Leo has little "scabs" on his neck

One of my three boys, Leo, has a few more scabs on his neck. He started with one on the right on the top of the vertical part. When we went to the vert for his check-up he had a little shaved off and along with some "cat acne" on his chin - which my breeder says is more than likely just a reaction to food left on his chin - this was treated with diluted Hibiscrub. The chin is now fine and I think the original little scab is now OK but he has more on both sides.

Oh, when I say scabs they are more like tiny acne scars not big at all, just hard and almost in two lines, left and right - about 3 or 4 on each.

I suspect this is from rough play and they are little scratches, since he seems to get the worst of the play fighting among the three, but I want to be sure. What else should I worry about ? I just gave him a good "Hibiscrubing" under the neck just now and will continue twice a day again for a few days.

They were all flea treated and wormed before leaving the breeder and they also had their first Miblimex (or whatever) at home this morning.

Advice please...

I should also note that it's very hard to get an exact idea looking under his rough/ruff (sp?)

Sounds as if you hit the nail on the head with it being scratches from playing with his siblings,bound to happen.If they are just small straight forward scabs & don't look infected { not many do that are happen in play because they are only pretty superficial } I would be inclined to leave them alone to let them dry up quickly & drop off especially as you have already cleaned the area with hibiscrub. Also might pay to make sure that all babes have got the points clipped off of their claws if they are starting to grow,less likely to damage quite so much. We recommend worming monthly until 6 months old,as for when de- fleaing needs to happen again that all depends on what the breeder used.
Oh the joys of being a pet owner....!

Ruff will do....! You are lucky he has got one I am still waiting for Shimba to grow his after three years so not holding my breath,if they were acne spots I think they would feel more rounded than lines.

Aye, spoke to the breeder and she concurs re the play fighting - and she is invested since Leo's the one going to a show in 3 weeks and has to look his best.

I like the idea of checking and clipping the little claws. I did most a week ago, but I notice they are sharp again. Little squirmy creatures.

Gave them 1/3rd a tablet each as I read too many bad things about Milbemax overdosing. Since 1 tab is up to 8kg, 1/3rd is pretty much an exact split between the three.

I am surprised the vet didn't hand out the kitten Milbemax,I should think you had fun trying to break that into three equal parts.....
If you can bear not to touch Leo's scabs for the next 5 to 7 days I bet they will just rub off,the skin will be healed underneath & no worries for the show.
Is your breeder going to help you get him prepared....?
If you get into showing you will find if something is going to happen it is just before the big day.
Good luck,report & pictures please.

Well, been spending more time with Leo checking his neck. There are definietly multiple little nodules of varying sizes under the skin on the neck. Almost in two rows, mostly down the right but some on the left. Spoke to the vet nurse who thought it could be an allergic reaction, keep an eye (paw) on it, wash with hibiscrub and if no change or an increase towards the end of the week to bring him in. Seems sensible.

They are not mats of hair - wetting with hibiscrub and gentle combing out shows that. I think they might still be from over zealous play fighting, since Leo being the largest is also the most put upon by his brothers.

He is not in the slightest bothered by them, no scratching and doesn't mind me checking them or applying the dilute hibiscrub.

The health of my cats is the priority but having said that he is due to a show in two weeks so if I can avoid unnecessary shaving by the vet I would like to. But I will not show him if that's what it takes.

Any more advice or pointers ?

PS The other two show no similar signs and they do all bite each other from behind, like play-mating :)

I still think it's from the fighting - when my girls have been mated, they get bumps and scabs on their neck from where the male bites them and they can take a while to go.

Have you checked elsewhere to make sure that is the only place he has them?

If not then could be an allergy - a boy of mine used to get scabs round his ears if I fed him royal canin biccie and it cleared up when I swapped him over.

