I am so worried - Pollýanna is loosing her fur!

Yesterday I noticed that Pollýanna was allmost bold on the lowest part of her tummy, like she had been shaved and it was starting to grow, just a little bit, all the long hair were gone (she is short hair, I mean the hair in her usual full length). The bold spot was also down her right thigh and all the way down to her heel.
Today the other foot is also getting bold, all the way down to her heal.

I am so worried for her. She is so my special girl, and I am so worried something will happen to her, she has had her bit of poor health.

Does any of you know this problem???

Hve you changed anything? Food? Litter? My mom's cat, Jasmine, once lost her hair. We took her to the vet and he said it was some kind of skin allergy. Gave her a shot and we used cortisone. I hope this helps! Good luck to little Pollyanna

Nobb, nothing new,same food, same litter, same plants...
She is 7 years old and this has never happened before, that´s why I´m worried this might be something really bad.

Can you take her to the vet?

I tried phoning the vet twice today, but they were busy with "patiences". So I will phone again tomorrow, they have "phone hour" between 9 and 10, so maybe they tell me to bring her in.

Sometimes cats 'overgroom' themselves when stressed or sick, and will actuall lick off their own hair. The belly and inner thighs are where they do it the most. Any major changes in your life lately that could have upset her??

My cat's tummy is bald also, as well as the insides of her hind legs. She was like that when I adopted her a couple of months ago. The vet did every test possible (mites, fleas, bladder infection, etc) and decided it's probably a psychological disorder called psychogenic acropecia. I guess it's like an anxiety disorder that can be caused by a number of things. They can prescribe medication for it too.

However, she had a dental cleaning last week, and now I've noticed that her hair is starting to grow back. She had some gingivitis, so I'm wondering if she had been stressed out because her mouth was bothering her. I'm totally speculating though since I couldn't possibly know what's going through her head

I'm sure your vet will be able to offer some suggestions. It cost me about $100 to have all of the tests done. Good luck to you and your kitty!

There is nothing I can think of, really. My son sometimes gets over excited over the cats, but that´s nothing new, he is 16 months old and usually they are out of his reach.
The last days there has been a lot of very strong wind, that might be scary for her, but that happens every now and then.
Those are the biggest stress factors I can think of now, maybe she is more volnarable now and those things are really getting to her.

I'm not sure if this is gonna be much of a help but meow loses her fur at times and sometimes it could be due to her diet like things that she picks up from the floor to eat or things that we give her contain a bit too much of sodium(salt) so she loses a bit here and there.. otherwise, it could be that we are constantly not at home or her cat litter is shifted that is stressing her..

The stress can be due to Pollyanna not feeling well, and not being able to show it to you. My black cat, Ferdy has stress attacks whereby he overgrooms and looses fur (a bald, black cat is a funny sight . . .), but I know it is when his ear infections are bothering him the most. I also know it is a sign that I need to get his medication upped.

I would check your cat out with the vet for some less-obvious sign of ill-health.

I dont want to be a scare monger or anything but the same happened to
a cat of mine. Effie was a tortie and started to lose her hair from her tummy and legs. She was okay in herself but this hair loss kept going. The vet could find nothing wrong but she ended up with nearly no fur at all until they finally tld me she had a tumour. I had never seen this before and neither had the vet I took her to. It was only because the head vet called in that I found oout. I was devestated. I hope this is not what is wrong with yours but please go to the vet for a check up - good luck - wishing you well
tulip

An update on the hairloss.

Earlyer, I had spoken to the vet on the phone, and she told me it could be some allergic reactions or number of other things, and I could take Pollýanna to her when I wanted, or wait a while to see if it would get better. I waited a while, and it didn´t seem to be getting better.
A week and a half ago, we went to the vet. Her first quess was that this was something to do with hormones, and gave her some hormone shot, and a thing on her head to brake the cycle of eating her hair.
Pollýanna has been very grouchy with the thing on her head, but the hair seems to ge growing back, in some places, she might still be eating it where she can reach it.
I am supposed to check in with the vet after a while, and then she will determine if she needs to take a skin test, or a blood test or what, based on the recovery at that time.

Hi Everybody,

I'm new here. I was looking up info on anal glands for one of my kitties and I found this site. It's so amazing. You all love your kitties as much as I love mine. I have three--Emily, Annie and Lily.

