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Pulling his fur out.

post #1 of 9
8/16/09 at 2:55am
Thread Starter 
My 3 year old tends to pull his fur out when he is grooming quite a lot. I can wake up in the morning and there will be tons of fur all over the floor. Sometimes I even have to pull it out of his mouth. It is not a big or important problem, just a question as to why he does this. He is so fury that you can't even tell he has pulled any fur out.
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post #2 of 9
8/16/09 at 3:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chloe3404 View Post
My 3 year old tends to pull his fur out when he is grooming quite a lot. I can wake up in the morning and there will be tons of fur all over the floor. Sometimes I even have to pull it out of his mouth. It is not a big or important problem, just a question as to why he does this. He is so fury that you can't even tell he has pulled any fur out.
Displacement would be one answer. It is a problem. It is not a normal behavior for an animal to pull out its hair like that. Birds will also pull their feathers when stressed. Is your cat stressed out, bored, has something changed in the cats environment?
Is the cat matted and mats are causing pain? How often do you brush? Have you checked for fleas?
This is not something to be taken lightly, it can get very bad very fast.
Also think about all that hair you do not get to that he is swallowing. Not good
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post #3 of 9
8/16/09 at 3:25am
Thread Starter 
No, not at all. He seems perfectly fine. Not a single problem from him ever before. He is very calm and cool. He shouldn't have fleas, he has already had medicine for that earlier this month. He did have some mats in his hair, but we got rid of them and I brush him basically every day. He loves to be brushed. I don't think he swallows the hair he pulls out, it just get stuck on his lips( he doesn't have hands, so he can't pull it out himself of course).
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post #4 of 9
8/16/09 at 5:57am
I agree its not normal for an animal to pull his fur out. You need to discuss it with your vet. He very possibly could have an allergy to something.
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post #5 of 9
8/16/09 at 6:02am
One of my RB kitties, Simon, used to pull his fur out too, but not in clumps, as you've described. I took him to a couple of vets who ruled out anything physical. A visit to the vet is certainly called for.
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post #6 of 9
8/16/09 at 7:38am
I think long haired cats do this more than short haired, though it may just seem that way because there is more hair! My DSH Redman (RIP) pulled his fur out because of allergies. My mixed Siamese has longish hair and is too old to do much grooming herself. She loves for me to brush her and pull out anything that resembles a tangle. When we are finished, we have enough hair to knit a cat sweater.
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post #7 of 9
8/16/09 at 10:00am
Thread Starter 
Yes, that is it. He is very fury and just has way too much hair.
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post #8 of 9
8/16/09 at 10:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pami View Post
I agree its not normal for an animal to pull his fur out. You need to discuss it with your vet. He very possibly could have an allergy to something.
Yes, I forgot to mention allergies in my first reply. Doh!
chloe3404, Have you changed food recently?
It is NOT normal for a cat to pull its fur out, no matter how long the hair.
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post #9 of 9
8/16/09 at 8:22pm
I know a kitty that did that once, he would lick out all the fur on his tail until bald. Turns out it was stress.

Also know a dog that would chew off his hair, poor thing had allergies.

My kitties don't shed at all, I think it's because I feed them this really expensive chicken iams food. They are so soft and shiny. I've had strangers comment on their coats!

I think the other posters are spot on. I would brush him really well, like all loose fur gone! And then look for bald areas or red areas or fleas, then go to bed and see if you wake up to a kitty with a clump of fur in his mouth. If so I'd think he is not just grooming but is pulling out clumps due to stress.

Good luck to you and kitty!
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