Do cats shed when stressed?

Whenever I take my two to the vet - they shed like mad - but never at home really. I do brush them (although prolly not as often as I should). They are both short hairs.

What do you guys think?

mine do the same thing and my vet said they do that because
they are scared and nervous

Yep- quite common for cats to shed when stressed. They call it stress shedding, and it is why after you see a full-on cat fight, you can see a pile of hair from both the combatants.

Yep, every cat I have ever taken to the vet leaves me with a shirtful of hair

Yeah. Especially in the car. Or when being handled at cat shows for me!

Absolutely - I usually wind up sitting a whole mouthful with Loki and he also a short hair!!!

In a word....

POOF!!!!!

My old female before I got Toes used to get so stressed out it was like she had control of every hair follicle and you'd swear she'd let go of all her hair (although looking at her you knew better, you were just breathing a wall of fur though). You could literally see a cloud around her when she got stressed. This was going to the vet or even the first day of a long move.

I'm glad I read this thread! I didn't know this! Now I know why the pet carrier has big chuncks of fur in it when we get home. And why I find big tufts of fur around the living room when Henrietta and Carmella violently chase each other around hissing and growling!

Indeed cats can get stressed out going to the vet - so do people going to doctor's appointments. (Who can blame them.)

Mine used to shed alot going to the vets when I first got them but since they have been going there alot over the year and a half the shedded had settles a little.

I haven't done anything to try and stop it either (though I do spray their carriers with Feliway before they go in). *Shrugs*. Though I still get some fur from Kuce when she sees the vet more than Sphinx (Then he's been in more for his health problems). They settle down once in the car and back home.