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Why is my cat losing hair and getting scabs around her mouth?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Female | spayed

My cat is losing hair around mouth and has scabs

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4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on June 14th, 2017

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.

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    Answered By Lauren Kennedy, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 1st, 2017

    What you are describing is often referred to as military dermatitis and cats. The cause is usually an underlying allergy, most commonly fleas. The first step would be to make sure your cats are on a good flea control. The scabs indicate that there is an infection present and so they will need to be on antibiotics to help clear the infection up. Without clearing up the infection the cats will continue to be itchy and scratch at themselves causing more irritation and more infection. I would recommend a visit to your veterinarian so that they can be properly diagnosed and treated with antibiotics and probably a medication to help prevent the itch while their skin is healing Your veterinarian can also recommend a good flea control to make sure that this isn’t the problem. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

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    Answered By Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

    Veterinarian, Veterinary Oncology Resident

    Published on January 8th, 2018

    Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This could be 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. 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!

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    Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on January 30th, 2018

    Hello. Some cats can develop an allergic reaction to the bacteria in their mouth called stomatitis. He may require antibiotics. Please check in with your veterinarian to see if treatment is required to help Jack. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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