Cats are clean pets; they always keep their body clean with minimum or no care from cat’s parent. Even with their clean behavior cats in few situations face skin infection which cause them severe itching and induce skin scratching. In this article Dr. Gnanesh, Consultant Veterinarian in Treat Unusual Veterinary Hospital, Chikkamagaluru is highlighting the major causes for skin infection in the cats.
Cat scratching its skin is an indication of itching sentation created at its skin, which could be due to any of these reasons
The most common causes for scratching are.
- Parasites
- Infections
- Allergy
1.Parasites.
- Parasites include ticks, mites, lice, flies and fleas these are often the first possible causes for scratching.
Signs of ectoparasites in cats
Few common ectoparasites causing skin issues in cats are Fleas, Ticks, Mites, Lice.
Here are the signs to look out for:
- Itching-Your cat may seem agitated
- Red patches of skin; these may appear like pin-pricks
- “Scurf” or flakes in the hair
- Scabbing of the skin
- Pustules; this is when scabs become infected
- Depression in your cat if he is very severely affected
- Alopecia; hair loss
How to Care
Approach your vet as early as you identify the condition, Vet will go through a set of physical, microscopical or other necessary examination to identify the underlying organism like Fleas, Ticks, Mites, Lice, once the core cause of the skin infection is identified the vet will decide on the treatment protocol to overcome the infection.
2.Infections.
- Skin diseases caused by any microorganism like bacteria and fungus fall into this category
- The veterinarian will look for causes of skin disease
- Infection skin diseases mostly will have a severe itching with redness in the skin
- Infectious causes of pruritis induce clinical signs of hair loss, scaling, odor, greasy seborrhea.
Solution
- If such an infection is suspected, please visit your vet to identify the microorganism involved and Vet will suggest the medicines perticular to the microorganism involved and based on the skin condition.
3.Allergy
- The most common causes of allergic itching are insect bites, food allergy, and an inherited skin allergy called atopy.
- Cats with year-round allergic itching may have a food allergy or allergies to house dust mites in addition to seasonal allergens.
- Symptoms of food allergy include.
- Chronic or recurrent ear infection.
- Hair loss.
- Chronic gas or diarrhea.
- Poor coat quality.
Solution.
- Sensitivity to insect bites can be determined based on the cat’s response to insect control.
- Food allergy is identified based on response to a diet trial. During a diet trial the cat is provided with a diet that does not include the foods it has normally consumed.
- During a diet trial the cat is provided with a diet that does not include the foods it has normally consumed. To help your veterinarian isolate the food allergy, you will need to follow the prescribed diet fully and carefully.
Conclusion
Successful treatment depends on identification of the underlying cause. Any skin disease needs a clear understanding of the core cause of the skin issue which cures the cats in a minimum period of time.
However, skin is comparativelyless vascularized organ in body and an extreme patience is needed from Cat’s parents when treating a skin issue., and change of Vets in between treatment will increase the recovery time and may cause unnecessary multiple medication which is not good for cat’s general health.