Oliver's whiskers falling out..all of them

So the first time this happened, I thought my boyfriend's son cut them just to be ornery..although I doubted it, and I questioned HOW he could have cut them beneath the surface of the skin, because as they grew in they resembled tiny white freckles.

After about 3 weeks, not only have they barely grown at ALL, they're gone AGAIN. Completely totally gone...not even a speck of white sticking out. No one is pulling them, cutting them, etc...They weren't long enough this time for him to pull out himself??? He's eating Science Diet kitten dry now..off the prescription food completely.

What could be happening to his pretty white whiskers? Not only do I know he NEEDS them, but he looks awfully sillly w/o his whiskers.

Loss of the whiskers can be a sign of ill health or failing health.
Remember that individual shafts are dead, with the live part being under the skin. It could be that the whiskers were just brittle due to the previous health issues and therefore prone to breaking off.
Or there could be something else going on.
I would set up a vet visit.

Agreed with Mom of 4. It could definitely be a sign of bad health.

I'd set up a vet visit.

Also, Science Diet is a very low quality food.. you'd have to search hard to find many that are worse.

Originally Posted by noludoru

Agreed with Mom of 4. It could definitely be a sign of bad health.

I'd set up a vet visit.

Also, Science Diet is a very low quality food.. you'd have to search hard to find many that are worse.

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Ahh, great. That is what BOTH vets he saw recommended I give him.

What would be a better choice for a 9-week old kitten? I'll call the vet tomorrow as I'm also concerned about his very thin fur. His fur doesn't look unhealthy...and it's smooth, soft and shiny, but it's VERY thin....we have another kitten and her fur is so thick that she almost makes him look bald.

I have never heard of this, definatly something is wrond in his body or he would have his whiskers. I would definatly have the vet run some tests!

The thin fur/falling out whiskers definately make me think of poor health. I'd check him over yourself...do you see any discoloration of the skin? anything in his ears? are his eyes clear? any missing hair patches? etc. Then you have things to ask the vet...

So much wonderful advice already.
I'd definitely switch your baby off of Science Diet (gradually) to a better food.
I would not trust petfooddirect ingredient lists as I found most of them out-dated.
Product websites are probably your best bet to compare foods.
California Natural which has already been mentioned is a great food.

[font= "Comic Sans MS"]As somebody already mentioned, this may be a sign of failing health. Look up a really good vet in your area and set up an appointment for him. I don't know why vets always recommend Science Diet... it's so low quality! Nutro is a great food with a decent price and can be found at chain petstores such as PetCo and PetSmart. I highly recommend it, as you don't have to order and it's very nice quality, especially for those of us on a budget. I think Sharky feeds this, actually. If you are willing to spend the money, there's Orijen, Innova, and Chicken Soup, all of these are are really good. I would suggest feeding some wet as well... as long as you have a good/high quality dry, you can feed almost any wet, as long as it's wet! There's something called Natural Life that is available at my Wal-Mart for a good price, and it has great ingredients. You can also feed Nutro wet; both NL and Nutro are excellent, especially for the price and they are available to me locally. You can also feed brands such as Iams, Friskies, Fancy Feast, and Meow Mix, the latter is pretty good, except it's fishy. Again, if you are willing to order and spend the money, for wet there is California Natural, Merricks, and Eagle Pack. But I would take your kitty to the vet and have him checked out, and switch from Science Diet to something better quality. [/font]

I agree that Science Diet is not good food and that vets shouldn't be suggesting it unless your kitty has special needs/diet.

A nine week old kitten should really be on kitten food. There are also some foods that are all life stages but I personally would feed a kitten formula to ensure the kitten got the extra calories and good stuff it needs for it's rapid growing phases. There have been some wonderful suggestions. The only ones I disagree with are Fancy Feast, Friskies and Meow Mix - these aren't especially good foods IMO.

A wet food diet is a healthier diet for your cat. We feed mostly wet (Merrick) with Orijen dry (just started the Orijen a few days ago since Bijou was getting to be much too pudgy). I've noticed they are eating less of the Orijen and don't seem to be hungry or starving and begging for food, so obviously they are getting enough nutrition to satisfy them.

Now, having said all that, I have to agree that there is something going on with your kitty if he's losing his whiskers and his fur isn't nice and thick. A vet visit is definitely in order.

It sounds like your kitty has some kind of feline alopecia (basically hairloss). There are lots of different causes, including a genetic (hereditary) condition, so I would work with your vet to see if you can find a source.

http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=195 (table of possible causes and symptoms)
http://www.bsava.com/VirtualContent/85340/derm_ch10.pdf (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader and is pretty technical)