Oh no, Slick, I'm so sorry to hear Speckles is having troubles.

A while back Tubby had a spot on his tail that when I brushed it the hair just all came out and he ended up with a bald spot on his tail. I called the vet and asked them about it and she said that it was probably something bacterial and I should put neosporin on it. Over the next couple of weeks I kept applying the neosporin and gave him the occassional bath (first time he'd had a bath in 18 years!) and eventually the spot went away. Then, about 2 months or so after that, a similar spot appeared on his back, about an inch up his spine from the base of his tail. I did the same thing - neosporin and the occassional bath - and that one eventually cleared up also.

The vet mentioned that this happens sometimes with older cats because they are as diligent about cleaning themselves, and sometimes can't get to those hard to reach places anymore. She said that had I brought him in she would have told me the same thing, so I'm glad I called first.

I sure hope this is what Speckles has because it is so easily treated. Tubby looked kind of "gunky" for awhile because of the neosporin, but it helped get rid of the problem so gunky it was.

Peanut, on the other hand, has started licking her legs and tummy clean again so I just upped her dosage of prednisolone again. She had been taking 1/2 a pill a day, then things were looking good so the vet told me to cut the dosage back, and now she's going bald again so I upped it back to the 1/2 a pill a day. He said she either has allergies or it's a nervous condition. This isn't a big deal, but I don't like the idea of my little girl being nervous, so I like to think it's allergies. She does twitch now and then....

Anyway, I hope the vet visit goes well. Please let us know what they say. As for the constant trips to the vet, well, I guess that's what we get for running geriatric wards.