Cat pulling his fur out

spiritedaway96 · Jun 25, 2015

For the past few weeks I've been noticing small chunks of fur lying about the house. I assumed he was still shedding his winter coat. A few days ago it suddenly increased to close to a handful of fur and today I spotted my little guy pulling bits of fur off his tail. I checked him out and he has a long bald spot across his tail. I couldn't really tell if there were any more spots elsewhere on him. I checked my other cat however he doesn't have patches and I haven't spotted him pulling out his fur or chunks of his fur around the house. So this gets me thinking my little fur puller is possibly stressed. What is everyone's thoughts on this? Is it stress like I think it is or something else?

I'd like to add that when we adopted him three years ago the store did say he had a history of being stressed, and at the time he was being treated for having stressful behavior.

luckybabycat · Jun 25, 2015

I had an older cat who began pulling his fur from his back. I had him checked by the vet and they never could come up with anything. His housemate had died several months before, so I always wondered if that was it, even tho it had been so long. This habit continued several years, until he died. We had had him since he was a kitten, and he was not a nervous cat. I, like you, thought in the beginning he was just doing his normal shedding. It was embarrassing because it made him look diseased or something but other than the unsightly bald spots he was fine. I do know now that some cats can be allergic to even things like chicken!

mrsgreenjeens · Jun 25, 2015

spiritedaway96 said:
For the past few weeks I've been noticing small chunks of fur lying about the house. I assumed he was still shedding his winter coat. A few days ago it suddenly increased to close to a handful of fur and today I spotted my little guy pulling bits of fur off his tail. I checked him out and he has a long bald spot across his tail. I couldn't really tell if there were any more spots elsewhere on him. I checked my other cat however he doesn't have patches and I haven't spotted him pulling out his fur or chunks of his fur around the house. So this gets me thinking my little fur puller is possibly stressed. What is everyone's thoughts on this? Is it stress like I think it is or something else?

I'd like to add that when we adopted him three years ago the store did say he had a history of being stressed, and at the time he was being treated for having stressful behavior.

It could definitely be stress. Has something changed recently that might be making he stressed? It doesn't take much for a nervous cat

Sometimes just rearranging the furniture can do it. Anyway, if you suspect he's stressed, I would suspect that's your culprit.

Here is an article on dealing with stress (for the cat) http://www.thecatsite.com/a/six-surefire-strategies-to-reduce-stress-in-cats

cats2428 · Jun 26, 2015

I have a sensitive cat that gets stressed out by even the slightest change. My cat had started picking the fur off his tail but I noticed when it started to get really skinny. I realized that he was protesting the change in flavour of his food. I managed to find his favourite at a store further away and in a few days tail was full again. It is the littlest things with cats!

denverwriter22 · Jun 27, 2015

Before you can assume it's a behavior problem, I encourage you to get your kitty to a vet. Many cats who pull out their fur are experiencing an allergic reaction to something. I would get this as well as other medical possibilities checked out first. If your vet doesn't find anything, then I'd implement some stress-reducing techniques.

Good luck!

spiritedaway96 · Jun 30, 2015

Thank you for that link mrsgreenjeens. Looking through the potential stressors link I found in that article I realized it is highly possible it was caused by lack of attention. I started giving him more attention than I've been able to in the past few months and it appears that there is a lot less hair everywhere and I haven't seen him pulling his hair for a few days now.

mrsgreenjeens · Jun 30, 2015

spiritedaway96 said:
Thank you for that link mrsgreenjeens. Looking through the potential stressors link I found in that article I realized it is highly possible it was caused by lack of attention. I started giving him more attention than I've been able to in the past few months and it appears that there is a lot less hair everywhere and I haven't seen him pulling his hair for a few days now.

Ahhhh, that makes me feel good, and you too, I'm sure, and of course,your furbaby

Cat pulling his fur out

spiritedaway96

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luckybabycat

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mrsgreenjeens

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cats2428

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spiritedaway96

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mrsgreenjeens

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