Why do my cats have bloody wounds & hair loss after a pet spa?

Poor kittens! These lesions could be a result of injuries from playing and subsequent infection/abscess formation, ringworm, or mange. If you feel adventurous, you can carefully try to use clippers to clip the fur around these lesions on both kittens and then clean the areas with an antiseptic solution, such as dilute chlorhexidine or dilute betadine. However, both kittens will likely need to go to the vet for further evaluation to determine if diagnostic testing and/or oral antibiotics are necessary. If the kittens are scratching at themselves, be sure that they are wearing e-collars (cones) to prevent further skin damage. I hope that all goes well!

If the flea treatment route isn't helping another avenue you could look to is a behavioral issue such as extreme stress leading to hyperstimulation or overgrooming, which can lead to a cat grooming to the point they tear their fur out/go bald/cause bleeding hot spots. Often, treating the underlying stressor can help to reduce the incidence, but in some cases additional help such as an Elizabethan (cone) collar to stop the habit while treating the stress is also needed. You can try out something such as Feli-way plugins or collars to help reduce stress, and if that still doesn't help speak with a trainer or behaviorist in your area that can help figure out a plan. Other medical causes of stress can include food allergies, injuries from other cats, environmental allergies, and other parasites beside fleas that could be aggravating the skin. Infections from yeast or bacteria can also cause hot spots to form and can be irritating to the skin. If you haven't yet, ruling out some of these other causes may be another avenue to explore.

These lesions look suspicious of scabies mites, ringworm and/or this could be a result of a current ear infection (ear mites) and fleas. Neither of these conditions can be properly diagnosed and treated without the help of your veterinarian unfortunately. I would try to take at least 1 cat in to the vet to have a skin scrape and ear exam + ear cytology (if debris is seen inside the ear canal) to try and confirm the diagnosis so that we know how to best help your pets. I am highly suspicious that this is a contagious skin disease however because multiple pets have skin problems at the same time. Poor cats. Here is a website link for financial help if needed http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_veterinary_care.html I hope that Muming and your other cats get their skin problems resolved soon. The vet should know just what they need after the necessary preliminary testing is done. Best wishes and take care.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Ares. Poor boy! Apply gentle pressure to stop the bleeding. Wash the wound with warm water and antiseptic soap. To keep him from licking at it, you can put an Ecollar on him. You can get one at a pet store or make one at home. Keep the wound clean and dry, and monitor it for signs of infection. If you see redness, swelling, warmth to the touch, or pus, then it is infected and he will need to see the vet for antibiotics to treat it. I hope this helps!

This sounds like a reaction to fleas or some other allergen. Fleas are the most likely. Fleas don't live on the animals so make sure you treat your house and yard for fleas as well. Make sure you have them both on a high quality flea preventative like frontline plus or comfortis or cheristan. The over the counter flea preventative like hartz don't usually work and can cause bad reactions. Finally, since you are seeing scabs and swollen bald areas, they likely have secondary bacterial infection. I would have your vet do an exam. They will be able to determine if they need an antibiotics or even an injection to help with the itching. I hope this helps.

Fleas and allergies to fleas can set-up an environment for infection. It's possible that this is complicating the recovery process. The skin will often start to heal once the fleas are gone, but it's worth treating for infection by giving a bath with a medicated cat shampoo (can get this at the pet store). I recommend discontinuing the use of the other products (except the flea control) for now, because overuse and misuse of certain products can actually delay healing or make the problem worse. For instance, I worry about the use of the coconut oil, because fungal and bacterial infections will thrive in the coconut oil. It's best to just give a bath with the medicated shampoo once every 2-3 days, until the skin starts to look normal. It's expected that it will take a month or more until the cats start to look normal again, so stick with it and they should get through this fine. Treating for fleas is not just restricted to the host, because fleas can reproduce and nest in the environment and continually cause an issue. Below is a link to a short article that explains treating the cats and environment for fleas: https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-tips-to-get-rid-of-fleas/ If the skin problems are not getting better, or are getting worse in the next two weeks, then it's best to have your cats evaluated by a vet, because they may need additional treatment. I hope that helps and the kitties get better soon.

Hello, sorry to hear about your kittens. It is difficult to evaluate from the photos if those are fighting scars/scabs and hair loss, or areas of hair loss from another unrelated cause. Other things that may cause this hair loss and scabs may be something that is making them itchy. Common things in indoor cats include allergies and infections with parasites, bacteria, or ringworm. If these areas do not improve then have her evaluated by her veterinarian soon to make sure that this is not associated with some form of infection or allergies. It this is indeed associated with fights the read the following information and monitor the areas for any swelling, pain, discharge, loss of appetite, vomiting, and lethargy and have them evaluated by their veterinarian if you note any. Its rare that cats whom have been roommates for an long period of time develop inter-cat aggression. Factors that could contribute to this rare occurrence include moving to a new place, obtaining new furniture, a new pet, or even changing the fragrance of either cat. Other causes include if one of your cats was at a different location (for example the vets or groomers) then came home with a different smell. Most of the time, the aggression between cats is evident and constant. If you are not seeing any aggression or even hissing between them, and you did not witness a fight, then its likely that those areas are not from fighting. Hope this helps and best of luck.