My cat used to have fleas so she scratched her neck a lot. Now she's starting to rib off the scabs and bleeding. How do I get them to heal?
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Thanks for using PetCoach! The best way to get them to heal up is by preventing any further scratching. Keep in mind that she may be scratching due to an underlying allergy for example. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing her allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed.
There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies.
Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market).
If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests.
Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!
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