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[littleminnie]

My cat has started getting small scabs on her head. Don't look sore and they are very dry. She doesn't really itch them. She has about 12-15.  She is on regular flea treatment and she definitely doesn't have fleas.  Took her to the vet who have her an anti-inflammatory injection, they started to disappear but now they are back. Anyone had this problem before with any of there cats?

[Dulciana]

Yes, littleminnie.  When I was about ten, one of our two cats had exactly what you're describing.  There were quite a lot of scabs but I don't think we ever knew what they were, either.  She got cat flu round about that time, which shortened her life, but there didn't seem to be any link at all between that and these things on her head.   Sorry I can't help but at least I can empathise................

[honeybun]

I've never had a cat but could it be some sort of mange or mite.

I have a white dog which is prone to skin problems. There are all sorts of products to shampoo in or rub in that could help. Only problem is you have to identify what's causing the problem.
I would be asking the vet to do a skin scrape test.


Honeybun
X

[libby1]

My friend's cat has something similar and the vet thinks she's allergic to flea drops so maybe yours is too?

Libby
x

[Taz2]

One of mine had that but they were very itchy. He was allergic to something in one of the cat foods the vet thought but after a course of steroids and antibiotic injections it cleared up and it only comes back, now, if he has milk.

Taz x

[CLKD]

Change her food!  My cat all the classic symptoms of flea bite allergy for years for which she was treated, sadly, a few weeks before she died we found out it was diet related ……… I could have saved her from unpleasant scratch/itch cycle and have never forgiven myself for not realising . 

Does she have a sharp bush outdoors that she likes rubbing up against?  If other cats are around they will mark territory …..  how about at the top of the tail where it joins the spine, any small scabs there? or along the spine itself? which is where fleas would be annoying her.  Fleas travel  and can jump on but won't stay unless they are cat fleas, are there hedgehogs about locally?

[littleminnie]

Thanks for the replies. There are no scabs anywhere except the head.
Just noticed that our other cat now has a couple of scabs too.
They both eat different makes of food, so it can't be that.
The scabs are only small, don't look red or sore.
I did think of ringworm but after googling I don't think it is.

[CLKD]

Ring worm is a fungus.  I had it, caught from leaning on a gate where cows also leaned!

Watch and wait.  Do change their food, in case!

[Dana]

Does you cat eat fish? You may be surprised to learn that lots of cats are allergic to fish, and the allergy may just start out of the blue.

I've had 2 cats who were allergic to fish. One of them I adopted as a stray, so he may have always been allergic, but the other cat I'd had since she was a kitten and she had always eaten canned and fresh fish, along with her other food. All of sudden, when she was probably around 4-5 years old she started to develop scabs like you described, around her tail and on the side of her face. People didn't want to touch her because she looked diseased.

The vet ruled out fleas, but said it was possible it was fish and told me to eliminate it totally to see what happened. Sure enough, the scabs cleared up, but to be really certain I started giving her fish again and the scabs came back. So fish was totally off the menu. After a while I found that I could get away with giving her fish maybe once a week without any problems, but I have naturally avoided fish for all the cats I've had since her. In fact the cats I have now actually really dislike fish, so that solves that problem..lol...

[Taz2]

Hi littleminnie. You may find this helpful from Cats Protection http://www.cats.org.uk/uploads/documents/cat-care-leaflets-2013/VG04_Itchy_cats_and_skin_disorders.pdf  Quite a lot of reading but worth trying to find out what's causing the scabs.

 One of mine developed itchy skin which eventually turned scabby. The vet treated it with a steroid injection which worked quite well and thought it was flea allergy although he was treated with Advocat. The itchiness continued and in the end he couldn't stop licking himself. It became like an obsession and he licked all of the time. He lost lots of weight and developed lots of bald patches. What started out as an allergy had become a bacterial skin infection but I didn't take him back to the vet as soon as I should have as the steriod injection really made him feel out of sorts. When I did take him to the vet he diagnosed secondary bacterial skin infection and he needed antibiotics plus steroids for a while. I found out that at one of the other houses the cat visited he was being given milk (which he loves) and this can cause allergy in some cats. We cut milk out of his diet and this, together with the antibiotics, totally cleared the infection. He's now back to full weight with a fabulous coat. All of this took place over around two years. It's worth trying to get it sorted early on rather than end up with your cat in the same condition as mine.

Taz x

[littleminnie]

Thanks I will look at that link. It's very weird, the older cats head is getting better (stopped giving her Sheba cat food). But the younger ones head isn't getting any better. (She has Whiskers).

[CLKD]

Change the food completely! for at least 3 months and make sure they aren't eating elsewhere 

[littleminnie]

Changing the food, if that doesn't work will try withholding the fish (thanks Dana).

[CLKD]

Withdraw the fish too.  It doesn't matter what the problem is so a complete change may well sort it sooner rather than later. If you wait ….. 

[littleminnie]

Just a quick update.  Changed the cat food (was Sheba), and the lumps have completely gone. Could be a coincidence I suppose.