My cat has a hot spot

Question
My cat does have skin allergies that come and go in cycles. About 2 yrs ago she got a hot spot and I took her to the vet and they gave her steroids and antibiotics. It worked very well but I wasn't to happy about her getting steriods. I've tried everything to figure out what is causing her allergies with no luck. She just had another outbreak and one of the scabs she picked at and i noticed another hot spot forming. I put her elizabethian collar on her right away and have been cleaing it with warm water and anti-bacterial soap, doing green tea compresses on it to help soothe it, and been applying bactine on it every few hours. I also shaved away all the hair to make sure air can get to it. It hasn't gotten any worse and it seems like it's starting to dry up. It doesn't seem as moist as it was on day 1 of noticing it. Just wondering if what I'm doing is correct and wondering if theres anything thing else I can do for her.

Answer
You can continue what you are doing. If the steroids help to relieve the skin reaction to the allergies, then giving them periodically may not be too harmful. Some cats will become diabetic from repeated steroid injections.  Most cats with skin problems do NOT have bacterial infections associated with this condition, so the antibiotics may not be doing much to help. There is a new product called Atopica for Felines that does the same thing as the steroids do, but without the side effects.  Ask your vet if they carry Atopica.