Kitty has some hair loss / skin issue

[Morghan De Miren]

I will be taking him to the vet however it will have to wait till July as some car repairs needed to be done and that has sucked up all my extra income. Please don't badger me about this vet visits run 200+ in my area and I will take him as soon as I can afford it.

So whilst brushing my kitten, he's not a year old yet turns a year in July, I found this little hairless patch where the joint is on his back leg. ( Only one leg and it is not visible in any of his normal movements ) It's a little pink and feels slightly bumpy when I run my finger over it and if I gently run my nail over it is seems to be scabby. They are not oozing or weeping or wet and they don't have any ordor He has another little spot on his belly with the same thing but no hair loss.

It is not fleas or a flea allergy I have carefully combed through his coat and there are none nor evidence of any.

He is strictly an indoor cat. I have not noticed any change in behavior. He is still extremely playful eating and drinking all the same and bathroom quality is still the same.

Now we are training him to use a human toilet so is it possible that maybe it is a reaction to the litter being as he is still mastering pooping without litter ? I'm thinking he got into something in the house that irritated his skin or has an allergy to something he rubbed against.

I will take him to the vet as soon as I can afford it but right now it will have to wait a bit. So your thoughts ? ever had a similar problem ?  

[Vanilla eXee]

Could be nothing, but take him to the vet when you can just to be sure. If it's only the two spots and they aren't getting any worse, I wouldn't be terribly worried, he may have just either scratched himself or gotten scratched/bit by something. Do you have any other cats in the house that may have scratched him? Any other animals at all?

For now, just keep an eye on the spots, then take him for a check up when you can afford it. Meantime, you may want to look into low cost vets in your area, both in case it gets worse and in case of emergency.  

[CrissAngelLover12345]

What are you feeding him? It could be a food allergy. Also, what kind of litter are you using? It's less likely to be a litter allergy, though. Good luck on the toilet training! biggrin  

[Morghan De Miren]

He's been eating Purina Kitten Chow Chow since we got him. For the past few months we'd been substituting him with little bits of can food as when he hits one year we are switching to a complete wet food diet.

I don't think it would be a food allergy no changes to his diet recently. The wet food is always friskies and always the same three flavors as we tried him at the start to see what ones he liked best. I just noticed this a few days ago. I check him out weekly cause he get's into everything. Definition curious cat. Just noticed during his combing. It was not there last week.

No other pets. He's king of the house and extremely spoiled.

I'm beginning to think it might be caused by something on my cosmetics table as he gets up there a lot or possibly the cleaner used on the toilet. I've washed the areas with some light soap and warm water just to be safe.

My vet is the lowest cost in the area. I live in a rural area where most people don't bother with vet care. The city vet charges more then 300 for almost anything you need to get done his answer to everything is blood-work and he charges 250 dollars for blood-work, my current vet charges 75 for blood-work. My vet is also the closest. An hour drive. For certain I will take him earlier if it get's worst. It's not bothering him from what I can tell, no biting or licking or excess scratching in that area, so hopefully it'll clear up on it's own.

The toilet training requires a lot of perseverance on the owners part and patience but it is so worth it.  

[Moth Feathers]

Food allergies can take time to develop. Purina Kitten Chow and Friskies both have very poor ingredients. The first ingredient in the Kitten Chow, for example, is poultry by-product meal...you don't want to be feeding your animal the byproducts, it's essentially the leftovers from slaughter that they've deemed are so bad they're unsuitable for humans to eat.

Even if it isn't a food allergy, your cat will be /very/ benefited by switching to a better food. The fur will be softer, the cat will have more energy, the stool will be better formed and have less of an odor For cats, you really want to opt for grainless, but if you're having financial difficulties you could (temporarily) do less of an adequate diet temporarily.

Is there a particular reason why you've opted to feed him dry food when he's a kitten and then switch to wet when he's older? Not that there is an issue with it (dry food is too dehydrating for cats to eat as a main part of their diet), but I don't know why you would feed him dry food only when he's young.  

[Morghan De Miren]

I only have like normal brands available to me. I live in rural Newfoundland and the only thing stocked in our town is Purina / friskies / happy cat / generic brand cat food. The shipping for a higher end brand of kitten food in all wet cans just would not be feasible not to mention the time it would take to get to me.

When I called my vet she told me that it would be best to feed him a kitten formula food for his first year. It contained more nutrients. There was no wet kitten food.

My previous cat had to be put down at 16. He'd been eating hard food his entire life and constantly threw it up then got kidney failure which the vet said could be partly contributed to his diet.

So that bad experience makes me want to have this one on a soft food diet only. With substitutions of chicken hearts, liver, raw feeding etc. mixed in.  

[Morghan De Miren]

If i were to find a place to order cat food at a decent price what would you recommend ?  

[CrissAngelLover12345]

Morghan De Miren

He's been eating Purina Kitten Chow Chow since we got him. For the past few months we'd been substituting him with little bits of can food as when he hits one year we are switching to a complete wet food diet.

I don't think it would be a food allergy no changes to his diet recently. The wet food is always friskies and always the same three flavors as we tried him at the start to see what ones he liked best. I just noticed this a few days ago. I check him out weekly cause he get's into everything. Definition curious cat. Just noticed during his combing. It was not there last week.

No other pets. He's king of the house and extremely spoiled.

I'm beginning to think it might be caused by something on my cosmetics table as he gets up there a lot or possibly the cleaner used on the toilet. I've washed the areas with some light soap and warm water just to be safe.

