?hot spot on cat

'Hot spot' is the layman's term for acute moist dermatitis. It can be allergy related, and a flea bite, while higly probable, may not be the only cause if the spot is flaring up again.

Treatment is as your vet has done - usually clipping the hair around the spot to allow air in, and using anti-inflammatories, and various anti-bacterial 'drying' products and topical astringents daily to dry the area out and promote healing.

Generally, to ensure it doesn't flare again, you need to identify the source of the irritation. Acute moist dermatitis can be exacerbated by heat, but it can also be a symptom of an allergy. If the vet has ruled out various skin problems using skin scrapings, the next thing to do is figure out why the cat's own internal health isn't fighting this problem.

I will assume you have treated the house for fleas as well as the cat - if the cat brought fleas in, they can survive in bedding and soft furnishings. There are various ways to de-flea the house, so make sure you're not treating the cat only to have fleas mount up again as soon as he lies in his bed.

In terms of why the persistent flare-ups, there are lots of factors to think about. Cats can suffer sensitivities and allergies and it's more common than you think - their systems aren't as good as humans (or even dogs) at eliminating or processing toxins and things like additivies and preservatives and all the things we come into contact with in daily lives.

Has he ever shown an adverse reaction after being vaccinated or treated with a spot-on flea treatment; what is the general condition of his skin / coat (e.g. has he got a coat like wet silk, or a coat like a wire brush, and is his coat full of skin flakes and roughness).

Consider external factors - food is one of the most important factors in pet allergies. What sort of food do you feed and how much, do you feed treats, does he have access to human food. People with highly sensitive cats can often have a lot of success stripping the diet right back to basics - some go for an entirely raw diet, others who aren't confident that they can feed a balanced raw diet will give the cat one meal of raw per day plus one meal of a quality dry food with no additives or colours and a good animal-protein source.

Second to that is human chemicals - do you use plug-in air fresheners, scented candles, incense sticks or other air freshening products, or in-home insecticides like fly zappers or similar chemicals. Do you vacuum your carpets with something like Glade or another sprinkle-over freshening chemical?

If the hot spots are a symptom of an allergy, you need to figure out what is causing the sensitivity. Process of elimination is really the only way to do it.

Your vet is really the only person qualified to give actual medical advice on how to treat the condition. Occasionally if I'm up against a wall, I'll google the condition my cat has and see what other vets, the world over, have prescribed; then I'll approach my vet, (apologising as I go for the world of hurt the internet has caused to all medical professionals), and run down the list of things I've read about and see what the vet thinks of them. I'm lucky to have an open-minded vet like that.

Try throwing yourself on the mercy of a vet university hospital and see if someone can give you a suggestion over the phone to run by your own vet - or even see if someone there will offer to speak to your vet and ask your vet would they be willing to phone whoever.

You could also try alternative remedies - speak to a qualified animal homeopath (no shouting 'oxymoron' at the phrase 'qualified homeopath' please) and see if you can get some advice on supplementary treatments to help with the condition. (I would never stop at the homeopath as my first port of call with an animal illness, but when conventional medicine isn't working out you might as well try the sort of practitioner who uses methods to try and strengthen the animal's own immune system and so on).

If you need to stop the cat scratching the wound, there are various makeshift solutions - you could try softpaws (acrylic gel caps to go over the claws, usually used to save furniture and people from being scratched), or ask the vet to cut the cat's claws; but still if he's ripping in with even blunt claws he'll do damage.

Alternatively look into a makeshift rig to stop the claws meeting the wound at all - I've heard all sorts but my favourite is buttoning the cat into a newborn sized babygrow! You need to 'boot' the paws, but keep the wound open to the air, so some sort of body cover that leaves the wound free but the paws covered may help. I'll see if I can find anyone here who's had a similar problem and has some suggestions or advice that you can run by your vet - might kick-start some inspiration...

shnethb wrote: »

Hi, I have an 11 month male neutered cat, about 6 months ago he got a wound on his back/ neck which the vet has called a hot spot after a flea bite. He was given medication and creams and it cleared up. However it has flared up twice since, the second time it cleared up very quickly but it is currently flared up again and has been for the past 7 weeks, We have had him at the vet nearly every week, He has been on different anti biotics, and the vet has sent off scrapings of his skin which came back negative, He is currently on a 2 week course course of Anti-inflammatory tablets, But after this the vet said that he is unsure about what to do with him if the wound has not healed by the end of this, Hase anyone had any think similar happen to their cat or can anyone advise on what we should be doing next, He is uo to date on all his injections and flea controlls, Any ideas would be appericated

My cat had the same last year, we were going demented with the treatments, until I finally decided to leave him alone (after a final oral treatment for ringworm just to be sure + topical cream... oh yeah, and an allergy prone prescription diet). The treatments weren't really helping at all, antihistamines were tried, etc... and my cat is treated against fleas on a regular basis, so don't think they started it either. His had spread to 3 spots, 2 pretty big ones and a tiny one.
Well, it just slowly healed off. He started scratching less, and it just healed. My cat is indoor/outdoor, and I personnally think it is an allergy to a seasonal weed/outdoor thing.
The reason why I think that is the sudden onset of the one patch, at around the start of April, and its slowly but surely healing off around the end of July.
This year one small patch appeared start of April, but I didn't treat it, and it just receded and now I can't even find it !
I know it's hard when you look at the inflammed patch, but I would tend to wait in the future, to see if it does go away by itself, rather than jump on antibiotics etc... Observe very closely, but stay put for a bit.
First time around my cat had been on several strong courses of antibiotics for an injury, and I think it may have prolongued the weakness.

The Sweeper wrote: »

As far as I know, a cat shouldn't be prescribed antibiotics for a hot spot in the first place, because the spot itself is an irritation, not an infection. It's the secondary infection caused by scratching the spot and turning it into an open wound that calls for antibiotics.

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You're right Sweeper, I'm just sort of taking it for granted that the wound would indeed get infected. It did with mine, I suppose being a "raw" patch it's bound to attract infections.

Good luck with it OP, it's terrible to see them like that, i know in our case time healed it, eventually.