Please help! My cat developed skin issue :(

Hello Vets! Please help! My cat has been over-grooming in a few areas as you can see in the pictures from all of her legs and even some stomach area. I used to think it was separation anxiety or potentially fleas, but the treatment that I've given her doesn't seem like it is helping her condition. I do not think it is allergy because she only stays inside and this recently just happened and I've never changed her food. She is also not on any medications. I can not afford to see a vet so any advice or help here will be greatly appreciated. Is this a bacterial skin infection? What medicine can I purchase to help my cat out? Thank you so much in advance.

Hello, I'm afraid that I cant see the pictures - where on the cat is this?   Anyway, two common causes of itching as you seem very aware, are fleas and allergy  It sounds very possible that you haven't ruled either of these possibilities out.  I'm afraid that there are flea treatments and flea treatments - some simply don't work at all.  In the UK, the ones that work tend to be prescription products - available from a pharmacyst or vet with clear instructions that must be followed.   Furthermore, if the cat has beeen itching for a while, inflammation in the area might also itch for a while even without the fleas, so further treatment may be needed.  Frustratingly, fleas can also live in your house - in furnishings, carpets, gardens, other animals - and you don't always see them.  They remain a possibility.

Allergies remain a possibility too - they are much harder to rule out.  Nothing has to change to develop an allergy - cats can simply acquire them to things in their environment.  Furthermore, on a molecular level, things might change more than you are aware.  Cleaning products, people with things on their clothing, pollens on the air and so on, enter and leave my house all the time.  I would say that allergy - even allergy to fleas - could well remain a possibility.

But you might still be correct - this could also be caused by something else.  Cats can scratch themselves as a way of coping with pain eg abdominal pain, bladder pain or even arthritis.   They can also overgroom to deal with boredom and distress, particularly where there are difficult social dynamics wih other cats.    Treatment for skin disease takes two forms.  The first is helping the skin and the second is pinpointing the cause and trying to prevent it.  I hope that that helps.

Its very easy to underestimate skin disease.  We tend to think - oh, my cat's itching a bit, lets go to the vets and get something to make them better.  However, skin disease could be one of many things.  It often changes and it also - unless you're lucky and it's fleas which can be controlled - tends to get worse over time.

I'm afraid that we would reccommmend getting treatment in early - at least a good flea routine - and be open to the possibility that this may be a chronic (ongoing) condition.