The life span of pets grows in accordance with the increase in the quality of nutrition and care for them. A decade ago, the average life of cats was estimated at 12-15 years, today no one is surprised at home twenty-year-old cats with activity and playfulness of small kittens. About diseases of cats appeared a lot of information on the Internet, due to which detection and treatment begin in advance. One of the most common diseases in the family of felines is skin diseases.
Unfortunately, skin diseases affect not only wild and domestic cats, but also domestic obedient pets. Symptoms depend on the specific type of disease.
Types and corresponding symptoms of skin diseases in cats
Most often cats suffer from dermatitis or alopecia.
Miliary dermatitis
This type of disease includes skin lesions by bacterial and fungal infections, allergic manifestations, atopic dermatitis.
Symptoms of bacterial or fungal infection:
- In fungal skin lesions, there are areas of baldness with delicate gray scales, sometimes with tubercles and crust. To fungi is such a widespread skin disease in cats, as lichen.
- Most often, a fungal infection affects the head and limbs. Less often, it spreads throughout the body.
- The animal is constantly itching and licking.
- Bacterial infections are characterized by reddening of the skin, the appearance of vesicles, cracks, crusts, pustules. The skin can be both dry and wet (wet type of infection).
- Bacterial infections affect the epidermis.
Allergic reactions
Allergies can result from infection of the animal with fleas or other ectoparasites, or as a result of intolerance to animals of certain food components.
The most common signs of food allergies are irritation of the scalp (the cat will constantly itch), baldness, vomiting and diarrhea are possible.
The appearance of ectoparasites (fleas, ticks, lice) is accompanied by severe itching. When inspecting the pet, you can detect the parasites themselves or see the wool on the traces of their activity.
Types of possible allergic reactions:
- Atopic miliary dermatitis. It can be manifested in the form of rashes, scales, crusts. One of the signs of an allergic reaction is the abundant formation of earwax. There is itching all over the skin and including an itchy inflammation of the ear canal, so the animal will constantly itch.
- EAS, eosinophilic allergic syndrome. This is a systemic disease, manifested not only by skin signs. The defeat of the skin manifests itself in the form of ulcers, plaques, granulomas. Affected area of the mouth, mouth. Itching is either insignificant or absent at all.
Alopecia (alopecia)
Alopecia can be congenital and acquired.
Hereditary alopecia is a hereditary hypotrichosis, that is, an abnormally small amount of hair. It occurs mainly in Siamese breeds, Devon Rex or Mexican cats. It appears from the very birth: the kittens are born with covered fluff, which completely falls out to the second week of life. Possible repeated processes of animal fouling and new molting until completely bald. Unfortunately, this disease is not treated.
Acquired hair loss can be associated with the natural processes of molting the animal, in this case, the decrease in the fur cover occurs evenly. Perhaps baldness against the background of medications or injections.
Sometimes the wool falls out localized, that is, on one part of the body. For example, under the collar (allergy to the components of the collar), in the auricles of short-haired cats (this is not a disease, but a feature of the breed).
Scabies
Especially often there is a skin disease in cats, like scabies.
Scabies are accompanied by regular severe itching, but at the same time hair loss does not occur. Hair becomes brittle, loses color. On the skin, you can see small red dots. These are traces of the activity of an itch mite, the place of its clutches.
It must be remembered that scabies, pediculosis (lice) and fungal skin diseases in cats are contagious. Therefore, patients should be isolated and not allowed to communicate with young children.
Treatment of skin diseases in cats
Fungal diseases are treated with sulfur ointment, Yuglon powder, Lamizil or other antifungal agents. Some of them are quite harmless for the stomach of a cat. It should be noted that tablets in the treatment of fungi by many doctors are recognized as ineffective.
Bacterial infections in cats are treated with antibiotics and skin treatment with such drugs as Miramistin or Aluminum. Ointments and sprays should be selected taking into account the type of foci of disease - dry or wet.
Allergic reactions are treated as an exception to the diet of allergens. If the allergy is caused by the activity of ectoparasites, then it is necessary to completely rid the animal of these "inhabitants".
Alopecia require an individual approach, the purpose of treatment will depend on the results of the analyzes.
Scabies are not treated in any case with benzyl benzoate or phenol derivatives! These drugs are poison for cats! When scabies used amitrazine, aversectin ointment, liquid Mitroshina.
Any skin diseases should not be treated independently. Incorrectly selected treatment, its dosage or the determination of the cause can lead to the defeat of large areas of the skin and even the death of a cat.