anyone dealth with a cat losing its hair?

[dixiegrrrrl]

Rocky is not even 2 years old yet....18 months....has a very thick soft coat of hair, like an angora rabbit.

It first started at the base of his tail, the hair got all sparse and thin enough to see skin thru. took him to the vet last month, vet says it looks like excessive grooming, no redness, no scabs, no sign of ringworm, etc.
I wasn't too sure, I am home with him every day, have not seen him "excessive" groom.
this morning when he was lying on his back, I noticed his lower belly is bare, and the area surrounding it is thin haired.
so this is spreading.

We have his brother, also, who is a short hair cat. zero coat problems.
they both eat same good cat fud, drink same water.

ages and ages ago I had a long hair orange cat, who went to live with friend when I had to move to no-cat life. He developed a thyroid condition and began losing his air, it was fixed with meds, I was told.

any one have similar problem?????

On edit....he is not scratching a lot, the cats are on flea control, and they are both totally indoors.

[dameatball]

1. Mine had the same symptoms. Ten year old male. Took him to the vet. He got a steroid shot. Then the

vet expressed his anal glands (not his, the cat's). Two months later all is well. nice healthy, black coat is back.

[DeminPennswoods]

2. My Cat from Hell on Animal Planet

had an episode about a cat that had a similar problem. The hair loss was from excessive grooming which was the result of the cat being anxious or stressed or OCD. Do you have young children or other pets that might be causing your cat some stress or aniexty?

Info from Cornell Vet School: https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/cats-lick-too-much

Here's a product from Jackson Galaxy that might help: https://www.jacksongalaxy.com/products/obsession-solution.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. both cats are super mellow.

No other pets, no kids, just me & Mr. dixie and the cats, very mellow atmosphere, not even noise outside except for nature.

I'm wondering about a recent diet change, will check on that also. read something about "single protein" diets to narrow down the problem.

[RKP5637]

3. Yes, mine did. We took him to a veterinarian allergist. He had never shown any

symptom of fleas. The allergist said on some cats one flea bit is all it takes and you will likely never see that flea. He gave him pills to take and I just can't recall now what it was ... it was awhile ago. We also have to give him an allergy pill everyday the rest of his life. It's rare, but it does happen. He was strictly an indoor cat, but as the allergist said one could be on your clothes and the cat might get bitten. He had lost almost all of his hair on his belly. Our regular vet was pretty much at a loss to determine what was going on because she could never find any fleas on him. Neither could the allergist, but he said that was what was going on. Our cats hair lost stopped and it was never a problem again.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. and of course this is my best pal cat, we are very bonded.

so I get very concerned about him.

funny it should suddenly appear after over a year of no problems, same anti-flea regime.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. Oh, I found this helpful:

A clear indicator of flea allergies is if your cat is constantly itching or biting their tail or back.

Food allergies, on the other hand, tend to make the cat's head and neck itchy.

Isn't that interesting?

[RKP5637]

15. Interesting! Thanks!

[DeminPennswoods]

17. Fleas tend to congregate on the back of the cat's head and base of the

tail (on the back, not belly) because the cat can't get to those spots to lick or scratch. Also, fleas cannot swim, which I recently learned from my vet, so if you are able to give your cat a bath, that probably would help.

Fleas can be in the carpet and furniture fabric, too. Had to deal with fleas in the house last year and was advised to vacuum everything to sweep up any flea or flea eggs, then throw away the vacuum cleaner bag.
It worked along with flea treatments on my cats.

If you see fleas of flea dirt (more visible than you realize) anywhere, you can roll a lint roller over them and they stick right to the paper.

[dixiegrrrrl]

18. Thank you!!

A lint roller, eh? what a good idea. I will check both cats with it.

[DeminPennswoods]

20. Use a flea comb on the cats. The lint roller is for fabric, etc

Try brushing the lint roller over the spot your cat was laying as soon as the cat moves. If there are fleas, it's likely there will be some black dots stuck to the roller paper.

You can buy a flea comb at any pet store. Some grocery stores have them in their pet aisles, too, along with Dollar General, Walmart, Target, etc.

[TygrBright]

5. Do you use a cleaner that has pine oil in it?

One of mine had that problem once. Started at the base of the tail, ended up with the tail nekkid about halfway up and bald patches on hindquarters and tummy. We called him our "Azerbaijani Poodle Cat".

Vet suggested an allergic reaction to a cleaner I used that contained pine oil.

I stopped using it.

Hair grew back.

Go figure.

helpfully,
Bright

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. hmm...we do have some.

tho I am not guilty of using it very often.

this "feels" like an allergy to me, given there is no other skin evidence of anything else.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. One of my cats licked a big patch of fur off his belly.

Vet gave him a cortisone shot, which cured the itch so he stopped licking and the fur grew back. Sometimes it's an allergy.

[zipplewrath]

8. Yes

Happened months after his sister died. It was more tragic that it happened while we were on vacation. The cat sitter came home and found her dead outside our bedroom. The bedroom was "his" in their relationship. Months afterwards he started losing hair. Much like you describe. We were given the "excessive grooming" explanation at first. But after a couple of months, even the vet wasn't buying that. Ultimately, the fir came back slowly and the only real explanation was the death of the sister.

The cats a bit high strung. He's very calm and playful with us, but runs at the first hint of a visitor. He is an indoor cat so he doesn't have large interactions other than us, and formerly his sister. And mind you, it didn't come up for a couple of months. Something could have changed in your cats life that you don't even know, but has him under stress.

At least, that's the only thing I got. Good luck.

[KatyaR]

9. my dog had this problem last year,

Turned out his thyroid was dead. He's now on a thyroid med and an immunosuppressant and is doing great.

[Buzz cook]

12. Take the cat to the vet.

There are several reasons that cats loose hair. Some are potentially life threatening. A vet can tell you what the problem is; people on the internet can just guess.

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. as I said in my OP, the vet has seen him.

Vet told me what it WASN't, gave cat his annual rabies/feline leukemia shots, and that was that.
small town, one vet.

But now that I have read this...

A clear indicator of flea allergies is if your cat is constantly itching or biting their tail or back.

Food allergies, on the other hand, tend to make the cat's head and neck itchy.

It gives me something to go on.

[vsrazdem]

13. My mom's cat started losing his hair and it was a thyroid issue. Had to give him meds.

[pansypoo53219]

16. years ago my female started l o sing hair. treated as hormones, next

female started losing tummy hair again. vet treated it as stress. kitty valium.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. You know, that would easy to check out.

I have valerian powder, ( Nature's tranqilizer) and colostrum capsules, both are ok for cats, and in fact, rocky loves valerian.
gonna go back to giving him some, can't hurt.

[shanti]

21. My mother's two cats

They both have licked the fur off of their bellies and hind legs. They're working on the front legs now. Mother has dementia, and it started around that time. Animals know when something is "off".

Similarly, my own cat has developed scabby things at the base of her tail and top of her head/ears. She scratches her head/ears continually. When I took her to the vet, they were unable to diagnose her (??) It's been going on for several months now. She's a strictly indoor cat. Her brother does not have this, and he's indoor only too.