My cat has red, scaly neck skin with hair loss. Why a biopsy?

A biopsy of the skin should have given a better answer than the teeth were a problem. It can tell if it is an infection from an allergy or an immune disease. I would worry about a food allergy and consider changing foods to a hypoallergenic diet and see what the biopsy results suggest for further medicine

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.

I would talk to your vet about doing a biopsy or a culture and sensitivity. The biopsy may be able to tell a different skin condition (underlying mange, fungal infection, etc) that may require different medications than just antibiotics and steroids. A culture and sensitivity may reveal a resistant bacteria that isn't responding to the current antibiotics. I hope this helps.

If you are concerned that Gypsy might have a dermatologic issue, she should be brought into a veterinarian to have some diagnostics performed. This can include skin scrapings, cytology, fungal / bacterial cultures, and allergy testing. Other problems that can cause skin issue in cats are various vitamin and mineral deficiencies as well as a number of endocrine disorders. Endocrine disorders do not usually produce itchiness however, making this a less likely scenario.

It could be that Claire is suffering from allergies, but this could also be due to fleas, mites, or ringworm. If she isn't up to date on her flea treatment, she will need a spot on treatment such as Advantage or Revolution. You will need to disinfect the environment as well. If she is up to date on her flea treatment, I recommend taking her into the vet for an exam 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 redness and irriation is found, the vet can prescribe the appropriate treatment. Another cause could be a skin infection, due to bacteria or yeast. While at the vet, they can examine her for this possible cause, and can discuss treatment options with you.

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!

These areas on the skin look very suspicious of a ringworm infection or bacterial infection. Ms Pussington needs to be seen by a vet to get this looked at and treated. This won't respond to any at home treatment unfortunately. I would recommend scheduling an appt soon for her. In the meantime you can try cleaning the area with Betadine diluted 50:50 with warm water to provide a topical antiseptic clean. Nothing else should be placed on these wounds. She will likely need a skin scrape/cytology to identify the underlying pathogen and then treatment based on what the cause is. I hope she feels better soon.