Cat has big, grayish scab...and is losing fur.

by Anna
(Chino, CA)

What is this weird scab?

What is this weird scab?

After getting my cat groomed, he came back with a samallish scab on his back. It's possible that it was already there (cuz he had long hair). Anyway, the scab kept growing. Last Friday, I examined it further. It was kinda grayish and flakey. When I pulled up on it, his fur came out in a chunk - along with the scab (around the edges). This, of course, made the affected area bigger. It almost appeared as if there was a huge chunk of dandruff beneath the scab...weird. In the middle of the sore/scab, it's kinda grayish-black.






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I took him to the vet. They put the black light on him to see if there was anything flourescent - apparently indicating fungus. There was nothing. The Veterinarian called over three different doctors to look at him. None of them knew what it was. One doctor said that he'd never seen such a thing in a cat, but had seen similar scabs on dogs. At the end of the day, he concluded that it MIGHT be a bacterial infection. He prescribed anitbiotics.

See picture! Any ideas, advice, or help would be greatly appreciated.

There is now another area slightly below it that seems to be forming.

THANK YOU!

Anna

Answer by Kate
Hi Anna
well it does look odd and yes it does look bacterial rather than anything else which may cause a scab.

to be honest if you have had three vets take a look and they are not sure then I think the best course of action will be to explore further. By which i mean the vets will go through several possibilities and try and treat for those and if they have no success may want to send away some samples for analysis.

I have a page about some different types of skin conditions which you may find of further help here

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-hair-loss.html


Hopefully the treatment they are giving you will work but if not then you will unfortunately have to keep returning to the vets until the actual cause is found.

perhaps someone else here will have had a similar experience and will comment.

it is rather strange though. I would be very interested to know what it is when the cause is discovered.

best wishes Kate discovered

Comments for Cat has big, grayish scab...and is losing fur.

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my cat had the same problem
by: taz

my vet said it was a fungal infection apply iodine on it daily (rub it in) it will heal in a couple weeks .
also check the rest of his body there might be spots you missed.
Any solution
by: Tamara

My cat has the same thing, the vet also unsure. What was the solution/answer to this?
Ringworm...?
by: MeadowSparrow

Okay, to me that seriously looks like ringworm.... Please see a vet.... I hope you kitty gets better :)
Huge growing scab maybe frim spider bite
by: Vonnie

My cat got bit by a spider last week. She was completely lethargic, would walk a couple steps then lay down. She didnt want me to touch hey nelly out chest area at all, even to pick her up. After 3 days I felt a small scab on her shoulder in between her chest area. I shaved her for a better look and noticed that her skin which is usually pink, had large black spots on it and liked really inflamed. She was still eating and drinking and taking herself to the restroom. After the 4th day, she was her regular self, but the scab had grown covering most of her chest. Hair was coming off and everything on it. Then it covered her while stomach and the initial scab on her chest healed. Now its moved to her shoulder and everything on her belly is healed. The spreading looks to have slowed down, and looks like the last of it is healing on her shoulder. The scab all sprouted from the initial location of the bite. Freaking weird! We live in a very remote area. So don't use doctors and vets much. I've used a "treat" called "NZymes", its worked great for healing my pets quickly, if they run into problems (which is rare) like this. Also got my dog to walk again when her back legs stopped working. (vet put her on a steroid that made things worse).
Anyways, could be a spider bite!
It is possibly a fungus
by: Anonymous

My cat had something very similar to your cat's pictures, she responded very well to an anti fungal treatment and not to much to antibiotics but she hasn't recovered from it completely, she still has some black stains on her skin so we're yet to see if the anti fungal treatment was the solution.
....
by: lekesha

hi my cat is experiencing the same problem but i havent taken her to the vet yet. i thought it was fleas but it looks just like yout pictures. i had adopted her from petsmart and within the first week i saw her hair looking a little weird so i rubbed it and pulled on it and a chunk of hair came off. i dont no what to do please help

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