Cat has a bald strip

[ChubbyKitty]

Last night my cat was curled up next to me and I noticed her stretch, and the side of her belly/ribs area was bright red, bald and it was clear she'd been licking it A LOT. She didn't seem to be distressed so was very careful not to catch the patch when fussing her.

This morning I've checked the patch again and it's much less red(guessing she's not been licking quite as much) and it's now just a pinky colour, with just a couple of black hairs left on it. Again though, she seems perfectly fine in herself and has been meowing as she normally does when I come downstairs.

I used a frontline spot on on the 11th, but I thought if she was having a reaction it would have come sooner than this. I've also taken her collar off because it's glitter and I don't want any falling off and irritating it(she's been wearing it all summer).

Does anyone have any idea what it could be? Google was very unhelpful with answers and kept showing me skin problems that look nothing like what she has!

If it helps, she's mostly black and a little podgy. And about 4 years old.

Bump

it could be overgrooming might be something as simple as she had an itch and went into overdrive on the grooming front, if shes licked her fur away it will be tender, it could be flea treatment related that started her overgrooming, i would take her to the vets and just get it confirmed what it is, could be shes been near something indoors or outdoors that has irritated her skin

98% of these cases fleas are the problem I am afraid. Have you treated the house as well as the cat?

Thanks for the replies.

I've been treating the house with flea powder on the carpets (upstairs - downstairs is all hardwood) and then spray into the corners of the room and upholstery etc.

She's still pretty normal behaviour wise. Will give vets a call in the morning and see if they have any advice.

She doesn't go outside so that could narrow it down to something she could have come into contact with from the house.

It's almost looking like a burn at the moment. She likes to stay downstairs and for the life of me looking round I can't see what could have caused it

I had a cat who had a really nastyI patch on the back of her neck which looked like a burn. I thought she'd leant against something hot (car engine maybe) but in the end it turned out to be an allergic reaction. But I never found out what it was she was allergic to.

Ooh so maybe it is! Two things I could think of her having a reaction to would be the Spot On or the fabric conditioner I mixed with water to use on sofa/curtains as fabric freshener.

The conditioner mix is the most recent as I sprayed the furniture on Sunday.

Will definitely tell the vets all of this, if it will get it sorted for her. And stop being stingy and just buy fabric freshener!

Thank you!

I reckon it's the Frontline stuff. We have an indoor cat too and every time we use Frontline on the back of his head/neck he gets a little bald patch - although it's never red (but then, he can't reach to lick it) Doesn't seem to bother him at all and his fur soon grows back.