My 13-week-old kitten has dry skin behind her ear. What should I do?

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an infection, likely to be cause by mites or a fungus. First of all I would recommend to ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. Once diagnosis has been established appropriate treatment may be needed. 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!

A lesion like that could be a bacterial infection or ringworm (which humans can get). Your best option is to have Mocha examined and tested for ringworm. Make sure to protect the area from rubbing and scratching and she should wear an elizabethan collar at all times. Here is a link about ringworm just in case: https://www.petcoach.co/article/ringworm-in-cats/ I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

This looks like a ringworm infection. That is a fungal infection common in young kittens. Since it’s only a few spots your veterinarian may prescribe a topical medication. They will look at this under the microscope and may do other tests to confirm the diagnosis. People can get this so please wash your hands after handling her. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Princess.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The pictures are good but it's still tough to see what is going on. Hair loss with dry/flaky skin is often indicative of ringworm especially in kittens. This is highly contagious to other animals and to people making it a zoonotic disease. I would definitely have a vet evaluate the litter and start treatment for a fungal infection right away to prevent this from getting worse. I would quarantine the litter away from all other pets and humans especially young children and the elderly since they are most likely to get infected. Even the shed hairs can contain fungal spores so direct contact with the animals is not required to get infected. It could be something else but in the pictures it is highly suspect since it looks like the paws and tail are affected. Other possibilities include mites, bacteria, external parasites (fleas, etc), dietary problems, intestinal parasite problems, among other things. Your vet can evaluate them and advise a woods lamp exam, skin scrape, fungal culture, hair analysis, etc to determine what is going on. The ears could be infected with ear mites and they could evaluate those also. Eye problems in young kittens are often due to viruses which infect the eyes and cause upper respiratory infections. These are contagious also along with the ear mites to other cats and dogs. Your vet can evaluate everything that is going on a make a plan to solve the puzzle. They can advise a sound treatment plan in addition to guiding you in preventive health care items including deworming, vaccines, flea/tick products, etc. Good luck and I hope it's not ringworm.

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!

Unfortunately, without seeing it in person, I can't say for certain what is causing this rough and bumpy patch beneath Shiki's ear. I can say that if she is scratching below her ear, that can be a sign of an ear infection, and I do think she should see a vet for it. Ear infections in cats can be caused by ear mites, yeast, or bacteria, and can only be treated by medications from the vet. I recommend having Shiki seen by a vet tomorrow to diagnose if she does have an ear infection, and to get medications to treat it if she does. It's important to treat any ear infection promptly, as leaving it untreated can lead to hearing loss.

This presentation could be due to a trauma or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria but fungal infections are possible as well). A check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any scratching (if any). 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!