Flea collar causing bald spot...

Hi everyone,

My female cat - "Pepe" - has been with me for approx 15years (since she was a few months old).

She has always been, to my eyes, a happy cat with her own way of doing things.
She will always purr madly at the slightest stroke along her back, will treat everyone (of the human kind) as a friend, but is simply hopeless at scaring away strange cats.

One thing has bothered me about her though, I have always put a flea collar onto her. She does like to go outside quite a lot (but prefers to be indoors at night in her own bed) so I have always assumed that a flea collar was a must.

For a very long time now she has had a bald patch, which matches the exact width of a flea collar, running along the back of her neck, but not on the underside. The hair is only missing from the back of the neck.
There is no hair growing there at all.

I have tried using different makes of flea collar, I even tried not using a flea collar to see if it would grow back, but nothing worked.

So, to this day, she still has this bald patch on the back of her neck that is only visible when I brush her hair around.

I do wonder if I caused her pain because of this but she never seems bothered about it, and because of that I have never taken her to see a vet (which I know is bad but she has always been in the best of health, with never any problems at all. A very robust Scottish moggie :-)

Have any of you encountered a similar problem?

Kind regards.

"Hobbes" wrote in message
...

Hi everyone,

My female cat - "Pepe" - has been with me for approx 15years (since she
was a few months old).

She has always been, to my eyes, a happy cat with her own way of doing
things.
She will always purr madly at the slightest stroke along her back, will
treat everyone (of the human kind) as a friend, but is simply hopeless
at scaring away strange cats.

One thing has bothered me about her though, I have always put a flea
collar onto her. She does like to go outside quite a lot (but prefers
to be indoors at night in her own bed) so I have always assumed that a
flea collar was a must.

For a very long time now she has had a bald patch, which matches the
exact width of a flea collar, running along the back of her neck, but
not on the underside. The hair is only missing from the back of the
neck.
There is no hair growing there at all.

I have tried using different makes of flea collar, I even tried not
using a flea collar to see if it would grow back, but nothing worked.

So, to this day, she still has this bald patch on the back of her neck
that is only visible when I brush her hair around.

I do wonder if I caused her pain because of this but she never seems
bothered about it, and because of that I have never taken her to see a
vet (which I know is bad but she has always been in the best of health,
with never any problems at all. A very robust Scottish moggie :-)

Have any of you encountered a similar problem?

Kind regards.


--
Hobbes

This happened to one of my cats, I tossed the flea collar and began using
revolution. The hair did eventually grow back, but possibly because I
caught it early.

"Hobbes" wrote in message
...

Hi everyone,

My female cat - "Pepe" - has been with me for approx 15years (since she
was a few months old).

She has always been, to my eyes, a happy cat with her own way of doing
things.
She will always purr madly at the slightest stroke along her back, will
treat everyone (of the human kind) as a friend, but is simply hopeless
at scaring away strange cats.

One thing has bothered me about her though, I have always put a flea
collar onto her. She does like to go outside quite a lot (but prefers
to be indoors at night in her own bed) so I have always assumed that a
flea collar was a must.

For a very long time now she has had a bald patch, which matches the
exact width of a flea collar, running along the back of her neck, but
not on the underside. The hair is only missing from the back of the
neck.
There is no hair growing there at all.

I have tried using different makes of flea collar, I even tried not
using a flea collar to see if it would grow back, but nothing worked.

So, to this day, she still has this bald patch on the back of her neck
that is only visible when I brush her hair around.

I do wonder if I caused her pain because of this but she never seems
bothered about it, and because of that I have never taken her to see a
vet (which I know is bad but she has always been in the best of health,
with never any problems at all. A very robust Scottish moggie :-)

Have any of you encountered a similar problem?

Kind regards.


--
Hobbes


Flea collars are really not the best product for preventing fleas. Ditch
the flea collar. Try something like Advantage or Revolution, available from
your vet. I would bet that given enough time, the hair will grow back.