My vet is the lowest cost in the area. I live in a rural area where most people don't bother with vet care. The city vet charges more then 300 for almost anything you need to get done his answer to everything is blood-work and he charges 250 dollars for blood-work, my current vet charges 75 for blood-work. My vet is also the closest. An hour drive. For certain I will take him earlier if it get's worst. It's not bothering him from what I can tell, no biting or licking or excess scratching in that area, so hopefully it'll clear up on it's own.

The toilet training requires a lot of perseverance on the owners part and patience but it is so worth it.

Unfortunately, Purina (along with most of the brands of food that advertise all the time and can be found in any store, as well as some of the others that can only be found at the vets or pet stores such as Petco and Petsmart (like Science Diet)) has lots of grains (and by-products) in it, and grain is a common allergen to cats and dogs (you would think a lot more companies would stop using them with them being such a common allergen, and so unhealthy). Grains are also horrible for them... Allergies can develop at any time, and even from a food that they may have always gotten. Hairless patches and raised bumps and scabs are often a sign of some form of allergy. Friskies is also not a good brand, as they have a lot of by-products and other ingredients that aren't good. I'd suggest avoid all brands you can get at a grocery store and look at the holistic varieties, which can be found at Petco or Petsmart, and some of them only online, and look for their grainless formulas. For cat foods, Wellness Core and Wellness canned (both can be found online and at Petco and Petsmart) are among the best varieties. When feeding dry food, I also suggest adding water to the food so he remains hydrated. smile

It could very well also be something he brushed up against. I'd suggest both switching him to a better, grainless food, and also putting things that could have also caused it, and taking him to a vet if it gets worse.  

[Moth Feathers]

Have you considered feeding raw then? Especially since you mentioned feeding him organs such as chicken livers and hearts.

Raw is /the/ best diet you can give cats, and it sounds like it would be readily available to you as well. It'd be a much better alternative to feeding Purina or Friskies, and if you can get meat in bulk for a cheap price, probably much more economical as well. The benefits of feeding it are enormous, including wonderful dental health, a beautiful soft shiny coat, and very nice stools.

www.catinfo.org has some information on feeding raw, as well as some recipes. Raw is a complete and balanced diet, just make sure to follow a popular, tried-and-true recipe (such as the one on catinfo.org, a site written by a veterinarian).  

[CrissAngelLover12345]

Morghan De Miren

If i were to find a place to order cat food at a decent price what would you recommend ?

You could try various online websites and see if there is anything you can find. Taste of the Wild is one of the good, grainless varieties, and they do have some canned foods (though not a big variety). The only controversial ingredient I have seen in their ingredient list is salt. I don't know all the locations that carry them. You can look on their website and click on "Where to Buy", put in the information on your city and state location and see if there are any local stores that sell it. If you get the dry formulas, you can add water to the food so he'll remain hydrated. The dry food dehydrates cats since cats need to get the majority of their water from their food, and adding water to the food prevents this from happening.

Or try going raw. As Moth Feathers said, it is the best diet for cats and is the closest to their diet that they would have in the wild, feeding them twice a day. It also might be the most readily available and healthiest option you have. smile  

[Morghan De Miren]

I have looked into into the raw feeding. I have seen those sites before but some things confuse me. Is is alright to purchase items that are available for humans or am I looking for cat formula things ?

My nearest petsmart or pet store of that size is over 8 hours drive one way. In the largest city on the island. So yeah that is not happening. I am going to look into the cat food options at the pet store in the city about 3 hours away from us the next time I go in.

I've looked into buying online but canned cat food is very expensive to ship sad A case for 12 is a great deal but when I'm paying 20-30$ in shipping it quickly becomes a problem.  

[Moth Feathers]

Morghan De Miren

I have looked into into the raw feeding. I have seen those sites before but some things confuse me. Is is alright to purchase items that are available for humans or am I looking for cat formula things ?

Lol, you won't find 'cat formula things'. Raw is just giving raw, human-grade meat, bones, and organs to cats. You just go wherever you normally get your meat at (such as a local butcher or a farmer, etc). You won't find any meat 'specially made for cats' or anything like that.  

[Morghan De Miren]

Ha ha I know I will not be finding 'cat grade chicken'

I meant for the supplements. Is it fine to just pop down to my local shoppers and purchase human grade supplements for adding to the raw food mix.

He loves chicken hearts raw so I am thinking that perhaps I may just go raw. My mother is skeptical but once I tell her about the low odor no odor poop I think she may embrace the idea more.  

[Moth Feathers]

Morghan De Miren

Ha ha I know I will not be finding 'cat grade chicken'

I meant for the supplements. Is it fine to just pop down to my local shoppers and purchase human grade supplements for adding to the raw food mix.

He loves chicken hearts raw so I am thinking that perhaps I may just go raw. My mother is skeptical but once I tell her about the low odor no odor poop I think she may embrace the idea more.

You could do partial raw for a little bit in combination with your canned food (I would not recommend doing partial raw with kibble, because of the dry, bakery-like product kibble is. would upset the digestive system) if you want to ease in slowly and see if your mom would be more open to that.

Yep, most supplements that they mention in raw recipes are specifically made for humans, such as cod liver oil or vitamin E.
In fact, the raw feeders that I've read about order their supplements from places like the Vitamin Shoppe, which is a human-oriented supplement store.
So, whether for human or for animal, both work excellently.