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My cat has crusty, scaly patches with hair loss on her face and legs. Why?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Abyssinian | Female | 2 years and 1 month old

i have a 2 year old female cat and she has a number of focal alopecic lesions that have recently appeared on her face and distal limbs. These lesions are crusty and scaly in appearance but she does not itch them.. what could this be?

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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

Veterinarian

Published on November 4th, 2016

That could be potentially a bacterial or fungal infection of the skin. If it is a fungal infection it could be dangerous and transmitted to you as well. A check up and some skin testing are needed as soon as possible to determine the underlying cause and confirm or rule out these clinical suspicions.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Dr. Leigh, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 15th, 2016

    She could have a bacterial skin infection, allergy, or ringworm, to name a couple possibilities. The best thing would be to have your vet look at the lesions to determine the cause. Your vet can do a skin scrape, culutre, or cytology to diagnose and the prescribe medications to treat the problem. She may need an antibiotic, corticosteroid, or antihistamine to help treat.

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    Answered By Dr. Dayna, DVM, CVA

    Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

    Published on January 29th, 2018

    I see the area of hair loss with a crust in the middle. Common causes of hair loss in cats are flea allergies, food allergies, fungal infection such as ringworm, and sometimes bacterial infections. You can not make a diagnosis from a picture, but I would definitely encourage you to have her evaluated by your veterinarian soon before it becomes worse. They may discuss mite and flea treatment and if they feel there is also an infection they may recommend other medications. Best of luck and I hope she improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

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