Only the neck and only from under the chin down to just above where the ribs start. He had a very very thorough cuddle today for just this purpose and I this I hypnotised him (upside down in between my legs) - he is a lovely natured cat and if I didn't know his pedigree or his brothers I would be wondering how much "ragdoll" has got into him :)

Not sure if it's the same thing but when I picked Wicca up from the breeders, she mentioned that Wicca had little nodules on the back of her neck (mainly the scruff) and explained that the very affectionate male cat that helps look after new litters in the kitten room could get a little carried away and often chew a little hard on the kittens necks, and then end up with little scabs. She said they'd clear up over the next few weeks, and true to her word they did. The Spider Monkey's never had them since, and they didn't trouble her at the time. She didn't get any marks on her throat though, but I don't think it was play fighting that caused the neck, just an over excitable Harry carting kittens round the room! Hopefully you're dealing with nothing more than that - keep us posted :smile:

At the moment they are wholly indoor cats and they had flea treatment before leaving the breeder. I have Stronghold but I am holding off applying it as it's the "adult" pack for 2.6kg upwards (they are almost there now) but I am brushing and checking almost every day.

I did wonder about the fleas as I have one who reacts badly & scabs up terribly but although she got the scabby nodules around neck she never had them on the throat & weird thing is lots of cats who suffer FAD don't but could be worth applying the Stronghold now Peter just in case.Being indoor cats means nothing you can bring a flea into the household from many sources.I had I always sprayed with a certain product no problems but because of them going into cattery more often at one point a couple of years ago went onto the spot on combo for ease & I had one hell of a flea infestation,as usually happens when a product doesn't seem to work for some reason or the other was treated like a p*** by the company,haven't applied often enough,I had at monthly intervals not the six weeks it can go too,I had applied it wrong,yep could have done,only being doing my animals & other peoples for umpteen years so could have done but think not,do they go outside,yep but only in our garden where they can't get out,ah ah got her on this one,there must have been other cats or hedgehogs in the garden that had fleas & they proved too big a challenge to the product{bearing in mind it was the combo that should put flea on pill so can't reproduce,good aint it}reminded them that my cats can't get out also meant nothing else could get in,including from any gaps under fencing,if hedgehog could get under kittie could get out, did I bath any of mine,yes the show cats but before you say anything they are always left the 48hrs after before applying!!!,then the one I was waiting for,you have MC's don't you well when you went from spraying to the pipettes it wasn't strong enough to cope with the bigger cats,wrong,after checking with my boss & the helpline & the company rep when she called before going over I had made sure that it was ok to go onto small dog size to cover the large weight difference so always had cat for the smaller furries but small dog for the others.Never came up for a reason as to what could have gone wrong & since have had quite a few people have problems with same product,they were good enough to give me free spray but having spent a fortune on pipettes,two lots of sixes both sizes having also to completely fumegate house {by then I was included in the fuming} I was not best pleased so changed onto Stronghold & touch wood no problems since,so moral of this story is be careful when it comes to these little hoppers...
That is also Peter why I suggested you stopped bathing them because if the spots are due to an allergy be it flea or food making them wet can actually make them worse & take longer to heal.....
Fingers still crossed he will be ok by show day,there should be no need for any shaving even if he does end up at the vets you can see all you need too without that.

Thanks. They have not yet had a bath with me yet. I note this from the Stronghold datasheet: "Do not apply when the hair coat is wet. However, shampooing or soaking the animal 2 or more hours after treatment will not reduce the efficacy of Stronghold." Which is good news.

The thing that worries/annoys me is that the other two are fine.

I did check last night and I think the larger nodules (what I think are larger) are getting smaller/dryer. They will get brushed and played with tonight as I have friends over to see them. I will then apply more hibiscrub before bed.

When I did have the problem with fleas only one of the six of mine was affected,this generaly happens in a multi cat household,same as with any allergy,doesn't affect all wether furry or human,I still say though that if it is an allergy you are not helping it by keep wetting it with hibi scrub.If you want to put something on if you know someone with an aloe vera plant get them to break some leaves off & apply the sap direct it works great at drying any scabs up if not just leave them alone to do it naturally,by wetting them you will make them soft they then start drying up & re wetting just keeps you going round in circles,you are really only helping by using it if the places are infected but it doesn't sound as if they are. I didn't put anything on Pansy & her places had dried up & all signs of scabs had gone within the week.

The boys went to the vet today to check their sneezing - which is still ongoing after 3 weeks here - and they have an all clear. Check the environment we agreed with the vet.

Leo's neck thing is "most probably" just rough play and keep an eye on it.

Phew. Daddy feels reassured.