"What if my cat has scabs?" "Why does my cat have scabs on the skin, are they serious?" These are questions that as a cat carer you can ask yourself if you see that your little feline has begun to have these unpleasant lesions on the skin of a particular area of its body or throughout its entire length, depending on the case. The crusts consist of plates or coatings that originate in the skin or in some mucous membranes and have a hard consistency. In cats, crusted dermatosis is a skin disease that consists of the formation of scabs attached to the surface of the skin that can take on a yellowish color and present different sizes. While some are caused by dried blood coagulating after a superficial wound, others are caused by infections, inflammation, skin disorders or allergies.
Pemphigus foliaceus
Pemphigus foliaceus is a disease mediated by the animal's immune system, that is, an autoimmune disease in which autoantibodies against proteins of the epidermal stratum spinosum that induce the production of vesicles, blisters and subcorneal pustules that alter the follicles and the skin. In addition, secondary skin lesions occur such as scabs, exudation, erythema, collarettes and alopecia This is a rare disease that can affect many animal species and can be induced by toxins, allergies, medications or stress.
Treatment
Treatment should be based on the use of long-term immunosuppressants and, like any disease of autoimmune origin, it is not possible to healing but its control. Many cats require lifelong immunosuppressants, with glucocorticoids being the treatment of choice, especially prednisolone. If the response to prednisolone is not adequate, other immunosuppressants such as dexamethasone or triamcinolone can be used, but they are more powerful and have more side effects, so the cat must be closely monitored.
Chlorambucil can also be useful in joint therapy with glucocorticoids to reduce their dose and, with it, side effects, or be used as monotherapy. Other drugs with immunosuppressive properties that could be used are cyclosporine, gold s alts, and cyclophosphamide. But in any case, it should be the veterinarian who prescribes the best treatment.
Bacterial infections
Scabs in cats can appear after drying an abscess, which consists of a collection of pus in the deep layers of the skin resulting from a bacterial infection. Abscesses frequently appear due to fights with bites between cats in which bacteria from the teeth or other sharp objects penetrate. The bacteria that often cause infections are usually the following:
- Pasteurella multocida
- Prevotella oralis
- Bacteroides spp.
- Fusobacterium spp.
- β-Hemolytic Streptococcus
- Staphylococcus pseudintermedius
24 to 48 hours after the introduction of these bacteria, the surrounding tissue becomes infected and inflamed, with pus accumulating inside and concentrating in the center. When this abscess is mature it can burst, spreading the pus that will end up drying and forming scabs.
Treatment
When your cat has an abscess, in many cases it will be opportune to open it and drain it, as well as explore for any sharp foreign body that could have caused it. After opening it, it will be necessary for the cat to be maintained for a few days with oral or injected antibiotics, while the duration should be several weeks if the abscesses are complicated or the prolonged infections. The antibiotic to choose must be indicated by your veterinarian after performing the culture and antibiogram.
Tub
Another of the main causes of scabs on the cat's skin is ringworm. Ringworm or dermatophytosis consists of a infection of the skin by dermatophytes, which are a type of fungus that affects cats, as well as dogs and females. people. If your cat has ringworm, you can get it too.
In cats, the most common fungus responsible for ringworm is Microsporum canis, but they can also be affected byother dermatophytes such as Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Microsporum gypseum, Microsporum persicolor, Trichophyton terrestrial and Microsporum fulvum. These fungi tend to infect younger cats and those with long hair more frequently, and cause skin lesions such as scabs, alopecia, broken hairs, circular plaques, skin inflammation, redness and scaling.
Treatment
As it is a contagious zoonotic disease, an exhaustive disinfection of the home must be carried out, as well as its belongings and objects with which it is used. the infected cat has been in contact with. Specific treatment consists of the use of oral antifungal products, with drugs such as itraconazole, and shampoos or creamsas a topical treatment.
Parasitosis
External parasites cause direct damage to the skin due to their mechanical-irritative action, either with their mouthparts, jaw, legs and way of feeding or digging into the skin. This damage results in skin lesions such as scabbing, peeling, inflammation, redness, hair loss, itching, and excoriation.
There are many external parasites that can affect our cats, but it is especially mites that cause acrusted dermatitis Specifically, notoedric scabies mites (Notoedres cati) are the most common and cause intense itching, erythematous papular-crusted dermatitis, pyoderma, seborrhea and alopecia, mainly in the head area although it can spread to other parts of the body. Another mite that can cause this problem is Cheyletiella blackei, which is responsible for "walking dandruff disease" due to its particular movement and whitish appearance on the skin and fur of cats. lice can also cause scabs, alopecia, seborrhea and pediculosis.
Because of all of the above, if your cat scratches a lot and has scabs, thinking about a parasite should be the first step, as well as going to the veterinary center.
Treatment
It is important for your cat to be aware of these external parasites and to follow an adequate deworming schedule, which also includes protection against internal parasites. However, if this has not been the case and your cat is parasitized, you should go to the veterinary center to be dewormed using pipettes or sprays with effective antiparasitic products according to the causative agent in question, such as selamectin for mites and fipronil for lice.
Miliary dermatitis
Finally, we have feline miliary dermatitis, a disease characterized by the formation of a variable number of brown or black crusts and pustuleson the skin of cats, and that usually affects the head, back and neck, although we can also see it on the abdomen. Generally, cat skin lesions are small in size, hence the term "miliary." Itching and rash always appear. So, if your cat has a scab on its neck, it may be due to this type of dermatitis, especially a food allergy, but the truth is that previous causes can also be the cause.
This disease is usually due to a hypersensitivity reaction, so and allergy is considered the main cause, especially allergy to flea bites, food allergies and environmental allergens. Other problems that can also induce feline miliary dermatitis are infections by dermatophytes and other microbes that cause superficial pyodermas. For all these reasons, this pathology may be a consequence of some of the aforementioned causes.
Treatment
The treatment of miliary dermatitis will depend on the cause. For example:
- If it is due to an allergy to flea bites, we must eliminate these parasites using insecticides and repellents so that they do not come closer to them.
- The parasites are treated with antiparasitic products.
- Allergic cats should stay away from the stimulus that causes hypersensitivity. In cases of food allergies, we must remove the protein or allergen in question that has caused the problem or use a hypoallergenic diet or novel protein for life.
- Dermatophytosis is treated with antifungal products such as itraconazole and pyodermas with antibiotics.
As you can see, the causes that produce scabs on the skin of cats are very varied, but all of them must be diagnosed and treated by a specialist. Therefore, if your cat has scabs on its skin, go to the veterinary center as soon as possible.
In case of presenting more skin symptoms, in this other article the most frequent skin diseases in cats are mentioned.
