Sore on cat's tail

Question

My daughter was playing with her cat tonight and noticed some blood-- she was checking the cat for injuries and found this bare patch on her tail that was raw and slightly bleeding. It looked like it was oozing a bit as well.

I've read that the common causes are overgrooming due to stress or allergies to fleas, but I'm not sure if that looks the same as this, or if it gets bad enough that it would bleed?

We'll take her to a vet tomorrow, but I wanted to see if anyone could confirm what this is. I was worried that she had gotten into a fight, but there's no sign of tooth / claw marks and she seems fine except for this.

Answer 1

Your vet will guide you.

Is he an outdoor cat? Maybe he got beat up by a dog or an evil neighbor kid. Or even another cat. Or maybe he got stuck in a fence or something and had to drag himself out.

Keep an eye on kitty to watch for things like chewing on the spot. If cats are stressed they can do anxiety grooming, licking and chewing on one spot to excess. Usually if they do it on one leg they will do the other side to some extent. Have a look at the other legs, the tail, even the ears.

If that's the case, you may need to put him in "the cone of shame" for a week or two in order to get him to not chew on himself long enough for it to heal. Then you need to figure out why he's stressed.

Also, watch out for the usual suspects: Exposure to something like poison ivy or wet paint or road tar or anything he might want to chew off. Infestation by ticks, fleas, etc. Various other possible infections. Your vet will check for these, but kitty may have chewed off the evidence.