet. I mentioned fistula above as Beanie had a similar looking wound 2 years ago on his left flank that I thought would heal, but didnt and developed into a fistula.

Mountainsandh

Hi OP, my cat had the exact same 3 years in a row. He hasn't had it this year fingers crossed ! He's obviously been followed by the vet each time, but we never found out for sure what it was. Our very best bet is that it is an allergy, and I personnally think that it is an allergy to a plant that grows near where I live. What plant, I don't know, but it seems to appear at very set times for us, on a normal year it would be from the end of May, but this year having been what it was, maybe the plant in question might just flower or go into seed now.There are a lot of ferns/bracken near me, so it could be that, but it could be any number of weeds too.

We really did try everything, we tried antibiotics, all sorts of ointments, oral medication for ringworm in case it was the type that doesn't show with the light, tried changing his diet, changing flea treatments..
We did not do the skin test, as that year when vet offered, it already seemed to start receeding, and vet reckoned it wasn't worth taking the little square of skin under anaesthetic at that stage.

So how to cope ? Sorry can't really help you much here. Show it to the vets, maybe try an ointment, not sure about that either tbh as I had a feeling it was just maintaining it there...
I felt in our case the shots of antibiotics only were the best to fend off infection, other than that... just wait, until the season for whatever it is is over, and it will heal itself. It didn't seem to bother mine either, it seemed to bother me more for his sake.

My cat has never ever had it past September, at least that's a positive to think about ! I forgot to mention that another local cat that called up to my place used to have it too, my cat couldn't stand him so it's unlikely it was something he caught from him, we had established it wasn't yeast or ringworm type thing anyway.

Good luck with it and if you do find out more about it please post on here, I'd love to know.

pawrick

Could it be caused by another cat trying to mate with her and where the male tried to hold on getting infected at a later stage, the male sometimes bites near the neck during mating. Just putting that out there, I could be very much off the mark on it though as it doesn't look like a bite really but location is close enough to where bites can occur.

sparkle_23

It's about the size of a 1 euro coin maybe! I thought it was odd that there was no obvious cut or bite marks, just the hair missing! My other cat has come home a couple of times with little bits of fur missing but I can usually see a scratch or bite mark! I haven't used any spot on treatments or anything! My dog Jake has been licking her head and back all evening whatever that's about. He used to do that when she was a kitten all the time!