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My cat's ears and head are scaly, itchy, and losing hair. What to do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Male | neutered | 7 years and 8 months old | 12 lbs

My car has scaly, itchy ears ND top of his head. First symptoms appeared almost 2 wks ago, worsened quickly. Hair loss on areas of scaly skin. Recommendations?

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on April 4th, 2017

Pumpkin may be suffering from a mite infection, allergies or a bacterial or fungal infection. All of these need veterinary care and each is treated differently from the other. Your vet can easily determine which condition it is by clinical exam and/or a skin scrape. Mites are easily treated with an injectable acaricide, a bacterial infection needs antibiotics, fungal infections is treated with a fungicide and allergies with these signs usually point to food allergies, treatable by avoiding the allergenic food and feed a specific hypoallergenic diet. Please take Pumpkin to a vet soon. Mite and fungal infections are also contagious to people. and other pets.

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    Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    This is probably caused by an allergic reaction. first of all make sure you de-flea Pumpkin regularly every month with a high quality spot on (ex. Advantage) as fleas are by far the most common reason for these reactions. If the fleas are not the problem, it could be an allergic reaction to food or an environmental factor. this is more complicated to treat and will sometimes require medications such as Steroids, anti histamines or cyclosporin in order to stop the allergy.

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    Answered By Debi Matlack

    Veterinary Technician

    Published on November 4th, 2020

    It's very hard to tell much from the photos and no way to know if it is a fungal infection or not without an exam by a veterinarian. Skin problems can have a variety of causes, sometimes more than one. Allergies, parasites, bacterial or fungal infections, even contact with some surfaces or substances will cause itching, rash and/or hair loss. It is important to have the problem checked by your vet to determine if there is a medical cause for your pet’s skin issues and treat accordingly. In pets of all ages, fleas, food allergies and exposure to chemical irritants such as cleaners and soaps can be a cause. Any one of these may not be enough to trigger the breakouts, depending on how sensitive your pet is, but a combination can be enough to start the itch-scratch cycle. Finding out the cause and eliminating it is the best course of action. With flea allergies, if your pet is sensitive enough, a single bite can cause them to break out scratch enough to tear their skin. Check for fleas with a flea comb. Look for fleas and/or tiny black granules, like coarse black pepper. This is flea feces, consisting of digested, dried blood. You may find tiny white particles, like salt, which are the flea eggs. Applying a good topical monthly flea treatment and aggressively treating your house and yard will help break the flea life cycle. If you use plastic bowls, this is a possible cause for hair loss, though this tends to be on the chin, where their skin touches the bowl while they eat. If you suspect this to be the culprit, try changing the bowls to glass, metal or ceramic. Food allergies are often caused by sensitivity to a protein in the food. Hill's Science Diet offers some non-prescription options for sensitive skin as well as prescription hypoallergenic foods for more severe cases. Royal Canin carries limited protein diets that may also offer some relief. Your vet can recommend a specific diet that will help. If there is no relief or not enough, consider getting your pet checked by a veterinary dermatologist and having allergy testing done.

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