Follow-Ups to Answer from Expert SM Starlights

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cnagglepuss wrote at 2007-05-08 12:06:17
Hi there.  I have many cats and one of them gets the nasty little sores around her neck during the flea season.  I know I have told many a vet she doesn't have fleas they are evasive little boogers but they are there and if your cat goes outside he or she could have chiggers too they get under the skin.  It is not good enough just to treat your cat you have to treat the entire house I suggest a good flea bomb  I like Adams Flea and tic. Adams has a great instant Flea killer too that is safe for most adult cats.  Keep using the hydrocortisone on the sores so they heal but deflea immediately.  Does your cat go outside? If so this could be the source of the fleas they live in bushes and in the grass as well just waiting for furry friends to happen along.  Sometimes if they like your clothes they will pepper you too.  Walk around outside and just notice what happens if your wondering.  Personally I use the triple antibiotic ointment that you can buy at any drug store it doesn't lick off too easily and does the trick for healing.  Good Luck.

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Kelly wrote at 2007-09-10 01:37:41
Hi. I'm not sure when this question was posted but I hope your cats sores are healed by now. If not, my recommendation for some inexpensive treatment would be a mild herbal antiseptic for the wounds. You can make this by infusing rosemary, thyme, oregano and calendula (also known as pot marigold, with pretty and commonly grown yellow flowers) in hot water and allow to cool. All of these ingredients are antiseptic, so even if u can only find one, it will still work ok. I use all 4, the calendula is also great for sensitive skin, hence its widespread use in skin creams. Dab this on the wounds to keep them clean. You could try bathing the cat in a calendula infusion, it is excellent for itchy skin complaints/ eczema/ dermatitis. I would even add chamomile, it might work to calm him. Honey is also excellent to speed up the healing of sores and ulcers when its dabbed on the wound. My grandmother had a leg wound that didn't heal after a year of various treatments until someone recommended honey, it healed in a few weeks. All of these things are very easy to grow in the garden or in window boxes, are effective (lots more info on the web about them) and will be more economical than buying products that actually are full of the same active ingredients. Also, have u considered that your cat might be stressed or bored. I have had cats who excessively lick themselves to relieve stress and boredom. You could try engaging him in some play when he starts licking, I don't know any cat that isn't distracted by a ball on a string! I hope this helps and kitty gets well soon. K

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Kae wrote at 2010-08-23 20:17:17
DON'T use Science Diet - more pet allergies have been linked to their products, and they are full of mold causing substances like corn, rice, etc. I cannot believe someone would recommend something so harmful when their are great natural alternative pet food.



Also, the collar won't always work, our cat still has it's back claws, so even when she wears the collar she can still itch her open sore and further infect it.



We went to three different vets as well, what they are teaching them these days who knows. They are the reason she has the open sore now .... they thought fleas so gave us a gel medicine to apply to her neck, and now for months they have been unable to treat her because of the pain they caused her.

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MaryJane wrote at 2010-12-01 23:06:34
I as well have a Kitten who has sores all around her neck. I get one to dry up and start to heal and another one opens up below it. The sores ooze fluid not so much blood. She has been treated for upper respiratory infection, fleas and worms. The vet is running a culture as we speak. I too am giving up, this has been very costly for me and I have come to not want to be near the kitten. It is so sad and quite grotesque.

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Kittie momma wrote at 2011-10-28 02:09:23
I had a similar problem with all of our cats at once, to varying degrees.  I knew it wasn't fleas because our cats are exclusively indoors and we have a snow white cat and no flea dirt anywhere.  We ignored the vet that pushed flea treatments on us ( it would just irritate the skin further) and decided that there were two probable causes that we could address: dietary:an allergy to something in their cat food or a deficiency in their food, or food storage mites. Yes, the little buggers are roaming around in your kitties hard food, especially if it is a bag that has sat around for a while on some dusty back shelf in the warehouse, and if you have gravity on-demand feeders that you simply keep refilling without cleaning the area around it and washing the feeder out with soap and water every time it is emptied. You can be perpetuating a colony of these irritating mites that can make your cat miserable. The second thing we did was to change to a premium cat food, and give Pet Naturals Daily Best Cat Vitamins(they also have enzymes in them!) and fish oil.  Problem went away and we've never had any reocurrences since.

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