Jumper pulling his fur out

[wayne0214]

Jumper is pulling out his fur at the base of his tail and along the lower part of his back. Now, it is almost bare. I have checked for fleas and other external paracites, but found none. He does't seem to be in any distress but it is beginning to worry me, especially if it will grow back again. Does anyone have ideas to share concerning this odd behavior? Should I take him to the vet?

.....wayne

[purrley]

Yes, take him to the vet. Sometimes little parasites are too small to be seen with the naked eye. He may have some kind of skin irritation also that can be fixed with meds. Something is definately causing him discomfort and he's trying to eliminate the irritation. I'd be wanting to find out what's wrong.

[K & L]

It could be allergies, stress, and I even read somewhere if there's a problem in the tail area a cat will do this. If it persist, I would get her checked out by the vet.

[C.C.'s Mom]

Poor Jumper...
I'd also opt for a vet visit.

My RB cat Pishi was a hair puller too. She got very stressed when she was old (18) and senile, and she pulled out all her hair on her tummy. It was terrible, and we didn't know what to do. The vet didn't have an answer, and neither did we. She was pulling out her hair for hours and hours, and the naked spot grew and grew.
We never managed to get the hair to grow back and when we decided it was her time to go and play over the Rainbow Bridge, she had naked legs too. (This was not the reason that we had her to sleep forever - she had cancer.)

If she has no allergy or parasites, you can give Jumper Bach Flower Remedies. I gave that to Pishi too, Rescue Remedy. I gave her 4 drops on her tongue in the morning and evening and rubbed 2 drops on each ear as well. She got less stressed.



You can see her skin here - this photo was taken a few months before she left us.

Let us know what's the matter with Jumper.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Yes, Wayne, I would take Jumper to the Vet to rule out any sort of parasite or medical reason. But it could be just stress.

If your cat is like mine, you're thinking "Stress????!!! What kind of stress could they have??!!?" But I discovered that Peanut would lick the inside of one of her front legs until the fur was gone, and this was due to an outside cat that would come up to our windows and sit there and antagonize the two inside. Tubby, being a little more territorial and a little more aggressive, would get all worked up and attack poor Peanut since he couldn't get at the cat outside and the fur would literally fly. This was causing poor Peanut to get stressed out and she licked her leg clean. Since then we've gotten rid of the outside cat (a neighbors cat this is just plain mean) and Peanuts hair has grown back nicely. Every now and then I notice her leg looking bare again, and I start paying attention to what's going on outside, and sure enough I notice another cat hanging around.

So there might be something unusual going on around the house that you may not notice - maybe while you're at work or something - that is causing poor Jumper to be stressed out, but I would have the Vet rule out anything medical first.

Good Luck!

[daurdiem]

I had a siamese cat that did that once. The vet told me at the time that sometimes a neutered male will have a hormonal imbalance that causes them to lick their hair away. He prescribed hormone pills for Kadine and it healed. I'm not saying that this is your cats problem but maybe it would be worth the trip to the vet.

[sasvermont]

My first kitty would get to the point where she would lick the fur right off her leg and the Vet called it a "hot spot" - issued a collar (Elizabethian) and some ointment. It seemed to have worked but every now and then, for whatever reason, she would come up with a new spot! Maybe, once every other year. Good luck with Jumper!

[purrley]

Frisco (my touch me not Blue point Siamese) chews on the end of his tail. He doesn't chew it to the point of removing the fur or making it raw - but it's always soaking wet. I just assume this is part of his behavior. Some people bite their nails, some cats chew on their tails - hummmm poetry

[wayne0214]

Thanks for the replies, all. OK, I will call the vet in the morning and get him chekced out. It is interesting that one said that her cat had a "hot spot". Feeling Jumper's tail base it does seem to be a bit warmer than the rest of his body, and this is the place where he has pulled out all of his fur. Also, before he began doing this fur pulling I noticed that he was all wet after washing himself, more so than any of my other furkids.

...........wayne

[wayne0214]

For what it is worth, I just got back from the vet about 1-1/2 hour ago. He said that Jumper was alergic to flea bites and that there is a infection in the area where he pulled out his fur. He also took a flea comb and extracted about 3 of those little critters off his coat. I was asked whether I had other cats doing the same thing, to which I replied; "No". With as many indoor/outdoor cats as I have, it is nearly impossible to keep them totally flea clean. However with only about 3 of them being taken from Jumper's coat, I didn't relize that a cat would have such a reaction to so few of them. But appearently he does. So, according to vet's instructions, I'm giving him 2 tablets daily of some stuff called "clavamox" for his skin infection and the flea treatment called "frontline", which I have used before and it is a good product. It appears that I'll have to be more festidious with Jumper concerning fleas than my other furkids.

I found a way to have jumper take the clavamox tablets. I hid one in a bit of canned cat food and then opened his mouth to eat it. No problems

Thanks all for your input and interest.

............wayne

[Former User]

I hope those pills will help Jumper and he won't pull his fur of anymore. I hope none of the other cats have this problem either?

[C.C.'s Mom]

I'm glad that the vet found a cause for his itchy spot and that it can be cured.

[Ila]

I agree you need to take the furry baby to the vet. Something is not right. I am sure your vet can help you.

[spikedance]

HOW CAN I MAKE HIM STOP??

I just got a cat from the ASPCA. (My cat Peety, who had cancer surgery on Feb. 2 for fibersarcoma, went into heart failure on July 6th. The medicine to stabilize him began to destroy one of his kidneys but didn't stabilize his heart. Then they detected the cancer coming back. I had to let him go. He was only
13 1/2. Thanks all for your help.)

Joey was found with a broken leg and tail. He was in foster care for 2 months healing his leg. The tail wasn't set and has a knob in it. He spent 4 months at the ASPCA. He had a long patch on his back that is very sparse. They sent him to a dermatoligist who said evidently he is doing it to himself. I finally witnessed it one morning as I shooed him out of my bedroom. He was flopping around on the bed and yelling, trying to get me up. I've begun talking very soothingly to him and babying him, trying to get him used to a more calm environment if there is one in NYC. I though his hair was starting to come in. Today, it looks like it's going away again. How can I make him stop pulling his hair out? I've had him for 18 days now.

Thanks