We had this same problem with Emily. She took out so much of her hair-clumps at a time. She gave herself a mohawk--took it out on both sides of her back. About a month or so ago, we brought her to the vet and he kept her there for a few hours. He gave her a medicated bath and a cortisone shot and she's like a brand new kitty again. It was probably an allergy to something and the cortisone helped calm that down. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Sharon

Did you do any cleaning in your house with new detergents? These can often cause an allergic reaction. New laundry soaps, had your carpet cleaned, new anything?

My Stumpy started losing his hair from his mid-section to his tail when he was close to 3. In spite of many tests, it did not clear up until our dog passed away last January. We discovered that he was either allergic to the dog, or something that the dog brought in on her coat when she went outside. This is stretch idea, but Stumpy didn't develop his allergies until he was a bit older.

Poor Pollyanna!! Positive vibes are coming her way from Kansas City!!

My little Missy was doing the same thing--and I did NOT see it until I picked her up and she was lying on her back, on my lap. (She usually likes to lie on her stomach ALL the time, so I don't often see her stomach, like this) Anyway, like poster; Jennyjen, my Missy kitty had a real problem with her teeth, and they were bad (in the back of her mouth). I brought her to the Vets(stress #1!!!) and he pulled a loose canine tooth, and scheduled her for a big tooth cleaning. She had that, AND another tooth pulled, and then became VERY, VERY ill with a post operative infection. She is FINALLY feeling better, and has a new Vet too! I noticed yesterday, that her fur IS growing back now. I am CONVINCED it was because her poor little mouth was in so much pain, and since she got her teeth worked on, is feeling a lot better!! So you might want to check your Pollyanna's teeth and see how they look, as cats do not really let you see their back teeth very much. They could be getting bad, little by little. My new Vet said her teeth were probably hurting her for a year, before she got them worked on. He also said, that sometimes, their teeth "pit", before they get cavities, and the pitting in the enamel of their teeth, can cause a nerve-type pain (UGH!!! ) Hope Pollyanna feels better real soon!

I was on the site this time for the same problem with one of my cats, Panther.

He started losing his fur in the Spring, on his tummy and thighs.

At the time I'd used 1/ A new anti flea and tick product. 2/ His mum (although he is adult, they spent lots of time together) had disappeared, and his brother, more adventurous, was often out and about. 3/ There was a big aggressive tom that came into the garden looking for a fight, and he was terrified of him. 4/ It was the normal molting season, but he was a bit excessive, nearly bald.

So there were quite a few facts that could have caused it.

However I found his Mum, as she was tattooed when she was spayed, but she was in the town, 30kms away, hurt from fighting, skinny, and filthy. How ever, as mysterious as it was, I got her back at a vets, and she's cured and fattened.

Come Summer his fur regrew, and he was a short haired cat any how, but it seemed a bit thin.

I didn't use the new flea stuff again, and he seemed happy, furry enough, but smaller than his brother, although they'd been the same size up till this year. They're now over 2 years old.

Now that Autumn is here he's started getting almost hairless patches again. He's cuddled, eats well, and there are nearly no aggressive cats around here now. No flea products, no food change, etc. so I really don't know why its happening again.

He does wash and lick himself quite a lot, but not really more than the others.

The only change is a group of 4 kittens, but he washes, sleeps with and seems to get on well with them.

I don't know why he's losing fur again, and I already am saving up to get at least the 2 female kittens spayed at 6 months, as money's not easy.

I did have a dog who, when young, got eczema, and a friend suggested Saponarium homeopathic treatments for 3 weeks, after which he never had any eczema again (surprise...I thought homeopathy was psychosmatic!)

Has any one ever tried homeopathic doses of Saponarium on cats?

Or any other suggestions, as I do want to avoid cortisone based treatments, and as I said, I'm a bit short on money for a vet visit, but if I can't do any thing else I'll obviously go to see mine.

P.S. He has no sores, no mouth problems, and, although slightly dry, his skin is perfectly healthy, to look at, any how.

My kitty Mittens had the same problem and she ended up having hyperthyroidism. She was also 7 at the time which is kind of young for hyperT but a friend at work described that her hyperT cat had the same issue which is why I tested her. Luckily she had no other serious health problems so I opted for radio iodine treatment which cured her. If her issue continues I would speak to the vet about possibly testing for this. Good luck with her.