Help! My cat is losing her hair!

[spalacios]

I have a siamese/domestic mix female cat. She is 5 years old and spayed/declawed (front only). Last week we noticed that on her tummy she had no hair (and yes there was hair there before). I actually thought my kids were goofing around and shaved her hair off. However, this is not the case. Now today I noticed that she is losing the hair on her front legs especially around the pads on her feet and then about 1/2 way up the leg. There is still hair left on her legs, but you can definitely tell that it is not like the rest of the hair on her legs or body.

Has anyone had this problem or have any suggestions on what might be causing this?

She is an indoor cat that is let out very rarely only when we are outside with her. I have not changed anything about her food, litter or even surroundings.

Thanks!

Stacy

[slick]

Stacy, that happened to my Specks a couple of years ago (she's a 100% indoor kitty) and it turned out to be an allergy to flees. I must have brought them into the house. A dose of Advantage and they were gone and the fur all grew back.

You may want to get yourself a flea comb and comb down by the base of the tail. If you see any tiny black specs, that could be "flee dirt" or "flee poo." Have a glass of water handy and if you see any flees, then drown them. It's really the only way of killing them.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi Stacy, she could also be overgrooming herself for some reason. Some cats start doing this and they lose their fur in patches. She could also be developing food allergies. My cat Storm will loose fur on his ears and surrounding areas because he's allergic to fish. It makes him very itchy and he scratches it until he loses patches of fur. I hope that you'll be able to find out what her problem is and that it's not serious. Please continue to keep us updated about her.

Do you have any pictures of her?

[mruffruff]

My male cat was trying to clean himself so vigorously he cleaned the hair off of his lower belly. He had a UTI. Once treated, he stopped excessive grooming and the hair grew back.

[Beauty17]

There are two possibilities that come to mind. We had two cats with hair loss problems. One had allergies. She had hair loss on her lower belly, which was licked completely pink because, presumably, it itched, poor girl. We didn't know what she was allergic to. We never could find a way to treat it, but she didn't scratch or scab so we just left her alone. The other cat who had hair loss had a nervous habit of licking certain spots too much so that the hair wouldn't grow there. It happened suddenly, just after my son was born, and she never got over the habit. Because she licked around her ankles and sometimes around the end of her tail, she looked a little bit like a trimmed poodle at times. At other times, the hair would grow back to almost normal. Your vet could help determine which might be the cause, or if perhaps something else is involved - diet? New meds?

[felinefuture]

These conditions are usually diet-related.

In short, a cat should NEVER be fed a KIBBLE DIET! If you want to avoid many health problems, feed a raw meat diet.

More at www.felinefuture.com

Best regards to All
Gayle

[neria]

It would be best to seek medical advice if you have problems on your beloved pets. Go to your vet. Dont wait til its too late.
same as to yourselves = go to your respective physicians :)

[Catty1]

Oscar was over-grooming in spots, inside back legs and lower tummy(and under his 'armpits' :confused: ). He had a UTI, which took a month to treat, and now is on two bits of Feliway per day, to ease his stress.

He was wild for the first 2 1/2 years of his life, and though he is about 4 1/2 now and a total sucky boy, the vet feels he might still be a bit high-strung.

Waiting for fur to grow back...hard to spray in his 'favourite place' when he is everywhere!

Good luck with your baby.

[Twinkle]

The felway diffuser is excellent. We have a cat who we didnt realise was getting stressed when we rehomed kittens. She licked her belly and her hind legs bare. I plugged in 2 diffusers one upstairs, the other down and it worked. I have now removed them but now and again when the young ones must get her down, hair starts disappearing so we plug them in again for a short period of time. Well worth the money.

I logged onto this forum as my 10 year old rehomed cat has suddenly got bald patches on her ears. Previiously she had a bald ring round her neck which the vet said was due to a collar - not sure. She has been quite poorly so dont know if the hair loss on her ears is rlated - back to the vets next week so will ask then. I will post my findings.

[Twinkle]

The felway diffuser is excellent. We have a cat who we didnt realise was getting stressed when we rehomed kittens. She licked her belly and her hind legs bare. I plugged in 2 diffusers one upstairs, the other down and it worked. I have now removed them but now and again when the young ones must get her down, hair starts disappearing so we plug them in again for a short period of time. Well worth the money.

[Freedom]

Sounds like there are a number of possibilities. your vet can help eliminate some. Take her in! And best wishes solving this problem.