Bald patch on my cats left hind leg

[Jneleve]

My cat, Bailey, has a bald patch on her left hind leg. There is no red spots or blotches, but there is a scab where she's been licking and hurting herself. The skin underneath seems normal (shes a black cat so it isn't pink skin but doesn't necessarily look discolored either). She doesn't have any other symptoms that I can see and she doesn't appear to have worms. I give her flea treatment monthly, so I doubt it's fleas. I do have a younger cat  who is a boy (and you know how annoying kittens can be) so maybe its anxiety/stress? But if that were the case, why would she focus all of her itching on that one leg? I feed her Blue Buffalo Wilderness blend (grain-free). I'm afraid that this is from a condition that could affect my other cat and my dog, and I can't take her to the vet until I get a paycheck from my new job, so I really need help here. Does anyone know what this could be?

[AnnieBrooke]

She might be stressed, and picking out her hair out of nervousness, but it might also be the food. Look up the recent issues related to grain-free and also google issues related to the brand of food. Just because a food is cleverly advertised and costs a lot does not mean it's perfect. (Also, grain-free foods often use potato instead, not that good for cats.) The cats-only vet in our area says to give canned food only. You might try that, or at least give her a combination of canned and dry, and see if anything changes.

Also, your flea treatment -- once a month is pretty often. Is it a product prescribed by your vet, or something over-the-counter? In our neck of the woods, people see these OTC products at the feed store and assume they are safe because they are sold to the public, but some are very harmful to cats.

[Jneleve]

I will give those a try. I used Advantage, but I dont have the box for it anymore so I can't tell you exactly what it was. I bought it at the vet, but it wasn't prescribed.

[AnnieBrooke]

Advantage's own website says some cats can develop an allergic reaction to it, and if your cat does, it says to contact your vet. My vet says he has seen cats get really sick from Advantage (though probably someone dosed the cat wrong.) My suggestion is to get a flea comb (a very fine-toothed comb made for combing out fleas or lice nits) and take kitty off the meds, and comb her every day instead. If you need a topical flea treatment, buy some Revolution or Bravecto from the vet and use it under the vet's guidance. But also, the food -- doing more than one fix at once you will never know for sure what the problem was, but it isn't necessary or even a good idea to throw a lot of money at a grain-free product. Try canned Friskies, the turkey in shreds with gravy or the chicken. It will increase your cat's hydration and make her coat glow.