Please help! My cats fur is falling out.

This is my cat Millie, she has been losing her fur for the last few months. At first it was just her lower back but over the last month it has been almost all over her. We have taken her to the vet twice but no luck. The first said stress, but this wasn't the case. The second time they said she was allergic to fleas but we solved that and she is just getting worse. If anyone has any ideas it would be much appreciated! We are really worried. 

Welcome to TCS! I'm sorry Millie and you are going through this. I hope you may be able to get some tips here from experienced cat owners, or at least some support from all of us until you find answers.

Poor Millie. Does she scratch the fur off or does it just fall off on its own? Has any of the vets taken a sample to check for microscopic parasites? You mentioned the second vet said this was flea allergy - did he/she say why they thought that was the issue? Also, has Millie been free of fleas ever since? Assuming she had fleas at some point, did you see any improvement when you got rid of the fleas?

What about food allergies? Has any of the vets looked into those? I know some food allergies can be manifested in the form of skin issues in cats. It could also be an environmental allergy, doesn't necessarily have to be food, but just in case, what is she eating?

I'm not a vet and not trying to diagnose Millie, just throwing some ideas and wondering how thoroughly they were checked by the vets? Maybe they can refer you to a local pet dermatologist? 

Looks almost like mange. Could also be ringworm, though the ringworm I've seen is never that bad. I would take her to a different vet for a second opinion.

Please be aware that just one flea bite can irritate an animal with flea allergies. Even if she is no longer infested.

 I am so sorry, I wish I could help you but I have no experience about cats fur falling  this must be uncomfortable for her, hope others would give you advice, poor (((Millie)))

Ringworm this severe would have been immediately obvious to any vet, so I think it's highly unlikely.

Has Millie's behaviour changed at all, or has she lost weight? I'm wondering whether she might have hyperthyroidism. It's a bit of a long shot, but might be worth discussing with your vet - especially if she's drinking and peeing a lot more than she used to and if she's eating loads but losing weight. A blood test is all it takes to diagnose, so it's not a hideously expensive process either.

A blood test might be a good idea anyway if you're no further forward soon - just to rule out any internal cause.

Hi, 

Thanks for all the replies and all the questions too! I really hope we can get to the bottom of it.

Firstly to Anne. She doesn't scratch it out but she may be over grooming, we aren't really sure, we think it just falls out on its own. Vet has checked for micro parasites and no problem there. Vet didn't mention why they thought fleas were the issue just that she guessed it could be, she now is flea free as we keep on top of that very well and it doesn't seem to of helped. We will suggest food allergies to the vet as we will have to take her in if we can't help her ourselves, it is a good point though. She is eating just normal cat food from the super market now and just supermarket biscuits too. Was on kitten meat and biscuits but is one year old now. 

Dovah- vet checked for mange and ringworm but said she doesn't have those things. 

Columbine- She is such a lovely cat and friendly to all, no change in behaviour but was a real fatty as a kitten and has seem to have lost a bit of weight in the last month so hyperthyroidism might be worth checking out. 

Thanks again and if anyone else has any advice we would love to help her if we can! 

Hi Saraht3, I had a cat named Autumn several years ago that used to overgroom herself and that is how she kept losing hair. The vet put her on prozoc (a very low dose) and it calmed her enough she stopped and her hair grew back.

In 2012 I had a stroke developed epilepsy and had my thyroid removed from cancer all in the same year. They found they thyroid probroblem due to the stroke. Anyway something that normally makes you hypothyroid is causing hyperthyroidism in me and I am losing hair.  I may not be a cat but what I am trying to say is have her:  TSH, T4, T3 levels checked to see if she is ok. The thyroid controls EVERY organ in our and all animals bodies. I take replacement therapy daily and you would never believe I was on to much! I have no thyroid and they have to watch me carefully to not put me on to much because of the way my body acts it wants to give me Graves Disease.   LOL   We all have our lot in life.  

Hi Saraht3,

What kind of food are you feeding her? As Columbine suggested, hyperthyroidism could be a cause.  I have hypothyroidism myself and have read articles that say grain damages the thyroid.  That's why I asked what you are feeding your kitty.  Cats don't need grain.  (Turns out I don't either, I've never tolerated it well, it's always caused me heartburn and bloating.)  I've said this on other threads before.  When Nat started having seizures and I was at a total loss what to do, and the vets couldn't determine what caused them, I began feeding them grain-free kibble and continued feeding them canned food (it has a small amount grain in that).  It may have helped Nat some, but the seizures didn't go away until I got him on oral phenobarb.  Then I noticed that Oreo's skin condition cleared up!  I hadn't even expected that, but I noticed Oreo used to have what seemed like seasonal allergies.  He'd start grooming all the time, scratching more like, and developed numerous oozing scabs on his back and chest.  He'd have those scabs about 6 months out of the year.  Then they'd go away for a while and then come back again.  Now it's been over a year and those "seasonal" allergies haven't reappeared, and I do believe it was since I started feeding grain-free kibble.  That was the only change I made.  Oreo LOVES his kibble and being an alpha cat, he always got most of the kibble as soon as I put it out.  Now I use the grain-free low-carb kibble and use it sparingly as I'd like him to lose some weight.