Binky has a bald spot...

[minikin44]

I picked her up yesterday and noticed that she has a large bald spot patch on her neck, under her collar. Usually I don't get too up close and personal with Binky, because she's not the friendliest cat and is not opposed to biting, so I'm not sure how long she's had this problem. It does not look raw, but there is a slightly pink coloring in some areas. I removed the collar, but I'm not sure what caused it. Can cats be allergic to a collar and that cause hair loss? It's not a flea collar, just a material breakaway collar. I'm assuming it's nylon but I'm not positive. I have not noticed her scratching at her neck at all, so I don't think she scratched the fur off. Any ideas? Should I take her to the vet? Mind you, she usually has to be sedated before going to the vet and is probably one of their least pleasant patients (so I try to avoid subjecting both her and them to the ordeal unnecessarily).

[Arianwen]

Just like people, some cats have sensitive skins. It probably is a rub from the collar.

[minikin44]

I've left it off in case that's the case... but the weird thing is that she's worn other collars in the past with no problem. Maybe it's her old age making her skin more sensitive? No idea...

[Venusworld21]

One of ours pulls his hair out on his belly. He's done it for years and we can't get it stopped. It doesn't seem to bother him besides the hair pulling and the vet gives him a cortizone injection every few months to keep it under control. Their diagnosis is that he's just neurotic.

My mom's cat pulled out hair around his collar due to fleas. Under the collar is a favorite spot for fleas as the cat has a harder time scratching there. Is your cat current on flea meds? Does the cat have scabs on her anywhere that you can feel?

I also had a stray come in with a bald patch and a single round-ish scab in the middle. Vet said she'd tried to squeeze through something too small for her (like under a fence or something) and had scraped the hair off that way.

[minikin44]

She's not on any flea meds but the other three cats aren't showing any signs of flea problems and she's not scratching. I'm not sure about the scabs (I haven't felt any but as I said above, I don't get close to her very often).