My cat's skin turned flaky and grey after home remedies. What's wrong?

Hi and thanks for your question! Flaky skin around the head and ears could be the result of constant itching of those areas due to flea allergy or another cause may be ring worn which typically presents in flaky round patches on the head and neck. If it does not improve soon then it if worth a trip to the vet for a skin scrape and fungal culture. Hope this has helped!

Hello. Without an actual hands on diagnosis, it is difficult to tell exactly what this is, but it does resemble a condition call eosinophilic plaques. If this is what you are dealing with, the condition is frequently associated with underlying allergic disease & tend to respond very quickly to glucocorticoids. The allergies can be to fleas, food, something in the environment & even other insect hypersensitivities like to mosquitoes. The cornerstone to therapy is trying to identify & manage the underlying cause(s). If this is done, the prognosis is excellent for a very manageable condition. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Skin lesions like you are describing can have a variety of causes, including skin parasites (fleas or mites), an infection (bacterial or fungal), allergies, or another underlying medical issue. I would recommend he be evaluated by his regular veterinarian to determine the underlying cause for his skin lesions, so he could start any treatment (antibiotics, anti-itch medications, parasiticide) that he may need. In the meantime, I would clean the area will diluted betadine if possible and then keep it dry, and trim his nails back as much as possible to keep him from scratching at it. Good luck!

From your description and Cecil’s age I’m concerned these could be ringworm lesions. Ringworm is a fungal infection that kittens often get. With just a few small areas a topical treatment is usually all that’s needed. As cats age and their immunity increases these often go away without treatment. Ringworm can spread to humans so be sure to wash your hands after petting Cecil. Usually people do not get if but it’s best to be careful. Please take him in for a skin scraping to diagnose the problem and treatment if these spread or aren’t getting better. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Cecil.

If you have ruled out fleas/skin mites. I recommend to have him tested for hyperthyroidism and if that's not the cause, have him on a 12 week food trial with a hydrolyzed protein diet. You must start moving down the list of potential causes of the skin lesions. Atopy is still on the list but is harder to test for so rule out these other causes first. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing her allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!