-Kelly

Hobbes wrote:
Hi everyone,

My female cat - "Pepe" - has been with me for approx 15years (since she
was a few months old).
One thing has bothered me about her though, I have always put a flea
collar onto her. She does like to go outside quite a lot (but prefers
to be indoors at night in her own bed) so I have always assumed that a
flea collar was a must.

For a very long time now she has had a bald patch, which matches the
exact width of a flea collar, running along the back of her neck, but
not on the underside. The hair is only missing from the back of the
neck.
There is no hair growing there at all.

Flea collars and the pesticides in them are very toxic. Yeah I know
they say they're safe for cats, but I wouldn't use one. You could try
some of the ones from the vet like Advantage or Revolution, or you
could try something natural (I've got a link but it's on my other
computer). Whatever you do, don't use Hartz products are they can be
lethal.

Lauren

See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe

Hobbes wrote:
Hi everyone,

My female cat - "Pepe" - has been with me for approx 15years (since she
was a few months old).

She has always been, to my eyes, a happy cat with her own way of doing
things.
She will always purr madly at the slightest stroke along her back, will
treat everyone (of the human kind) as a friend, but is simply hopeless
at scaring away strange cats.

One thing has bothered me about her though, I have always put a flea
collar onto her. She does like to go outside quite a lot (but prefers
to be indoors at night in her own bed) so I have always assumed that a
flea collar was a must.

For a very long time now she has had a bald patch, which matches the
exact width of a flea collar, running along the back of her neck, but
not on the underside. The hair is only missing from the back of the
neck.
There is no hair growing there at all.

I have tried using different makes of flea collar, I even tried not
using a flea collar to see if it would grow back, but nothing worked.

So, to this day, she still has this bald patch on the back of her neck
that is only visible when I brush her hair around.

I do wonder if I caused her pain because of this but she never seems
bothered about it, and because of that I have never taken her to see a
vet (which I know is bad but she has always been in the best of health,
with never any problems at all. A very robust Scottish moggie :-)

Have any of you encountered a similar problem?

Kind regards.

My cats haven't experienced it (they've never worn flea collars), but
I've read of other cats that have.

Rather than using a flea collar, try using Advantage, Program, or...
there's another one - name's escaping me at the moment - on her
instead. If you can't find them at a pet supply store, ask your vet.

Cathy


--
Hobbes

On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 22:23:40 +0000, Hobbes
wrote:


Hi everyone,

My female cat - "Pepe" - has been with me for approx 15years (since she
was a few months old).

She has always been, to my eyes, a happy cat with her own way of doing
things.
She will always purr madly at the slightest stroke along her back, will
treat everyone (of the human kind) as a friend, but is simply hopeless
at scaring away strange cats.

One thing has bothered me about her though, I have always put a flea
collar onto her. She does like to go outside quite a lot (but prefers
to be indoors at night in her own bed) so I have always assumed that a
flea collar was a must.

For a very long time now she has had a bald patch, which matches the
exact width of a flea collar, running along the back of her neck, but
not on the underside. The hair is only missing from the back of the
neck.
There is no hair growing there at all.

I have tried using different makes of flea collar, I even tried not
using a flea collar to see if it would grow back, but nothing worked.

So, to this day, she still has this bald patch on the back of her neck
that is only visible when I brush her hair around.

I do wonder if I caused her pain because of this but she never seems
bothered about it, and because of that I have never taken her to see a
vet (which I know is bad but she has always been in the best of health,
with never any problems at all. A very robust Scottish moggie :-)

Have any of you encountered a similar problem?

Kind regards.

The issue doesn't have to be that it's a flea collar. My Pepper has a
cloth collar because he goes outside, and the entire ring around his
neck is almost bald, down to a bit of Down (not to bare skin.) He is
in perfect health, and the vet says it's nothing to worry about, it's
just being rubbed off or "shaved" over time. One should look for any
reddening or sign of skin infection, but Pepper has none. For fleas,
which my cats seem to get every three or four years, I use Advantage.

... Steve ..