Cat itching the back of his neck

Hello, I posted this on another thread but also posting here if it increases reach. We recently used hibiscrub on a small cut on the back of my cats neck and woke up in the morning to find out he’d scratched pretty much all the fur off the back of his neck. We’re day 20 of the healing process and have 8 days until we welcome twins to the family. We’ve had three attempts at letting him out but he’s scratched the scab off (each time we let him out he wasn’t fully healed as we were hoping he may not scratch). We’re day 7 since we last let him out (photo attached). He’s finished a course of antibiotics and we’ve stopped his steroid cream/tablets because we heard that can delay healing. He’s currently on Gabapentin to relieve anxiety and we’ve also bought Anicura ointment (2 days in and seems to be helping). We also clean twice a day with water. In the day we keep him in a harness in the garden so air can get to it. And at night we wrap his neck in a soft snood with a small amount of vet wrap to keep it in place. We did have him in a donut but he found a way to get to it which is a shame as the donut meant air could reach it. It’s making progress but I’d love to know what else we can do to speed up the healing. He does still go to scratch it but unsure whether that’s because it’s scabbing or whether it’s now becoming a behavioural/stress issue. Prior to this, he was a very happy and cheeky outdoors cat. Any hints, tips or advice welcome. 

Hello!  Hopefully all of these medications are being prescribed appropriately by a vet?   I wonder what their plans are for this case?  It may help to ask.  You don't mention what is causing the itching and this may be a huge part of the problem.  If the skin goes on being itchy, scratching will continue to happen, so reducing the urge to scratch and any inciting stimulus is key.  The first thing we give to any cat presenting with itching is a flea treatment that we know will be 100 per cent effective against fleas and mites - even if the cat does not demonstrably have fleas or mites.  This is because most cats with an allergy are allergic to fleas or mites and it is otherwise impossible to say that any one cat does not have a flea or mite on them.  However, this case appears to be well past that kind of comment and hopefully fleas and mites have already been ruled out?  When it gets to this point the lack of healing may simply be down to the tendency of healing to itch.  What does you vet suggest as the next step?   If they are struggling to get on top of this problem, they may choose to ask for referral to a veterinary dermatologist (who specialises in this area).   It may require a multimodal approach ie impeccable parasite control, going through stress factors in the house, perhaps acupuncture, perhaps review of pain (itching can sometimes be a pain response), biopsy to rule out neoplasia (cancer)..... And so on.  These cases are never easy!  Best of luck and please do let us know how you get on.