Cats with skin disease present the clinician in practice with significant challenges both in terms of diagnostic endeavours and disease management. Whilst dermatological disease in the cat is less common than in the dog it can be much more frustrating dealing with the feline patient in comparison to the canine patient with cutaneous lesions. Diseases with similar aetiopathology can present with vastly different clinical signs, the hypersensitivity skin disorders being a classical example; symmetrical alopecia, miliary dermatitis, 'idiopathic ulcerative dermatosis' and lesions of the eosinophilic granuloma complex are all potential manifestations of hypersensitivity. Similarly one clinical sign can result from many different underlying disease processes, miliary dermatitis being a typical example. Once a diagnosis has been reached the lifestyle of cats and the difficulties that many owners experience in medicating their cats can make management of skin disease problematic. Drug selection and dose rates may be very different from canine patients. Cats are not small dogs!

The case studies will explore examples of diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in feline cutaneous diseases, with an opportunity for the audience to contribute to the presentations by interactive responses, which will provide a basis for discussion points.