Cat losing hair.

Dr. Marie replied:

Hi Kelly and thanks for your question!

It's tough to know what to say here. I'll give you my thoughts on what you have written.

Is any of the hair loss above the base of her tail, like in this area:



If so, then this does make a flea problem higher on my list of possibilities. Normally, if I am at all suspicious that there is a flea problem then I will try a flea treatment, like you did, and see if there is an improvement. Did you use a prescription product or an over the counter one? If it was an OTC then they don't tend to be very effective. Most of the time the vet will be willing to dispense a prescription flea product as long as you have been in within the last year. It may be worthwhile to try this and see if there is improvement. If there is, then in order to completely clear things up you'd need to treat all cats (and any dogs) in the house for at least 3 months in a row. (For more information on fleas, see my article about fleas.

There are other things that can cause hair loss like this though. Sometimes we can see hair loss, especially on the back legs and belly because of overgrooming. Overgrooming is a tough one to figure out. We tell people that cats who do this do it because of "stress", but the source of stress can be super hard to figure out. For some cats, it is obvious that they are stressed. But for others "stress" can be something that we wouldn't perceive as stress. Some cats exhibit stress symptoms just because there are one or more cats in the house. If this is a case of overgrooming then sometimes an anti-anxiety medication such as amitriptylline can make a difference. Or, installing a Feliway plugin may help. Here is some more information on Feliway.

In some areas, cats that have balding on the stomach and back legs can have a parasite called demodex gattoi. However, usually if this is the case then the other cats would be affected as well.

An allergy is also a possibility. It is often really hard to know what a cat is allergic to. While you will read stuff online about using over the counter antihistamines in cats, my experience is that these really don't work at all. If this were my case and I was suspecting allergy I may try a steroid injection and see if this improves things. I would also consider a prescription hypoallergenic food as well.

It's also possible that she has a skin infection, especially if you are seeing some red bumps. If this is the case then oral antibiotics are going to be required. This seems less likely to me though.

It's unusual that she has problems with her ears as well. Ear mites are not that common on adult cats. And if she had mites, you would probably find that the other cats had mites as well. I'm suspicious that she could have an ear infection. Unfortunately if this is the case then there is once again no over the counter medicine that can help. Cats with allergies are very prone to ear infections.

There are some autoimmune conditions that can cause ear and skin problems, such as pemphigus, but these are not common.

Unfortunately it does sound like a vet visit is going to be necessary here. If I had to bet I would suspect that there is some mild allergy here. If this is the case then a steroid shot or some steroid tablets can make a huge difference. But your vet will be able to help you determine if there are fleas, infection, an autoimmune condition or anything else.

Sorry that I can't solve the problem for you! I hope I have helped somewhat though.

Dr. Marie.


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