Why is my cat constantly scratching raw skin and losing weight?

Question

My cat started scratching and licking his back leg, hip area and he has made it raw, I do not see any bugs on him. I sprayed pet antibiotic spray on it assuming he had hot spots. It's back again and he appears to be loosing weight. However he is eating. Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 7 years and 5 months old

Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS · Accepted Answer

This is probably 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 (advocate or advantage), 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). 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.

Why is my cat constantly scratching raw skin and losing weight?

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