Fur Loss

All of our cats are healthy, happy, playful, and eat/drink normally. The only problem is Tyran. She's 3.5 years old and has been very healthy so far. Recently (over the past few months), we've noticed some fur loss on the inside of her back legs. At first we thought it was a food allergy and since we were switching their brand anyway, figured it would go away, and for a while it did. The fur started coming back and all was well. Then it started up again and this time has spread to her lower belly, the underside of her tail and now her front legs. My mother in law says it could be stress and she might be over-grooming herself to the point her fur is coming out. Right now, because of our living situation, the cats are confined to the master bedroom and the attic. We are moving this month (hopefully before Christmas) and the cats will have the run of the house again. Could being kept in such a small place be stressing her out to the point she's grooming her fur off? Or is it something else that I need to take her to the doctor for.

We are having a bit of a flea problem. We used to not have to keep the cats on flea meds just as long as the dog was on flea meds because he's the only one that goes outside. But my mother in law's cats are not on flea meds and they go outside. That, mixed with the fact we missed a dose of flea meds on the dog, we now have fleas and are trying to get rid of them. Could this be a cause of her fur loss? None of the other cats are exhibiting this symptom.

Yes Fleas can cause fur lose in a sensitive cat

I have one that has issues with flea and mosquito bites. At one point she had almost no hair on her inner thighs and part of her belly. Her fur has grown back completely.

Is there any redness in these areas? If so you'll need a vet to help you get that under control. If there's no redness, you may be able to get her better by keeping everyone treated with a flea preventative. Do talk to your vet, though.

However, there's one really big problem that a flea preventative doesn't help with. All it takes is a hitch hiking flea and one bite (the flea would still die later). Right now you need to get the fleas controlled in the home (lots of past threads on this in the care and grooming section) and since it's winter hope that there won't be many more brought in.
Add regular flea combing for everyone + visual inspection a couple times a week. It's bonding time, so it's not that much effort.

There is no redness in the area, just fur loss. I caught her grooming her front legs this morning and she was really into it, like she just couldn't groom the spot enough.

My guess would be flea allergy. My Cinders got exactly the pattern of fur loss you are talking about last summer when we had a flea infestation, and though I never found a flea or a bite on her, she pulled her fur out on her legs, tail and belly. Unfortunately she also has an allergy to most flea treatments, so it was difficult to know what to do. But by keeping her isolated and trying various treatments more on her bedding than on her, it all went away and has not recurred. She is now fully recovered.

Hmm, I will definitely do some flea treatments then, both to the area and to them. None of my kitties have allergies to flea meds, that we have observed, so I might get them something soon. Definitely before we move. I can't right now as we just had to take our ferret to the vet (she passed away this morning) and all of our pet money for the month went right into her vet bill so as soon as we have the money, I'm getting flea meds for everyone. Thanks for the help.

I'm sorry that you lost your ferret.

Look up and go to the advantage site. Bayer seems to be doing a promotional deal right now where you can get a free tube when you go to buy any advantage. Check other brands and see if they're doing anything.
One tube of a flea treatment usually costs $10-12, so that's a pretty nice promo.

Have you changed the cat litter recently? Many years ago I had exactly the same problem with Polkie. It turned out that he had a severe allergy to this new litter I tried for a few months. The kind that looked like little plastic balls. After I swtiched it back to "normal" litter the problem cleared up really quickly. At one point the poor baby was bald on all four paws and belly and it was my vet that suggested that the litter could be the culprit...