What's wrong w/this kitty?

Hi all,

There's a neutered black & white male cat who shows up from time to time and I feed him on my porch.  Supposedly he belongs to one of the folks on one of the streets parallel to mine - obviously they cared enough to neuter him (if they didn't get him that way).   I don't know who is owner is, so I can't ask them about this.

I was concerned when I saw him maybe a month ago, it looked like he was losing hair.  I usually see him a couple times a week, and I kept looking to see if he was getting any better.  My hubby & I saw him again last night, and it's undeniable that it's not  getting any better, in fact, he looks like he's lost a lot more hair.   I've done some reading about some possible causes for hair loss:  mange, parasites, flea dermatitis, allergies, stress, etc.    I know he needs vet care, but can anyone wager a guess from these photos what the most likely culprit is?  I tried to get some close up of his skin - his skin looks fine, no spots or sores, so that makes me think it's not mange or fleas.   I would bring him inside, but I don't want what he's got to infect our cats in case he is contagious with something.  I want to bring him to the vet, but I haven't been able to ascertain exactly who his owners are - just what street they live on........poor little fella!  I hope they bring him in when it's cold at night 

That definitely needs to be checked out by a vet.  I wish I could tell you how to find his owners, but you could always take him in to the vet and see if he's chipped.  If so, they could contact the owners.

Yeah....unfortunately my super nice & cheap vet closed his practice.   I'm emailing him these pics right now to see if he can make a guess as to what this is.   At least tell maybe he can tell me whether or not it could be contagious -  if it's not, I'll bring the cat inside overnight (if I can find him outside tonight) and take him into a vet office.   Just need to know what I'm dealing with beforehand, as time & money is real tight this week!  I can help him out if he just needs some medicines, but if it's going to be several hundred dollars worth of procedures, I just can't make that work right now....but I do want to help him out.   However, I really can't handle this fur plague if it happens to infect my own cats - I haven't touched that cats hairless spots, just rubbed his head (and I washed my hands off right afterwards!)  Even if he is technically owned, whoever owns him obviously doesn't care, so I wouldn't feel bad in the slightest about taking the cat to a rescue or something.

Wow, that reminds me of when Sara used to pull her hair out. Her entire back-end was like that, as well as any other part of her body she could reach (like her front paws). We never did find out the "why" part because I didn't take her to the vet back then (argh!) but eventually she stopped doing it.

With that said, yeah, definitely get the vet's take on it.

Donutte said:

Wow, that reminds me of when Sara used to pull her hair out. Her entire back-end was like that, as well as any other part of her body she could reach (like her front paws). We never did find out the "why" part because I didn't take her to the vet back then (argh!) but eventually she stopped doing it.

With that said, yeah, definitely get the vet's take on it.

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Hmm, it never occurred to me that  he might be pulling his own fur out - that's entirely possible.   When my hubby saw him a couple weeks ago, he said it looked like somebody took a pair of clippers to him, so that's just what we assumed happened to him - it looked like someone clipped him, and you can see where some fur is starting to grow back in.   But last night, it was undeniable that it has gotten even worse.   I wish I coulda got a picture of his backside - it is totally bare, you can see his whole hind end & butthole naked in the wind!  But his skin doesn't look red or irritated - no visible bites or sores that I can see.   It's really odd.  I emailed my old vet these pics so I'm going to wait & get his opinion on it.   I'd love to help this cat - he feels like an old friend, he's been swinging by the house a few times a week ever since we moved in back in 2013.   But my main concern with helping him (aside from the $$) is that he will spread this infection - if it is even an infection at all.......I just don't know!  

Definitely a good idea. Yeah, Sara pulled almost all of her hair out. Way more than what you see here, but it was patchy (like in your pics) before it got really bad. I called her my neurotic little kitty. I think she may have had thyroid issues even when she was younger, in hindsight. Not sure if that would have had anything to do with her pulling her hair out though.

Let us know what your vet says.

Poor cat.

I say&nbsp forget the owners..  Take that kitty to the vet.  And you know that they don't let him in the house when it's cold!