scabs on neck

Question
our cat has scabs on her neck, they dont appear to be living but they are spreading.

Answer
Scabs on the neck of a cat usually indicate a condition called Miliary Eczema,which is a fancy name for a flea allergy. Fleas are usually the cause of this, but other things can start it up also. I had a cat with it for 15 years and if she ate a liver based food she would break out.

You must keep the cat and the environment flea free. Don't feed her odd foods and Science Diet for Sensitive Skin worked well on my cat. She ate that with Science Diet senior. Keep nickel based name tags off of their collars also. That will break out some cats.

Veterinarians sometimes call this scabby cat. It is not a disease in itself, but as I said it is an allergic reaction to other things, most commonly fleas.

Here are some articles on it:
http://www.peteducation.com/article_print.cfm?c=1+1332&aid=150

http://www.petplace.com/article-printer-friendly.aspx?id=6

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

Ask your vet for some Program flea control for your cat and then keep the cat on it for a good 6 months or more. That will rid your whole house of fleas. Keep the food consistent that she does well on.

She may need some steroids now and then to get past a bad outbreak. Some cats need an injection of Dep Medrol or Vetalog to help them. Your vet can tell you which she needs.

There are other skin condition that cats can and do get, but this is by far the most common one we see.

Good luck and let me know how she is doing.