Why does my cat have scabs, hair loss, itchy skin, and eye discharge?

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.

This is probably 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.

Hi there! The most common cause of excessive itching like this in cats is allergies - either food allergies, or an allergy to something in the environment. You may want to talk with your veterinarian about allergy testing to help identify the source of the problem so that you can put together a treatment plan based on this information. If he's allergic to something in his food, he may need to be on a prescription diet like Hills z/d or Purina HA to help resolve the itching. If he has environmental allergies, you could consider hyposensitization injections or long-term daily medication like prednisolone or Atopica.

It looks to me like the areas may be related on Max's head. Based on how they look and the fact that they appear irritated I would be suspicious of either a mite infection or ringworm (which is a fungal infection that he can give to you). A veterinarian will preform a test called a skin scrape to determine if mites are present. Treatment is easy in most pets. Ringworm diagnosis requires a fungal culture and is generally easy to clear up but needs a lot of environmental clean up. Bacterial infection is likely also present and is a secondary problem. Take Max into see the veterinarian who will be able to determine the cause and get Max started on treatment. Best of luck!

This is likely either skin mites or ringworm. Poor kitty. He needs to be seen by your vet for skin testing to determine which is likely so that he can start treatment for this right away. Best wishes at the vet and I hope his skin clears up soon. Take care.

If Oliver scratches and grooms himself a lot, he could be itchy. This itchiness could be caused by fleas, mites, ringworm, or allergies. If he isn't up to date on his flea treatment, I can give you one for him. First, I would give him Capstar. It's a one time pill that starts killing fleas within 30 minutes. Then follow up with a spot on treatment, such as Advantage or Revolution. This is a treatment that has to be used once a month. You will also have to disinfect the environment. Wash his bedding in hot soapy water, and vacuum the furniture and carpet surfaces. You can use a spray to kill fleas in the house, such as Indorex, or a flea bomb would work well to kill the fleas in the home. If he is up to date on his flea treatment, I recommend taking him into the vet for an exam today or tomorrow. The vet can do blood tests, skin scrapings, and use a Wood's lamp to diagnose allergies, mites, and ringworm. Once the cause of the itching is found, the vet can prescribe the appropriate treatment. Best of luck.

It sounds like you are doing a good job ruling out the usual causes of chronic skin disease. You have one more month before you will know if its food (it takes 3 months to reset the immune system). I would recommend ruling out hyperthyroidism (although this typically affects older cats). Otherwise environmental allergies would be the most likely cause. These can be to ANYTHING (house mites, dust mites, grass, pollen..etc). I think you guys are on the right track. Keep going and best of luck!