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My cat has scabs, is losing fur, and won't eat. What should I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Longhair | Female | 3 years and 3 months old

My cat has scabs on her or she's losing her fur and she won't eat

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4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Lauren Kennedy, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on July 18th, 2017

It looks like your cat has a skin infection, most likely caused by allergies or fleas. The allergies can be from a protein in her food or to something in the environment, like grasses, pollens, dust etc. I would recommend taking your cat in to see the vet so she can be started on some antibiotics to help clear up her skin. I would also recommend discussing with your vet some options for medication to help control her allergies and itch like Atopica.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on October 29th, 2017

    Poor girl. It sounds like she may have a skin allergy causing her itching (excessive grooming), hair loss and secondary bacterial infection (yellow scabs on skin). She likely isn't playful b/c her skin itches and is uncomfortable. She needs to see your local vet to have this taken care of because no over the counter product can successfully treat allergies in cats unfortunately. Pet formulated fish oils (available at your local pet store) can help somewhat but won't cure her skin allergies completley. The vet will likey give her a steroid shot to treat the itch or an oral pill. Then a short course of antibiotics are needed to treat the secondary bacterial infection. Check her for fleas or flea dirt (tiny black specks that resember large grains of pepper) as well. If she does have evidence of fleas, then this is likely a flea allergy. Getting her on a good flea preventative such as Revolution or Cheristin will help prevent this in the future. If no fleas are present, then she likely has either an environmental or food allergy (not as common). Here is a website link with more information on allergies in cats. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2607 Best wishes managing Puddin's skin allergies. Taking her in tomorrow or today (if possible) is the next best step towards her care. I hope she gets better soon.

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    Answered By Jessica Keay, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on December 7th, 2018

    I am sorry to hear about Annie! It sounds like she may need a recheck appointment at her vet or a second opinion if your vet isn't offering other options. Sometimes these cases may need antibiotics for secondary skin infection. We can have skin breakouts due to allergies to food or environmental allergies. To tell if it is a food allergy we need to do a 6 to 8 week diet trial with prescription food, not food that is available over the counter. You can read more about allergy in cats at https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952664 . If environmental allergies (atopy) is suspected, there are some presciption medications that may help such as Atopica, but sometimes in milder cases omega fatty acid supplements and antihistamines such as Cyproheptadine can help.

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    Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

    Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

    Published on June 19th, 2019

    Poor Thea! There are a number of different things that can cause excessive itching and hair loss with scabs, so it's hard to say what might be wrong without being able to examine her and run some tests. Some common possibilities would include allergies (food allergies, or an allergy to something in the environment), fleas, a bacterial or fungal skin infection, or skin mites (mange). Treatment will depend on what the underlying problem is, so I would recommend taking Thea to the vet for an exam. Your veterinarian can do some simple skin tests if needed to help diagnose the problem and get her started on appropriate medication to treat it.

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