cats pulling fur out

[betty k]

Hi: A first time member with a dilemna. I have two siamese cats, both adopted a year ago, ages 8 and probably 11 or 12, not related.

We moved into a new place exactly one month ago. The cats have been very
happy, lots of indoor space to run and play, lots of sun to sleep in.

On Monday of this past week I noticed that one of them had pulled his hair
out along the side of his body. No blood, just smooth skin. Two days later,
the older cat started, on a slightly less tangent, to pull his hair out of his
paw.

I took them to a Veterinarian, who seemed baffled, but we agreed to give them each a steroid shot to help them stop. The older cat suffers from overactive thyroid,
and is on Tapazole twice daily, while we wait for the laser operation next month.

Both cats slowed down the fur pulling, but it is still going on, with the older
cat very unhappy, meowing alot more than usual, staying close to me, and just being very restless. He has transferred his pulling to alot of scratching
of his ears, which are quite red now. We applied a special aloevera salve
for cats, which I bought at a market, but only to the younger cat, who is
trying to stay away from that area.

I am very worried about my older cat, because he is so agitated.

Any suggestions or comparisons to your pets would be appreciated. Sometimes common sense and talking to someone who had a similar problem
helps more than the Veterinarian, who is, as I said, baffled.

thanks.....

[elisi989]

I've had 3 experiences over the years with cat's licking/pulling their fur out. The first one pulled all the fur on her belly out. The Veterinarian's diagnosis... boredom. She was an only child and home alone all day. The next one started on her behind and worked her way up her sides and back. We don't know why she does this, she is an outdoor/barn cat and very neurotic, so once or twice a year she goes to the Veterinarian for a cortizone shot which solves the problem until the next bout. Our newest member of the family was found wandering around the barn, he was "bald" from the shoulders back. We took him to the Veterinarian and found out he had a flea allergy. A cortizone shot, a capstar and a worm pill and he's regrown his hair and is now one of my indoor babies.

[Lunasmom]

I have the same problem with 2 of my kittys. One of them I got from a friend and she never licked the fur off until I brought her to my house. I already had one cat that was doing it, but had 2 that weren't and figured that it was OCD. When the new one started as soon as I brought her home, I realized that it wasn't mental. I took them to the Veterinarian and he tested them for mites, but didn't find any. He went ahead and gave them 2 shots, one for mites (even though they tested negative, said they might not have shown up on the skin scrape) and one of steroids. Here it is a month later and their hair is growing back, and they aren't licking as much.
I also thought that maybe it was some allergin in my house. When I bought the house, it was NASTY. The people that lived there before me had a basset hound and a 5 year old boy (that they never cleaned up after). I had to rip all the carpets out and put down hardwood floors, to help my own allergies. I also just had the a/c ducts cleaned out a month ago...I'm not sure yet if this is going to help with the cats, but it has helped my and my boyfriend's allergies already. If you just moved into a new place and then they started licking, it is possible that it is from something in the house that they are allergic to.

[Bobby Williamson]

My cat Alice has been pulling her fur out as well. So far no skin is showing. However it sounds familiar to one of your cats, where she seems "restless".

I noticed this happened to her last year around this time, spring time. I wonder if that has something to do with it? After taking her to the Veterinarian last year and spending a couple hundred on tests, they couldn't find a thing wrong. I was kinda wondering if the "boredom" thing might be it, but hmmm....just kinda peculiar how it's the same time of year though.

Just thought I'd share, since I'm on a quest to find the problem myself.

Cheers!

[ozbizbozzle]

Just wanted to add that my 8 year old tabby, 1/4 abyssinian Ollie has started pulling his fur out for about the last month. He started doing this last year when we were not around and assumed he was bored and lonely. Hes now doing it sat right beside me. You post reminded me that he does this at Springtime. My thought is that he is trying to remove his winter coat as the weather warms up.
He pulls it from his stomach area so Im going to try worming him, thinking that the warmer weather may affect worm activity as it does in the soil. I know they are not the same worms but warmth does support breeding cycles.

[Animal Safari]

My male cat Spot has been pulling out his fur for the last month or so as well. He is about 10 yrs old and this is the first time he's ever done it. It looks like he has two dents in both of his sides and his lower belly is nearly bare. It's also the first time I've lived in more confined quarters than before...when I first got him I lived with my mom in her house and he was an outdoor kitty; then I moved out and lived in 3 different apts over 5 years, he became an indoor kitty and I took in two girls as well so he still had playmates like back home. Now through a tough bout of losing my job in the mortgage industry last year, unemployment, not being able to afford my own place even with a new job. I rent a room in a house with two guys and a Rottie (who is as meek as a mouse!) so I only have a bedroom and small living room outside my room on the lower level. I don't let the cats roam the house when I'm not there since I can't/won't trust the dog even as timid as he can be, I don't trust that the roomies or the homeowners' two daughters (who are fairly irresponsible and aloof) will be conscience enough not to let them get outside, and I don't feel comfortable letting cat hair get all over the dude's house. I just keep them in my room and let them roam some nights when people aren't home or running about.
Sorry for the long story...back to the cat. He and I are very close, almost inseparable. I think it's probably boredom too but like ozbiz says, my cat will also still do it while sitting with me on the bed. He pulls huge chunks out at a time (DLH/Maine Coon mix) and thus produces a HUGE hairball at least once a week. I feed them Royal Canin Light 37 which I only started a few weeks ago; switched over from Iams Indoor to see if the food would help, which it kinda did. I also moved their kitty tower/condo into the bedroom to provide more sources of activity, keep them loaded with toys that I cycle, give them Greenies and Catswell chicken jerky for treats. The two girls have no hair pulling problems, just my male. He seems to have subsided, but it hasn't stopped...I still catch him with a tuft of black fur sticking out of his white mouth sometimes...

[gracegrecia]

nerves or lack of some minerals in her food, see a Veterinarian

[lbmorris44]

Originally Posted by gracegrecia

nerves or lack of some minerals in her food, see a Veterinarian

We have a 6 year old cat, and we got her from an animal shelter where we have gotten 2 dogs, and 2 cats from. Sassy has been profoundly pulling her fur out, worse then ever, she then about 2 days a week, vomits hairballs, and we do not understand why she is doing this!!!! She is a very long hair cat, but has pulled out clumps of hair, all over the house!!!She does shed alot, but, we want to know the reason, behind, pulling out these clumps of fur, she has just about pulled out the fur on her hind legs, and we were wanting to see, do we need to bathe her, which she hates, or what do we need to do???? She was abused as a kitty, and someone rescued her, and she was put in the shelter, where we adopted her at!!!! When we do ask her to stop she does, but then goes elsewhere and continues to pull out her fur!! What other insights can someone give us, about what we need to do as owners and lovers of cats and dogs?? Thank you all for your input in this situation!!!!!

[PoliKarpas]

I took my cat to the Veterinarian recently. She was diagnosed with a bladder stone. As an option to surgery (which we really cannot afford), the Veterinarian recommended a change in diet. Originally, it was all dry food (California Natural). Now it is nearly all can food (Science Diet that does *not* include any fish). The more frequent red urine that she had been leaving near her litter box is much more infrequent (has ocurred only three times in the last several months). That's a good sign. However, we have seen that the hair on her lower back is falling off in clumps - a bad sign. Is this a reaction to the new food? Or could it be related to the bladder stone?