cat coat issue

Question
Hello:
   We have a 5 yr old domestic short hair, female. She is spayed and has her claws. She goes out and is kept on a long leash. She has a regular diet and sees the vet regularly. She is well adjusted, healthy and happy. I am unemployed now and cannot afford a vet visit so I hope you can help.
   She had some clumping of hair on her back which started about 1 month ago. There does not seem to be residue of any kind and it is not moist or sticky. We trimmed it and saw a bit of white powdery residue. It did not seem to be eggs or anything. She doesn't pay it any attention to it and there doesn't seem to be bothering her. It seems to be coming in again next to where we trimmed her coat and we would like to resolve this issue.if you have any suggestions I would appreciate some help on this.

Stumped at the Jersey Shore.

Sincerely,

William N. Sagliano

Answer
I'm sorry! I wrote an answer to this question a couple of days ago but must not have pressed all the right buttons to get it to you.

First, I understand your situation with the vet and I don't think that this is something that requires immediate vet attention. The problem is that I can't really provide much help without seeing it. Could this be some substance that she is getting into outside? Is the skin irritated? Do you comb her regularly? Have you ever taken her to a groomer? I wonder if you could consider that as an alternative to a vet visit. Some pet stores (Petsmart, I believe) have grooming centers in their stores where you can take a cat to have claws clipped etc.  You might try taking her to one of those and seeing if one of the groomers there had any suggestions. Maybe a bath would take care of it.

If you can't get to such a store, do you have a digital camera? Could you take some pictures and send them to me at BIrisT@yahoo.com?  I'm not a vet, and I wouldn't presume to give you a diagnosis, but I might be able to suggest some ways to cope with this if I had a look at it.

Hope one of these suggestions will help you address it.

iris