Why is my kitten losing hair on its neck from mom picking it up?

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. You need to clean it twice a day with antiseptic solution. 4% chlorhexidine would work best, you should be able to buy it at pharmacies or online. Also, make sure that that your Kettey is not scratching that area and that the other cats are not licking the wound. It should go away after a few days, but if not, she will need to be put on a course of antibiotics.

Hello. It is a little tough to tell exactly what is going on, so if you have a chance to let your vet take a look, that would be best. Are you having problems with fleas? That might be one reason he is so scratched up. Bathing in Dawn will help to control the fleas until he is old enough for a flea preventative. If not, then I would pick up a skin cleanser like Hibiclens at any pharmacy, dilute it about 50:50 with water & clean the irritated areas twice daily. Hopefully, this will clear up quickly. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. With Nola being so young it is possible that she has a skin parasite or skin infection that needs treatment. I would recommend having a veterinarian examine her so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. She may need an anti-parasite medication or antibiotic for treatment. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I would be concerned that your cat either picked up fleas from the kittens and may have a hypersensitivity to them causing a dermatitis- OR - perhaps the kittens may have had ringworm which is a contagious fungal infection. Perhaps if you posted again and included photos of the affected skin we could get a better idea. If it was behavioral or stress related, there is usually just hair loss but normal healthy skin. If there is hair loss and abnormal skin....there is most likely a medical cause such as the two I mentioned. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I would bring Kitten 4 to the vet for a checkup if you haven't already. Not getting enough nutrition, an underlying illness or metabolic issue, or even something such as parasites/fungal/skin infections could be causing hair loss. Excessive grooming by the kitten or mom may also cause hair loss in the areas where it is scratched or licked too much. If kitten is bothered by it, using an e-collar or tiny t-shirt to prevent scratching and chewing may help until your vet can take a look to determine the cause.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Oreo. Skin and hair coat problems can be caused by a variety of things including external parasites (fleas, ticks, mites, etc), nutritional problems including loss of nutrition/blood by intestinal parasites, other dietary issues, bacterial/fungal infections, among many others. I don't think the food is causing a problem unless you are not feeding kitten food and I have never heard of the litter causing a problem like this unless it is getting caked onto the hair and skin. They are definitely old enough to be dewormed and I would highly advise that. Deworming should start at 2 weeks of age and be done every 3 weeks for at least 3-4 times. If these areas of concern worsen and persist, I would highly advise you have your vet evaluate Oreo to try to figure out what is going on. It doesn't seem like it's something contagious but sometimes not all kittens are affected. Your vet can advise some tests if needed (skin scrape, skin cytology, fungal culture, woods lamp exam, etc) to try to determine what is going on. Once a diagnosis is made or suspected, a sound treatment plan can be put into action. Your vet can also advise you on a sound preventive health care plan including deworming, testing, vaccines, flea/tick control, etc. Good luck with Oreo.

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!