Why is my cat covered in scabs?

Question

They are little round scabs in some places but then by her butt most of the fur is gone. The vet said she had an "allergy" to something. Not much help. She seems healthy and is eating well. I feed her high quality food and tuna from the can. Help!

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

I just took my vet for the same thing. My cat was covered in scabs everywhere. The first vet said it was fleas (flea infection). 2nd Vet checked her for allergies, mites and a fungal infection but nothing came up. 2nd Vet said she has Anxiety and overgrooms due to this. I think my cat had fleas, and the flea bites which formed into bloody scabs have made my cat go crazy and she keeps obsessively picking them off. My diagnosis is fleas for your cat. Buy some Advantage or Frontline from the Vet and you apply a tube on the cat's skin between the shoulder blades once a month. After the first application the fleas will be dead in a few hours. Do this asap and don't let it get to a bad stage like my cat. Good luck.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

I think you are right. My cat is always grooming herself to the point of obsession. Thanks.

Answer 2

If there is another cat around she or he could be getting scabs from the other cat my cat gets them all the time and her hair falls out sometimes

Answer 3

It could be a flea allergy. If that's the case, it would only take one bite from one flea to send her into an itchy mess.

I'd suggest you speak to your vet about what you can do to help her.

Answer 4

As I am not a vet, please take this answer for what it is--merely an idea. One of my cats has a severe allergy to fleas. I treat all the animals with Frontline, but one little bite on this cat, and he will get a scab. Right now he has scabs by the tail, his neck, and on his belly. He never has these in the winter, as there are no fleas around. Just an idea.

Answer 5

Most likly this is food allergies. What kind of food are you feeding? If you are feeding dry foods, you should switch to canned as it doesn't have the fillers and allergens that dry does.There is no such thing as high quality dry foods.
If you are feeding canned then you need to feed canned w/o gravy and canned that does not contain gluten.

Answer 6

This time of the year I would suspect fleas. When my cat had fleas I only found a few. You really have to move the fur to get down to the skin and look for the fleas. Cats groom themselves well and actually eat the fleas during grooming. So they don't have as many fleas at one time on them as a dog would.

I doubt it is a food allergy. I always make sure that the dry cat food I give my cats has chicken or some other whole meat as the first ingredient.

Answer 7

Did the vet check for scabies? The problem near the anus could be due to worms. You should also look online for information on Candida infections. Did the cat have any antibiotics, recently? If you do not get any answers, maybe you should take the cat to a different vet for a second opinion. Additionally, fleas can cause scabs, but is certainly seems the vet would have seen signs of this. Fleas cause scabby areas, and also what appears to be "dirt" under the fur, which is actually minute scabs and also excrement from the fleas. Sometimes a flea can be spotted, but not always. Part the fur and check thoroughly if fleas are suspected. If the cat does have fleas, then a bath in water with dish soap will kill them effectively. Follow with a second bath in a week or two. Use a flea comb around the face to capture any fleas that have climbed to safety in that area. Dish soap baths will kill fleas without causing harm from chemical treatments.

Answer 8

My cat had this SAME prob during the winter I thought maybe it was just really dry skin so I bought this cream (from Wal-Mart) for dry skin and your to put it on three times a day. It seemed to work for me within two weeks. ether it was the creem or it just went away within two weeks, I don't know.