What to Do When Your Cat Gets Eczema

1 Overview

1. What Is Cat Eczema

Cat eczema is a very common skin disease – an inflammatory skin reaction of the epidermis to allergens.

2. What Causes Cat Eczema

It is mostly due to weather, environment or diet: unclean skin with dirt in the coat, a damp cat bed, nutritional imbalance.

Vitamin deficiency, metabolic disorder, chronic kidney disease and endocrine problems lower skin resistance and trigger eczema. Many owners bathe cats at home without drying the fur, which over time also causes eczema.

3. What Are the Symptoms

Acute and chronic eczema differ. Acute eczema shows red bumps or papules, often on the bridge of the nose, eyes and cheeks, spreading into small blisters that break and weep.

From itch and wetness the cat grows restless, licking and biting the area, worsening the rash. Chronic eczema thickens and lichenifies the skin with dandruff; less wet than acute but still itchy.

4. Prevention and Treatment

1. Prevention: place the bed in a sunny, dry, airy, clean spot; keep the cat clean, bathe with warm water often, kill external parasites, avoid chemical irritants. Treat promptly to avoid chronic form.

2. Treatment: mainly remove the cause, stop self-injury and relieve itch.

If you are unsure how to treat it, take the cat to a proper veterinary hospital; do not delay. Medicate consistently – sporadic treatment will not help.