Cat has bald spots on ears and eats wheat litter

[Mrpickles2001]

Kitten showed up on doorstep.... appeared healthy, except: bald spot on ear and ate wheat litter. Took to vet - tested for ringworm, parasites, FIV, etc. all negative. Currently, the patches on ear have increased in size, but are not red, crusty or anything like that. And - despite being in isolation 2 of my other cats are losing hair on their ears, and one just tried to eat the wheat litter. She's never done that before.

Vet is just as stumped as I am - any suggestions?

Thanks

[Mrpickles2001]

Thanks for the Ask a Vet lead - I totally missed that.

I changed the litter immediately (yes, it was the sweat scoop), and the spots aren't bothering them, not itchy or anything. I seem to be more concerned than my kitties are.

The vet said that if the 'in progress' ringworm test comes back negative, as the skin scrape did, the next step is to biopsy ..... I really don't want to put my babies through that - and I don't want to treat them for something they don't have.

I'm just at a loss right now.

[zodiacqueen]

Well, I would've guessed ringworm, but you said the vet tested for that.  My next bet would be fleas.  I'm not sure about the fleas, because if the cat had been scratching enough to create a bald spot, you'd think there'd be some kind of scabs.

That also makes me very nervous that your cat is eating that clumping litter.  If it clumps when urine comes in contact with it, what do you think happens when the litter comes in contact with the stomach contents.  That is scary.

Have you tried posting this to the Ask A Vet forum?  This is also on MedHelp under the Pet section!!  Dr. Cheng is awesome, and I bet that she'll be able to give you some great suggestions and advice.

[MJIthewriter]

Does your cat scratch at its ears a lot?  I don't know about the wheat litter. Are you talking about Sweat scoop?