My cat's going a bit bald!!!

vyvyan_2

Does anyone know of any good pet owner forums?

As above; 10 year old cat in good health, neutered male, one of a pair from the same litter - (other cat's ok)

Half saimese, half moggy (alley cat father). Doesn't wash himself excessively and the skin looks healthy.

Any ideas?

kenshaz

Hormones or mange,both can be treated ,one expensive(hormones),other less
Mange is a skin parasite,hormones is probably because of the age of your cat,need to see a vet,my diagnosis is advisory only,and without an examination and a skin scrape and blood tests cannot be conclusive

csnann

It could be a flea allergy. My 8 year old cat started going bald last year, the vet said she had become sensetive to the saliva in fleabites so put her on Frontline (flea killing stuff you put on the cat's neck) and her fur grow back within a few weeks.

RubyMurray

The best cat site I know of is http://www.catchat.org/index.html .

I wouldn't take any chances though and get him to a vet for a checkup, you can't be too careful.

kenshaz

csnann wrote:

It could be a flea allergy. My 8 year old cat started going bald last year, the vet said she had become sensetive to the saliva in fleabites so put her on Frontline (flea killing stuff you put on the cat's neck) and her fur grow back within a few weeks.

Welcome to MSE,I am going to click your thanks ,because I want to be the first ,that was good post,and another possible reason,the skin scrape would confirm

chatta

Poor thing might just be getting bit old, my mog is 10 as well and she just ain't what she used to be

kenshaz

RubyMurray wrote:

The best cat site I know of is http://www.catchat.org/index.html .

I wouldn't take any chances though and get him to a vet for a checkup, you can't be too careful.

good advice on this forum as far as I can ascertain,we also said see a vet,that should always be the case

SnowyOwl_2

My dearly loved but now departed Tabitha developed a bald tummy when I first got her. She was seven years old and came from the RSPCA. The vet thought it was down to excessive licking - a reassuring thing cats do when they are stressed. She'd been homeless in a number of shelters before coming to me. At the time I was a smoker - she developed a wheezy chest, so may have been feeling ill and therefore stressed, on top of the new territory.

Her bald belly became hairy again after all while, even after we moved house. When I gave up smoking her wheezy chest cleared up. BTW she lived until she was 18.

A neighbour's cat also suffered from a bald tum. Again we think this was stress related - the lady of the house was unfortunately partnered with a complete to$$er of a man who made life v.uncomfortable. It was a bit of a secret at the time, but once they spilt up the licking stopped and little kitty developed a nice hairy tum again.

So in short, it may be stress related. (Why did I need three paragraphs to say that??? Sorry for being a gasbag!)

vyvyan_2

Thanks for all your help everyone. I'll look into those ideas - need to save a few pennies for the vet though. As I said the other cat's fine and there are no fleas around here but you made me scratch thinking about it!

Edit:
I've clicked all the thanks! Lots of loving pet owners here on this site!

Lord_Gardener

Yes, one of our cats lost a lot of hair due to stress - a new tom had moved into the area and 12 she couldn't cope. A few hits with a water pistol for him, and lots of treats for her, calmed her down and the hair returned!

Tom_Jones

Shoot it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!