Why is my cat's neck bare and sensitive? What treatment helps?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Judging from the picture, this could be a ruptured abscess or secondary to self trauma from him scratching at the area. I would recommend having him examined by a veterinarian so that the most appropriate treatment recommendations can be made. He will need the hair clipped from around the wound and the wound cleaned. I would also recommend an antibiotic and anti-inflammatory. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. You need to clean it twice a day with antiseptic solution. 4% chlorhexidine would work best, you should be able to buy it at pharmacies or online. Also, make sure that that your Kettey is not scratching that area and that the other cats are not licking the wound. It should go away after a few days, but if not, she will need to be put on a course of antibiotics.

Hello. That looks like a moist and sticky bacterial infection, but a proper diagnosis would come from a hands on examination with your veterinarian. It would be best to have him looked at ASAP, but in the meantime....the main goal is to clean the area and try to keep it dry. You can use some dish soap and water to gently clean the area, then wipe excess soap away and dry it . Do not rub or scrub the tissue very hard as it is probably uncomfortable. Your veterinarian will need to prescribe the appropriate antibiotic to eliminate the infection. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach

From the picture I can only say this may be due to a trauma or localized spot of skin infection (likely to be caused by bacteria or fungal). A check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics or antifungal meds (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. More investigations like sampling and bacterial swabs would be needed to determine the underlying cause more specifically. In my experience I have seen large wounds like this one from Poxvirus infection (but usually other wounds are present as well). I would suggest to handle this wound always with gloves (you are doing it anyway as I can see from the pic). Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any licking. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I'm sorry to hear Ringo has a wound on his neck. Based on your picture, it does look like he might have a skin infection of some kind, even possibly from a ruptured abscess. Does he go outside? I would recommend having him evaluated by his regular veterinarian to have area clipped, cleaned, and assessed to determine what may be going on, and what treatment (antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, or possible surgical repair) may be needed to resolve it. If he goes outside and the wound may have come from an unknown animal, I would also recommend his rabies vaccine be boostered as well. Good luck!

This looks like an infected scratch or bite. I would clean it with hydrogen peroxide twice daily and you can apply a thin film of antibacterial ointment on it. This should improve daily and should be healed in a week or so. If this isn’t healing then please have it examined. He may need oral antibiotics to fight the infection. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Mars.

These areas on the skin look very suspicious of a ringworm infection or bacterial infection. Ms Pussington needs to be seen by a vet to get this looked at and treated. This won't respond to any at home treatment unfortunately. I would recommend scheduling an appt soon for her. In the meantime you can try cleaning the area with Betadine diluted 50:50 with warm water to provide a topical antiseptic clean. Nothing else should be placed on these wounds. She will likely need a skin scrape/cytology to identify the underlying pathogen and then treatment based on what the cause is. I hope she feels better soon.