My cat has hair loss and a lip ulcer after steroids. What can I do?

The rodent ulcer needs to be treated with steroids. He will need to see a vet for that. It is not something you can treat at home. You need to be very careful using coconut oil on a cat's skin, it is very high in fat and if he licks too much of it, he could get pancreatitis. Cats like this need long term allergy management which includes a monthly flea treatment. Just combing him once with a flea comb is not enough. I suggest you speak to the vet about a monthly topical or oral pill to control fleas.

This looks like an allergy, especially because it healed with a steroid injection. I would not recommend continuing steroid injections are they can predispose her to health problems. I would switch her to stainless steel bowls and consider a dermatology appointment to work up the skin disease.

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. I don't think it looks like an ulcer. 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!

Poor guy. If this is a food allergy, then make sure to first off switch him back to his original food. Then you can try shaving the hair around the wound and cleaning it with Betadine diluted 50:50 with warm water. If the wound resembles a "hot spot" then you can try some over the counter hot spot spray from your local pet store. However if this wound is more like a puncture, then its best to get your local vet to treat this area appropriately.

I am sorry to hear about Sushi! I would recommend following up with her veterinarian. I would be concerned she could have allergies to airborne allergens (called atopic dermatitis) which responded to the steroids, but the steroids do not get rid of the allergies, just help relieve the symptoms, so often a pet may need to be put on other medications long term to keep the allergies under control. You can read more about this at https://www.petcoach.co/article/allergies-atopy-in-cats/ . If they do not feel it is atopy, they may recommend additional testing for other skin conditions.

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. The lump could be from a recent vaccination or it could be some type of tumor. If he was vaccinated recently, I would monitor the mass to see if it goes away on its own. Shadow could be dealing with an allergy or the licking could be due to pain as well. If the licking persists despite a steroid injection, I would recommend having an Cray taken of the back end to make sure there are no obvious bone changes that may be causing this. If there are not, then I would recommend starting a shampoo such as Douxo PS calm shampoo and bathe twice weekly. I would also recommend using welactin omega 3 fish oil and essential 6 spot on by dermoscent to help with a potential allergy. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Hello. This is an indication that Tigs is allergic to something in his environment, be it pollen, dust mites, possibly even his food. Cortisone can keep his symptoms under control, but over time there can be side effects from multiple steroid injections. You could try allergy testing to see what Tigs may be allergic to & start a desensitization protocol. This can take some time, so it is best to work with a veterinary dermatologist to get the best results. If he might be having some issues with his food, then a trial with a hypoallergenic diet may be appropriate. Make sure you are doing as good a job as you can controlling fleas as this is a major cause if skin irritation in cats. The important thing to know is we can not cure allergies, just control the symptoms. Steroid injections ( cortisone ) are just one tool to help keep the symptoms under control. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.