Cat mites?

[GloGirl]

Cant work out whats causing my cat to have scabs all around his neck, he's getting red lines and crusty skin, losing his fur. He has a very bad patch under his chin. Pictured is from his shoulder blades where he cant groom.

Vet has said its ear mites, given Surulan for ear mites, antibiotic injection (he also has a bladder infection) and a steroid injection for the itch.

Does anyone have any further ideas? I have to take him back. Perhaps there is another treatment for ear mites but hes had them before and theyve never migrated round his body like this.

Hes also very irritated by his hips with excessive grooming but I cant see any scabs there (perhaps because he can groom that area?)
Hes had Bravecto flea treatment 2 months ago

What food are they eating? Maybe some sort of allergy is causing itchy skin

I can see why you're confused OP. I thought ear mites only lived in the ear. I'm not sure how ear drops are going to treat a skin rash around the neck. You're definitely going to have to go back to the vets. There are other types of mite that live on the skin. Maybe the bladder infection made your cat more vulnerable to infection? I hope you get some answers soon, it looks really uncomfortable, poor thing.

Thank you. The vets are really lovely with my cat who is by all accounts a horrible beast when he visits so I would hate to take him anywhere else. But I do feel personally dismissed when I go and talked at. It often leads me to doubting the treatments or diagnosis.

Are his actual ears also affected? Unless your cat is showing signs that his ears are irritating him - excessive scratching round his ears, inflammation of the ear, shaking his head, discharge from the ears - I'm not sure that ear mites would be the first thing to come to mind. I would get a second opinion.

Ear mites can live elsewhere on the cat, it should be an easy diagnosis comb and check under microscope - mites wiggling around.
Allergies are not uncommon in cats with food allergies being fairly common - special diets are need under advice of your vet. You may need other treatments to stop cat self traumatising whilst the diet works ( can take several months).
Environmental allergies can occur, but these are less common.

Thank you, he has had brown waxy ears (forever) which they say is a sign of mites.

The "scratches" are not where he's able to agitate himself and he isn't excessively itchy - he was a couple of months ago and we could see flea dirt so we treated pets and house.

He is on special food for urinary crystals - Eukanuba have stopped selling theirs so we have switched to Hills. I can't understand how it can cause cuts though - I am almost positive it's not the cat creating them, he has very dull back claws.

Really appreciate your time

I never think it does any harm to get a second opinion, and you might find another vet more receptive to your questions? You say your cat has been described as a horrible beast - was that by the vet? Maybe your cat would like a second opinion, too!

Take him somewhere else. You can't be dealing with a vets that is dismissive and can't communicate with you, that's not fair on your pets.

I tried but the only other vets I would trust refused to take him due to not accepting new patients.

Has there been any improvement yet OP? If it's not getting better do go back to the vet, as you may need more than just eardrops to treat mites elsewhere on the body. I'm also wondering about your using Bravecto flea treatment when your cat is prone to ear mite infections as it doesn't appear to protect against ear mites while other flea treatments like Stronghold do. When your cat is due for flea treatment again it might be worth asking to change to one that does ear mites as well so you don't get these problems again