What causes skin conditions in cats?

There's a lot of genetic influence in the typical allergies we see. It's just something that's passed down, from cat to cat. Allergies are prevalent, and the exact cause in each individual case is hard to determine. Cancer has both a genetic and an environmental influence, with many factors coming into play. There's always ongoing research regarding cancer. Infectious diseases like ringworm are typically transmitted by another animal, from the soil, or from a human that's been in contact with another animal. There are many ways cats get infectious diseases, but it's usually through contact with another organism. These are broad terms of the big things we come across. We see a lot of skin infections in cats and dogs. Whether it is Staph bacteria or Malessezia yeast, it is not caused by catching it from other organisms. Secondary bacterial and yeast infections are the result of an underlying skin condition. Allergies, mites, and ringworm are primary conditions that lead to a disrupted skin barrier and inflammation. That allows the bacteria and yeast that are already on your cat's skin, just like they're already on our skin, to overgrow. Realizing that bacteria and yeast are not the primary issue is an important distinction. They have to be treated and managed, but the underlying cause is the big issue that has to be managed.

Dermatitis is a general term that means the skin's inflamed. There are many things that cause inflammation, including the things we just talked about, infections, abscesses, ticks, fleas, all parasites, and allergies, those types of things. We see a fair amount of food allergies with cats that we have to deal with. We can definitely see some pollen atopy allergy issues with cats as well. A fungus, like ringworm, which is not a parasite, can also cause skin issues. It's a fungus that affects the skin and can cause hair loss and, unfortunately, can be given to you. We see bacterial infections on the skin as well. We have mentioned fleas already because they're such a common issue for us.

The things you mentioned just a moment ago. Primarily allergies, but also cancer, behavior issues, and ringworm. Those are the big four that we would typically see in a cat.