Healthy indoor cat, aged 3, losing fur!

[BlogOnTheTyne]

Help! One of our beloved indoor cats (British Shorthair) seems to be losing fur from his flanks, especially on one side!

For a while, I'd noticed that whilst he looks appropriately chunky, as shorthairs do) from the waist/hips up, he looked unusually thin from there down but I'd assumed it was just the way he was built.

Now I'm beginning to think that maybe he's been losing fur for some time and that this created the illusion of small hips/bottom and chunky upper half?

Where he's got fur, it's luxuriously silky, shiny dark brownish black. Where he's losing fur, it's short and looks like only the undercoat - dry and sparse.

I'm taking him to the vet on Monday but am so worried about him in the meantime, especially as he belongs to one of my DCs who adores him and DC would be gutted if his cat is seriously ill.

Any ideas what it might be? I've googled of course and it suggests fleas as the most likely thing but our 2 cats are indoor cats (have been from the start because of treacherous, fast main road outside that regularly kills local cats) and I assumed they wouldn't get fleas. No sign of fleas in the home or on our other, healthy cat.

The one who's losing fur has always been much more active, vocal, interactive and LOVES his food. But could all those signs actually point to something else that's not OK?

Another thing is that we took the cats, as kittens, to have the usual vaccinations at the vets but then stopped going for updates, as they're house cats. Have we failed to protect them and is the cat losing hair because of a horrible underlying condition?

Finally, both cats - but especially the one losing hair, have sensitive tummies and have only ever been able to eat "Whiskas pouches in Jelly, Fisherman's Choice" - only the fish versions, not meat. Anything else, including even vet recommended dry foods, gave particularly the hair-challenged one severe 'runs'. But now I'm worried that maybe the so-called 'complete food' lacks something vital and that our cat is vitmain deprived.

Has anyone got any ideas or shared experiences to help whilst we're waiting for the vet's appointment? In every other way, cat is behaving normally, energetically and has normal appetite and peeing/pooing. Only other thing I can think of is that we have the central heating on at present because it's so cold outside but could this have stimulated selective fur loss in one place???

[TisTheSeasonToBeJolly]

I have two indoor cats. One long haired and one short haired. The long haired cat started losing hair on her hind legs and on the bck of her neck and under her chin. It also started scanning and weeping. I googled it and emailed an onlin vets and all searches ect went to a skin mite/paracite. Different sites showed different ( expensive ) remedies. I came across a site that said to use Tea Tree Oil ( £3 from asda ) I used that as vets and remides were expensive. And my cat has been fine ever since :) she doesn't like the smell as its very strong but its natural and worked a treat. I would give that a try before the vets andif it doesn't work take your cat to the vets. Could just be a mild skin irritation. Good luck x

[BlogOnTheTyne]

Thanks. I'll see if I can get hold of some and give it a try.

Has anyone else had experience of a healthy cat starting to lose fur? DC is v worried now but I keep trying to reassure him - but could it be something awful?

[gringosnake]

my puss is an indoor kitty for the same reason. he too started losing hair as a young kitty. we took him to the vets and it turned out to be a reaction to his biscuits. it sounds like a reaction of some kind. But get the vet to look at their diet. Ularu (roo for short) eats only Felix pouches in jelly (can't eat gravy) weebox treat sticks (occasionally) and fresh meat off cuts once a week. Result: 1 spoilt, happy and fluffy indoor cat.

[gringosnake]

how old is kitty?

[BlogOnTheTyne]

Thanks gringosnake. He's 3 years old

[BionicEar]

Hi!

It could be that your cat is overgrooming. I have a stupid lovely cat that does this.

It can be caused by the skin getting irritated such as fleas. Don't rule this out, as we recently had this with our cat who is also indoors. Vet said other people with pets may have brought fleas in. So treat your cat with flea stuff and spray the house.

If it continues cat may need an injection to help it calm down with the overgrooming.

They can also do this if stressed etc.

Hope you get it sorted.

[BlogOnTheTyne]

Thanks. Took cat to vets and they said it's likely to be one of two things - or both - either sitting too near radiator and the heat is irritating his skin - so he grooms to relieve this - or - some visitors we had about 2 months ago (which caused 2 short-lived and totally unusual bouts of cat pooing on bath plug hole, cos of 'stress' - have induced a longer stress reaction in cat.

So I've got one of those plug-in Feliway things that emit mummy-cat hormones into the atmosphere to calm him down and if this doesn't work - along with trying to keep him away from radiators, then I go back again in about 6 weeks.

However, vet rules out parasites and fleas and anything else really nasty - so that's a big relief!

So far, the Feliway thing just smells the whole house out (could be dust on the old plug device) and the 2 cats have just had a spectacular fight for the first time in years - so don't know what that was about, as they usually get on v well!

Cat still over grooming and plonking self against radiators when we're not looking - but otherwise behaving normally. She said he's fairly lean in build but not too thin though. Hope his fur will regrow in time.