Baldness on hind legs

DH & I noticed that Lucky has bald patches on his hind legs. He doesn't scratch at them. They aren't red. What do you think it could be? We are going to make an appointment for his teeth but I wanted some ideas from you all.

I have tried to take pics but it's so hard. He has been looking sad lately too. He is still eating & playing.

I noticed those on Spooky's legs too. I didn't think much of it because her babies are also gnawing on some part of her. But the baldness on the legs has only popped up in the last month or so.

Just when I said it was impossible Lucky allowed for some pictures.

It looks like excessive grooming. It can either be caused by stress or allergies. Judging from where he is grooming I would say stress. Other then medications like buspar and amitriptyline that have to be prescribed by a vet and are mostly for SEVERE cases, you could try getting feliway. Most pets store carry it.

Do you think food allergies would cause this on his legs?
I know it isn't from grooming. I can't imagine it being stress. He loves playing with Ben.

Neffie has balding on her backend and her legs and her tummy as well. The vet said it was caused because she was allergic to fleas. The house she came from had dogs in it and they apparently gave her fleas periodically through out the years and but since they hardly ever saw her they never knew that she was loosing her hair like she was. But her hair is still not growing back, still it's only been three weeks since we took her out of that house and got her an allergy shot. I'm hoping she gets all her hair back.

I hope you can figure out what's causing your cats balding. maybe they are playing to rough? Or it could be an allergy?

Originally Posted by crazyforinfo

Do you think food allergies would cause this on his legs?
I know it isn't from grooming. I can't imagine it being stress. He loves playing with Ben.

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I'm not too familiar with allergies...but I would imagine it could be food, or have you changed litter recently?

I know it's hard to imagine it being stress, and it might not be in Lucky's case. I've been there and I couldn't see it or think of it being an issue w/ Beandip. I think they can get stressed over the smallest things, and when they do it's usually not obvious. I'm not sure what I'm trying to say, just that I have found that it (stress) can be verrrrrry subtle sometimes.

food allergy isn't as common in cats. Most of the time, if they are allergic to a food, they will have diarrhea or skin problems. It could be flea allergies. (I'm not saying that you have a house loaded with fleas!) When cats are allergic to fleas, all it takes is a bite from one single flea to set them off. It could be something as simple as your cats rough housing and someone getting a mouth full of hair...

Originally Posted by jugen

Neffie has balding on her backend and her legs and her tummy as well. The vet said it was caused because she was allergic to fleas. The house she came from had dogs in it and they apparently gave her fleas periodically through out the years and but since they hardly ever saw her they never knew that she was loosing her hair like she was. But her hair is still not growing back, still it's only been three weeks since we took her out of that house and got her an allergy shot. I'm hoping she gets all her hair back.

I hope you can figure out what's causing your cats balding. maybe they are playing to rough? Or it could be an allergy?

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I wonder if this is the cause. Ben had fleas when we took him in 3 months ago and they all were treated with frontline for two months. It's about when we noticed. We didn't pay attention before Benson arrived. Hmmm.

Thanks.

My Mom's cat entire back end (legs,stomach and lower tail) go completely bald EVERY winter. She's an indoor/outdoor cat but in winter she's mainly indoor. She doesn't have fleas and is not in a high stress situation. Could it be environmental? Maybe a dust allergy or something?


I just brainstormed this: Could she be allergic to her Litter?? She goes outside to use the bathroom during most of the year but DOES use a litterbox in the winter. I guess I'll tell my parent's to try a different litter (feline Pine maybe?) and we'll see what happens

Food allergies are Common in cats , not as common as dogs but they do exist and hair loss is a known sign ...

what is the kitty eating wet . ... dry ... treats ??/

changed litter brands types

We changed dry food a few months ago to Nutro indoor weight management. The litter was just changed & was the same when this started.

what food did you change from???


what litter did you have before and now???

Originally Posted by sharky

what food did you change from???


what litter did you have before and now???

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Tidy clay/crystals. I just added plain crystals to the clay mixture this week.
The food before was Purina for UTI & whiskes junk. LoL
The can food is still friskies but all seafood.

I would switch the litter back /./// seafood is a BIG allergy

The litter I started this week and he has had this for over a month. The seafood switch will be hard. Molly only eats seafood. I will give that a try. Maybe he is getting too much of it and needs a break.

I don't know if this is the same thing or not, but Noel had the very same symptom, anyway. She's got (in practically the same place) bare patches on her back legs. She's had them for years. The vet didn't see any issue with them, although every once in a great while, she gets rash-like bumps on her back legs where the bare spots are. She's overweight, and while it bugs me for her to have the bare spots, my guess is if it's not bothering her (and it doesn't seem to) and if the vet says it's okay... I guess I should just let it go.

I figured it might just be because she's overweight, and that might be the spot where her legs crease in back...

It never spreads. Actually, it only ever got the little red bumps once, and they didn't seem to bother her either. The bareness doesn't get worse or anything, and it's always the exact same spots, except sometimes it *does* grow hair back.

I don't think Noel's is food related or litter related. We've changed litter and food, and none of it's consistent with anything..not cleaning products, nothing.

If you discover what it is, let me know, because while she seems happy with or without it, it bugs the heck out of me.

I'll see if I can get a picture of her with it, and see if they look the same to anyone else...

Our old 18 yr old cat Chichi had two perfectly round bald spots on each hind leg recently. Except hers started bleeding. Well the vet said that it was probably from sitting too long in the same spot (a hard spot like the floor or window sill) and that its kind of like 'bed sores' a human would get. Not sure how old your cat is or if its even a possibility but just thought I'd throw it out there. She was given some topical cream and it healed up nicely.

Here is some information about allergies....

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...&S=0&C=0&A=664


And here are some pages about over grooming...

http://www.provet.co.uk/Petfacts/hea...excesscats.htm
http://pets.aol.com/articles/petfind...12142809990001
http://www.amcpets.com/resources/library/grooming.php

Originally Posted by Sicycat

Our old 18 yr old cat Chichi had two perfectly round bald spots on each hind leg recently. Except hers started bleeding. Well the vet said that it was probably from sitting too long in the same spot (a hard spot like the floor or window sill) and that its kind of like 'bed sores' a human would get. Not sure how old your cat is or if its even a possibility but just thought I'd throw it out there. She was given some topical cream and it healed up nicely.

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I was thinking about this. Lucky is 8 years old and he always sits for long periods. He is overweight and lazy. When I try to play with him, he just sits and stares. He has been more active with Benson around. I will let you all know when I get him to the vet.