3 year old male cat losing hair...

[bnicole06]

Hi all,
I am new to this site. I have a male cat that we adopted when he was 3 months old and now is 3 years old. Over the last 8 months he has been losing his hair on his back legs and around tail. I have taken him to the vet many times for this issue. The vet said he's healthy as far as no disease nor worms of any kind. They did blood work and that all came back normal too. The vet ask me if there had been any change to the household and there hasn't been in the last year and half at which then we adopted our 2nd cat. The vet put my little guy on a prescription cat food to see if it was an allergy and no sign of any change. Last month we moved to a different city and it was time for a check up and shots so I found a new vet and took the cats to. I ask this vet her thoughts and first thought was allergy until I told her we tested using a food and no sign of any change so she then said stress. Since moving the cat hasn't lost anymore hair nor grown any. He does groom himself all the time. This vet suggested I try a vitamin for stress so I did and he's been on it now with no sign of any improvement . I'm at loss here cause I have done just about everything I know to do. If anyone has any advice for me, please do say so I can try it. Ill do anything to see to it that my baby boy gets his healthy coat back.

[Lizzie]

I went through this with Nevermore, though his stress grooming and extensive hair loss was for different reasons.

He was on the streets for about six months before animal control picked him up by which time his digestive system was a mess and he was really skinny. Then he was stuck in a cage for 3 months, a cage so small that his back nearly touched the top. I was at the tiny adoption place to look at a disabled cat and noticed a large black cat half-rearing up and pounding desperately on the glass door. I saw he had lost a great deal of fur from the same areas as your cat ?name. Of course, I had to adopt him, I couldn't leave him to live like that.

He's been in my home for about five months now and he's still getting well and settling in. His fur has almost grown back fully, I can't feel his backbone as easily, and he no longer has blood in his poop. But, he did need plenty of time in a settled calm environment to get that far on his road to recovery.

Does the new cat annoy your fur loss cat? Does he get less attention now? Do they have separate eating areas? Are there problems with sharing food and water bowls, and litter boxes?

Your cat probably needs time to settle into the changed environment but you could talk to your vet about putting him on Fluoxitine if the over grooming continues. Some cats, like some humans, are more easily stressed out than others.

[bnicole06]

When I adopted my cat with the hair loss he was perfectly healthy and had all his fur. The newest cat has been with us now for about a year and half and the issues with the loss of hair has been last 8 months. Could it take almost a year later for the stress to affect his hair loss if it were to be the newest one brought into the family? They share litter box and both have bowls in the washroom where they free feed.. I do know when Midnight (the one with hair loss) goes to washroom to eat, the other one follows him in there and has to dominate the feeding time but he doesn't get mad or not let Midnight eat. I give Midnight more attention than I do the other one only because he's more my baby than the other and always in my lap.

[moosmom]

Sounds like stress. I had a cat "Tucker", a Russian Blue mix who kept stressing my orange white cat, Casey. The vet put Casey on kitty tranquilizers. He was NOT the same cat. He was always hiding, cranky, and job not himself. Since Casey was there long before Tucker, friends of mine adopted Tucker. He's now living in Boulder, CO., and living life large.

I don't know if that's an option or not. Good luck.

[Lizzie]

Yes, it can take months for the stress to reach a point where Midnight self-mutilates. The other cat sounds pushy though not in an aggressive way and I would suspect, having watched behavior interactions and long-term consequences for decades, that this has bothered Midnight for some time. You know how it can happen in a work place. You get a new person who is a bit annoying but you cope, then the coping becomes annoying, and then you get really frustrated from having to adapt. From your description, he is a needy cat who regards you as his own so this nagging annoyance has reached stress levels.

If you want to keep both cats, you might want to use Fluoxitine or similar. However, as moosmom has said, any tranquilizer can have multiple effects.

Can you give Midnight his own feeding area? Sam is bothered by the others (she has CRF so senses she is weaker than other cats) and has feeding bowls on a table in the bedroom. It's easier for her to smack the others down from the table than cope with feeding alongside several other cats on the floor.

There are pet behavior therapists who can help.