Cat Pulling its Hair Out

Our four year old male cat started pulling its hair out in clumps about a month ago. We took him to the vet and the vet couldn't find any reason for this. The vet gave him a bath, but the cat still does it. He licks and licks one particular spot for a couple of minutes and then simply bites the matted hair a pulls it out by the clump. He never used to do that before. He has a sinus problem, but has always had that, so there is nothing I can point to that has changed in his environment. He winds up giving himself bald spots on his back and sides, which then start growing back, but he keeps pulling hair out. Any ideas on what I can do?

If the cat is overweight it could have to do with that.

Has anything changed recently in his environment? It could be stress. Has his food been changed? It could also be food allergies.

Is his skin irritated at all? How about a flea allergy--have you checked to be sure he doesn't have any fleas?

Thanks for the advice. It isn't weight. If anything, he is a little too lean, but always has been. The type of litter was changed, so maybe that has been upsetting him. The vet had checked him for fleas and he was clean.

Did the Vet check for an anual gland problem?
Years ago our cat Maggie started to pull clumps of her out of her back we took her to the Vet and it turned out that her anual gland was blocked..once in was unblocked she stopped pulling her hair out.

The Vet told us that most cats will scoot their butts across the floor when the gland becomes blocked, but some will bite at their back and pull out their hair in an attempt to unblock the gland.

That's often an allergy problem and the vet really should look into it (though considering it didn't occur to her/him, I'd think about going somewhere else).

A lot of times it's stress. But you might try:

http://www.gardensalive.com/product....cd2=1192745284

and check his food for a lot of grains, especially corn. Try him on more canned and see if things get better.

If he has an upset tummy, they sometimes manifest by biting where the pain is. Did they do a stool sample?

Hi
I know what your going through. My 4 year old tom pulls his hair out. After the all clear from the vet. It was decided it was stress related. There is a bully cat that comes into our house and eats his food. I have two other cats that just hide from it. I have a magneted cat flap, which lets anyone in.

This is the second time he has done this. The first was due to a new lodger moving in. I bought a feliway plug in. This to my suprise worked. After 1 month of using it he had stopped doing it. They can get upset by the smallest of things such as moving furniture. Try keeping your cat in for a while and definatley try Feliway.

Thanks for all of your suggestions on this. The vet was not able to find anything wrong when we first brought our cat in, but the poor cat kept pulling his fur out. We brought him back in and it was finally diagnosed as a fungal infection in the base of the fur. We are treating him with special medicated shampoo and, although he doesn't enjoy getting a bath, it seems to be really helping.

I'm so glad that your Vet was able to find out what's wrong with your boy and he's now getting better.

I am curious as to how they diagnosed the fungal infection. Was there anything noticeable on the cat's skin? I have one that has been pulling his hair out for well over a year. I have changed my cat's food to a limited ingredient diet, and he has slowed down, but not stopped. I don't want to waste money going to the vet for them to say there's nothing wrong with him. He's a good weight, and healthy in all other regards.