Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 2/7/2010

Question
my 5 yr. old cat has a group (5 or 6) of red sores similar to a pimple, on the base of his tail and top of his hips... he doesn't have fleas either. what is this? he eats taste of the wild cat food which has no wheat or corn and is supposed to be healthy.

Answer
Depending what these look like, they could be anything from miliary eczema to bites from mites or chiggers.

Cats that are allergic to flea bites don't need to have a flea on them to have reactions after one bite. Cats that develop 'scabby cat' which is another name for miliary eczema or flea bite dermatitis usually develop this kind of sore around the tail head, the neck, under the chin and on the forehead.

You should treat not just the cat but the environment for fleas using an IGR to get rid of all the stages of fleas in the area. IGRs, or insect growth regulators, knock the fleas down by killing the adults, making the eggs unable to hatch and rendering the larvae unable to spin a cocoon and thus become adult fleas. Anything in a cocoon will hatch and then the cycle starts again, which is why you need to keep treating for both adults and juvenile life stages.

http://www.ah.novartis.com/cab/en/cat_fleas_lifecycle.shtml

You need to have the cat looked at to determine if he has flea allergy Dermatitis, also known as FAD.

Here is some more information on it:

http://www.petplace.com/article-printer-friendly.aspx?id=777

As you can see it is the most common allergy for cats.

For your information, corn is not an allergen for most pets. It is very rare that they have an allergy or even an intolerance to corn. Wheat is a known allergen but more so with dogs than cats. Taste of the wild food seems to be a good food but they have never trial fed it so I don't trust it.
This statement:
"AAFCO Statement:
Taste of the Wild® Rocky Mountain Feline Formula in Gravy is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO cat food nutrient profiles for growth and maintenance", simply means that they make it to meet the requirements but it is FORMULATED to meet them- not FED in trials to know whether or not this food will sustain a cat in the long run.

Only trial fed foods are known to actually be good for which ever life stage it is made for. Which life stage is this food made for, kitten, adult or senior?

There is no way to know as it doesn't say. When it doesn't say, they BY LAW have to make it to meet the needs of kittens, which puts it way above the range for adult and senior cats in terms of protein content. Not a good thing.

So get your boy looked at to see if he has FAD and you might want to rethink his food. I had to get my daughter's cat onto Science Diet Sensitive Skin formula because she got a flea bite and broke out from head to tail with bumps from it.
I got her on this food and in three weeks she was bump free, her hair coat grew back out thick and lush and soft as silk. Her summer coat was kind of rough looking since she had gotten bit.

So give it a try if your cat continues to have these skin issues with no fleas.
I treated for fleas once again with an IGR and have none now.

I hope you find the source of the bumps and get him past it.