My 5 year old black cat is pulling his hair out! HELP..

I have a 5 year old black cat with white belly marks. So he is not completely all black. About 2 maybe 3 weeks ago I noticed he started excessively grooming himself non-stop. I also notice chunks of hair laying around. It is only getting worse. Now he has a raw spot close to his tail on his back. He has pulled almost all of the hair off of his lower stomach, inside his back legs too.

I am thinking maybe he is stressed out because we moved recently about 6 months ago. Or could it possibly be fleas? Then again it could be an allergic reaction to diet change too. I am thinking a combination of all. Can someone please help! I am stressing over this big time. I am hoping I can have some suggestions without taking him to the vet. If I need to take him, I will. Thanks so much..

I really do think you need to have him seen by a vet, and sooner rather than later. This could easily be related to fleas or some sort of allergy that can be cleared up with medication. But, it can also be a sign of stress pulling. If that's the case, there is no easy fix, but certainly things you can do to try and lessen his stress and get him back to a comfortable place. 

But, all that work will be for nothing if it's a legitimate medical condition. So, have him checked out and see what the vet says. If he believes it's behavioral get whatever advice they have and then come back here. Many people have experience with behavioral stress pulling but you aren't quite there yet, and I don't want you to be overwhelmed with advice that you may not need. 

 Vibes that it's something easily treatable! 

Yes, see a vet. I could be several things and its impossible for you to really tell without the vet looking at the kitty. It could be stress, but it could be other things which need correction if there is something wrong.

My male cat started doing that at about 8 years old and it turned out he had developed food allergies. We had to feed him a special vet-prescribed cat food (made of pure rabbit meat and pea) as we tried every over the counter allergy food and it didn't work.

My 14 month old kitty did the same exact thing when we adopted her (itching, fur loss, small red scaly bumps under skin) and it turned out she had fleas and a tapeworm. She had contracted it from the nasty, neglectful foster home we got her from. They gave her two pills and topical medication and said that should take care of it (still undergoing meds right now). If you have other cats and its fleas, you will have to treat them as well unless the kitten has been isolated from the other cats.'

Good luck!

My 9 yr old cat Bruce has been pulling his hair out. He is a rescue and now loves being an indoor cat and not being beat up on by dogs. He is healthy has had surgery last year for abscess teeth and a lump removed. When I got him he was declawed and bad breath from his teeth. He has no flee issues and has to eat canned food due to his missing teeth. I paid over $1000 for his vet bill. The lady that gave him to me said she would have put him down [emoji]128544[/emoji] this upsets me. She also claimed she kept him shaved due to him pulling hair out. He has arthritis and takes meds for it. Does anyone have advise to help my kitty?

I think there is some sort of anxiety issue going on there.  Unfortunately, once this cycle starts, it only gets worse until you get to the root cause.  I would strongly advise taking the cat to the Vet.

Years ago I had an all white female cat who began licking all the hair off her belly and inside legs after she was spayed.  I took her to the Vet who determined it was an irritation reaction to the spaying.  She was put on a steroid which halted  the licking.  All the hair grew back and stayed that way.  No more licking.  She had to be on a low dose steroid all her life, but she was healthy and lived to 15

Definitely, please take him to the vets. Before you think of all the bad things it could be, it may well be fleas. All it takes is one rider to come into your home on your clothes or if he is allowed out doors, he could most easily have picked it up there. In any case, if it is fleas, you'll need to treat him with proper meds. The OTC stuff doesn't work, don't waste your $$. If he has fleas, ask the vet the safest way to treat your home & soft furnishings that won't have harmful chemicals. Please let us know what happens.

My shelter cat came with fleas and flea bite dermatitis and he had pulled out all his hair on his backend, while trying to itch. So I understand how worrisome even something so simple be.