Rough spots on back of hind legs. Normal?

Hi all! I adopted my handsome man, Toby, about 3 weeks ago. The shelter I rescued him from estimated that he's about 3 or 4 years old. 100% indoor. He's already been to the vet for an initial checkup about two weeks ago and everything was normal. Just noticed tonight that he has a patch on the back of each hind leg where the fur is gone and the skin seems rough and dry. I'm a first time cat owner so I have no idea if this is normal or if there's any cause for concern Any thoughts? Thanks!

Welcome to TCS! No, those patches aren't normal and aren't in a spot where you'd expect stress-related overgrooming. It's best to have your vet take a look.

Thank You!

No it's certainly not normal but my Mogi has similar patches on both hind legs. Mogi, 4 weeks old was discovered almost 10 years ago badly injured in a rubbish container. "He" was taken to a TA who was expected to euthanize him. Fortunately, the TA recognized Mogi's will to live and cleaned up his wounds all around his hindquarters and back legs and 4 weeks later I took him home. His back legs were a mess and most of the fur was missing. Nobody could tell me whether or not the fur would grow again so I was preparing myself to face the fact that I may have taken on a cat which would always have a bare bottom! Although he once allowed me to tend his wounds he hated being touched anywhere near his back legs. It was probably not surprising that the TA, the shelter and I all missed the fact that he was in fact a she. I suspected something so told the TA 9 months later to spay or castrate as appropriate.

Well, most of Mogi's fur grew back except for the 2 patches. She's a lovely cat but very shy of strangers and refuses to go outside the house. I still refer to her sometimes as "he" and she still refuses to let me examine her back legs, so I can't say whether or not the skin is dry. No TA has commented on her disfigurement and I don't notice it any more. I can well imagine that she was tortured before being discarded  - it could hardly have been an accident.

So perhaps your new cat has had some traumatic experience before reaching the shelter. It seems a strange place for a cat to get ringworm - and on both legs at the same place. No, I don`t think it's that. So I can only second jcat.

jcat said:

Welcome to TCS! No, those patches aren't normal and aren't in a spot where you'd expect stress-related overgrooming. It's best to have your vet take a look.

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I don't think it's serious but better to get your vet to have a look at it next time you go. Let us know what he says.

Thanks for sharing I'll be sure to update when I take him.