My cat has raw skin, hair loss, and weight loss. Vet meds aren't working.

Question

My cat has lost weight. Losing his hair and has completely raw patches on him. I have donever 2 rounds of antibiotics and 1 steroid shot from the vet and it's not working. They said flea allergy but they don't have fleas. I've tried different food. He is actively bleeding all over. Please help. Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 4 years and 2 months old | 7 lbs

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

Poor Floyd! Chronic skin conditions like this can be very frustrating. The most common causes of hair loss with raw patches would include allergies (food allergies, or an allergy to something in the environment), a bacterial or fungal skin infection, or skin mites (mange). Certain types of systemic illnesses, such as hyperthyroidism, can also cause skin problems and hair loss in cats - this would be less common in a relatively young cat like Floyd, but still possible. With weight loss as well as skin issues, a food allergy would be somewhat high on my list of suspicions - so if you have not done a diet trial with a prescription hypoallergenic food such as Hills z/d or Purina HA, this might be worth a try. Simply changing from one over-the-counter diet to another is not as helpful. Other testing that may be helpful for Floyd to help get a diagnosis for his problem would include blood work, bacterial and fungal skin cultures, a skin scrape to check for mites, and/or allergy testing to try and identify what he might be allergic to. Since antibiotics and steroids have not been helpful so far, I would suggest talking with your vet to see what he/she recommends as the next step for Floyd. If your vet doesn't have any other suggestions at this point, you can seek a second opinion from another local vet, or request referral to a veterinary dermatologist for further work-up.

My cat has raw skin, hair loss, and weight loss. Vet meds aren't working.

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