Cat losing fur around neck.

*** I'm going to preface this with: I have been in contact with and taking her to see a vet. We're in the middle of a big storm and it may be a few days. I am posting because I'm not sure what to expect and wanted to see if anyone has experienced anything similar and has suggestions on what I can do in the meantime.

She is extremely timid and the last time we had to bring her anywhere she hid from us for over 3 months, so while I really want to help her I also don't want to traumatize her again. 😭😭 the struggle. She is a 10 years old indoor cat has never had any health issues. She is on the average-small side, she is lean but always has been. She is eating, drinking, acting and going to the bathroom normally. But about a week ago I noticed she was losing fur on her neck. I assumed her collar was rubbing too much or it had gotten caught on something (it is a breakaway collar and didn't seem too tight but thought maybe her winter coat had come in just enough to make it snug) and removed it. While her fur is growing back in on those areas, and it looked like it was getting better, now the area seems to be getting bigger & more patches are appearing. It's not an obscene amount, but definitely noticeable, especially since she is black. It is only around her neck/head area and nowhere else on her body. I'm just not sure if she is scratching those areas because the new fur is itching, or she's scratched herself and it's itchy. I am not seeing her scratch an unusual amount, but she does seem like it might be itchy an appreciates when I gently rub the area. I'm not seeing the fur come off in clumps or otherwise and she doesn't seem to be over grooming those areas, at least when I'm around. No sign of fleas or mites. We did have firewood brought into the house in the last 2 weeks, and start using that and electric heat, and she is now 100% on a new food (we very slowly transitioned over months), but those are the only new things I can think of that may be contributing if this is an allergy issue. I've searched my home for anything that she may have gotten into, found nothing, and given her a bath just in case. She uses wood pellet litter. She does have a few minor scratches on the original area, which lead me to believe it was a collar issue even more. They all look fine and are healing. I have a like 95% fragrance free house, no scented candles, essential oils, scented laundry detergents, etc

Is there something environmental I may not be thinking of?

Just the presentation and the fact that she doesn't seem to be affected otherwise, I feel like either an allergy or the collar was the initial problem and now she's itchy and scratching those surrounding areas (when I'm not watching her) are the most likely culprits.

I've never had something like this happen to a pet, so I'm not sure what to expect at the vet. What would a normal first step be, after visual examination of course?

Thank you.

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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/e8m842/cat_losing_fur_around_neck/