My cat losing fur
My lovely cat, Mikey, is about 3+ years old and otherwise seems perfectly healthy, but for the past 2-3 months he has been losing his fur. It started at his belly area and soon, it spread to his tail and thigh area. I read that there could be a lot of reasons for a cat losing fur and a couple of these are:
- Allergies to insect bites, foods and house dust
- Fleas and lice
- Excessive licking due to stress
- Ringworm
- Skin conditions/allergies or health problems
- Process of aging
- Feline Symmetric Alopecia (baldness is identical on both sides of the body)
- And other disorders
Photo above: Baldness at his thigh/waist area
I did notice that Mikey was unusually licking himself. Excessive licking could be due to lice and fleas but only a vet could tell by microscopically examining his hairs. I also thought that it could be allergies to a new brand of food that I just started to feed him — I have switched to the previous brand since.
I went to my nearby veterinarian at Mount Pleasant Animal Clinic (Springleaf) when his lower belly was almost bald – about a month ago. The vet examined his hairs microscopically but didn’t find any lice or fleas. She prescribed him some medicine that would reduce the itch. Unfortunately Mikey kept licking himself but his belly area was not that bad anymore — his fur at the belly was starting to grow back and it’s still growing. However, his tail and thigh/waist area were showing patches of baldness (photo above).
Photo above: His fur at the belly area grew back but not completely yet. See how furry he was a few months ago in January.
I brought Mikey again to the same veterinarian a month after my first visit. The same vet examined his hairs again and this time, she found a baby lice egg shell. I was in a way relieved because not knowing the reason for his excessive licking is even worse. I saw the egg shell through the microscope myself. Wow.
Cat lice can’t be transmitted to human because cat’s fur is different from human hair. Also, lice, ticks, mites and fleas are different although they are all parasites. More info there.
The vet prescribed him Frontline, which will get rid of the lice and another medicine called Prednisolone for itch and inflammation. I really hope that these will work! Frontline is available at most pet shops and can be used as a precaution even if your cat doesn’t have lice. However I read somwhere that the cat fur wouldn’t be as shiny as before. I’m not sure how true this is.
I bought a Science Diet light food for hairball control on my way back after the vet commented that Mikey looked rounder :)
April 28th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Hi!
I lovee cats..and i have a little one called pichounette, 2 years old. He’s very fluffy and earlier he used to get the same problem, and even fell sick because of that. But it stopped on its own. I guess it is quite common for cats to lose their fur during some time of the year.
Mickey is soo cutee :)
Maliha’s last blog post..Sunday Night…Hello to the Blues
April 28th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
I was waiting and hoping to see any improvement but the patch of baldness became bigger and I was worried. The best was to consult a vet. Yeah, after they lick and swallow their fur, they will throw out hairballs..
So pichounette’s fur grew back already?
May 21st, 2009 at 5:07 pm
[...] pic of me and my cat taken by my friend a couple of weeks ago. An update to my post on “my cat losing fur“, well Mikey’s fur is growing back but very [...]
February 27th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
[...] a kitten. The vet briefly examined him. Aside from his bald patch at the thigh area (due to his on and off excessive licking), everything else was fine. She gave me some pills that are to be given to my cat only when he [...]
October 8th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
[...] losing his fur, thus becoming bald at his thigh and belly area as well as his tail. You can find this post here. Someone recently emailed me, asking me how Mikey fared since and whether Frontline [...]
October 10th, 2011 at 8:33 pm
Thank you for your blog about your cat’s skin condition. My cat has something identical on her belly and i didn’t get a diagnosis form my vet and i was really stressed about it.
10x a lot, Teodora