No hair regrowth after spaying & other hair loss spots

I have a 1yr 4mo. old cat who has not regrown her belly hair since she was spayed back in May. And lately she has also lost hair in a couple half dollar size spots on one side. I know for a fact, one spot happened overnight. She's also missing hair underneath one front leg as well. These spots are not completely hairless, there is still slight fuzz in the areas.

I've seen and had ringworm myself in the past and that's not what this is. (Plus, my 2 other cats show no signs of hair loss.) There is no scaliness, no redness, no bumps or lesions. I'm around her quite often and I never see her over clean/lick herself either. Her temperature is 101.1F, which, from what I've read, is normal. And her behavior doesn't show any signs that she's not feeling well.

I'm wondering if these spots and her belly could be from spaying. Would they have given her shots just above the hip on her side, or near her front armpit? Could the antiseptic they used on the injection sites and her belly cause an allergic reaction in her? But, then why would she be losing hair now, several months after the spaying?

Does anyone have any ideas as to what's going on here?

Thank you!
Lauren & Chewy

Please take her to the vet ...

Was planning on it as soon as I had enough $. Working at PetSmart doesn't pay all that well and they're vet discount isn't much a discount. I was just hoping to get some information until I could take her in.

Thank you,
Lauren

Originally Posted by gojackets

Was planning on it as soon as I had enough $. Working at PetSmart doesn't pay all that well and they're vet discount isn't much a discount. I was just hoping to get some information until I could take her in.

Thank you,
Lauren

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What would you do if you had an emergency with your cat?? You wouldn't be able to wait to accumulate money.

While the hair loss on her sides could be alopecia or flea bite dermatitis, it IS of concern that coat is not growing back in on her stomach at all since a spay which took place three months ago. This might be signs of an autoimmune disease.

In the case of the first two, she would probably be given shots of cortisone and, if flea bite dermatitis, you would have to control the fleas (which, of course, you should be doing anyway). However, you should be ruling out other possibilities, and that requires a vet. If nothing else, you should be able to call the vet who spayed your female and discuss with him or her the hair loss and he or she should be willing to at least give you some advice over the phone for free.

Barb Amalfi

Barb Amalfi

You really should take your cat to the vet. Alot of vets will make arrangements with you regarding payment. If yours doesn't, go elsewhere for now. Its better to see any vet the sooner the better.

Thank you for the response.

The problem shouldn't be flea dermatitis since I did spent $50 well over a month ago on Advantage for all 3 of my cats. That was a surprise in it of itself because they are strickly indoors kitties. But I have fostered a few times for a local rescue lady which is probably how they got them. After constant combing, spraying & vacuumning the carpet, and washing beds & linens, I have been flea free for 3-4 weeks now.

Anyway, I showed her to my rescue friend today and she said that sometimes belly fur takes a long time to grow back. She said she has seen it before. She also said that the other spots are probably hot spots which is something I plan on researching into.

If any of my cats were in need of emergency attention I would find a way to get them to a vet. When I learned my girls had fleas I went out the very next day and got the Advantage which, for me, was a chunk of change. But I managed. I also do.

Thank you again,
Lauren

Originally Posted by gojackets

Thank you for the response.

The problem shouldn't be flea dermatitis since I did spent $50 well over a month ago on Advantage for all 3 of my cats. That was a surprise in it of itself because they are strickly indoors kitties. But I have fostered a few times for a local rescue lady which is probably how they got them. After constant combing, spraying & vacuumning the carpet, and washing beds & linens, I have been flea free for 3-4 weeks now.

Anyway, I showed her to my rescue friend today and she said that sometimes belly fur takes a long time to grow back. She said she has seen it before. She also said that the other spots are probably hot spots which is something I plan on researching into.

If any of my cats were in need of emergency attention I would find a way to get them to a vet. When I learned my girls had fleas I went out the very next day and got the Advantage which, for me, was a chunk of change. But I managed. I also do.

Thank you again,
Lauren

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Don't feel bad, my fiance and I are saving every penny for our wedding, so I know how it is with money. And I also understand in an emergency situation you would come up with the extra money....when I got my first cat a year ago....i had no clue about anything with cats, and I found she had tape worm...and that weekend i came up with $70 and took her to get dewormed and everything....i still dont know how my fiance and I did it.....but we did... I know exactly what you mean when you say money is tight....but thats what we are all here for...that is why i joined this group...because we want to keep our pets healthy!!!! I wish I could be more of a help with your cats situation... but keep us posted on everything!!!

Originally Posted by gojackets

Thank you for the response.

The problem shouldn't be flea dermatitis since I did spent $50 well over a month ago on Advantage for all 3 of my cats. That was a surprise in it of itself because they are strickly indoors kitties. But I have fostered a few times for a local rescue lady which is probably how they got them. After constant combing, spraying & vacuumning the carpet, and washing beds & linens, I have been flea free for 3-4 weeks now.

Anyway, I showed her to my rescue friend today and she said that sometimes belly fur takes a long time to grow back. She said she has seen it before. She also said that the other spots are probably hot spots which is something I plan on researching into.

If any of my cats were in need of emergency attention I would find a way to get them to a vet. When I learned my girls had fleas I went out the very next day and got the Advantage which, for me, was a chunk of change. But I managed. I also do.

Thank you again,
Lauren

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You got to understand that it's impossible for us to tell you what your cat has, considering we are not vets and we can't examine your cat even if we were vets. I would be conserned it something infections, like ringworm (even though you say it doesn't look like one, I don't think all ringworms look the same). What do the bold spots look like? Are they round?

Hi Lauren,

I used this site:
http://www.nzymes.com/Articles/cat_s...r_problems.htm for information only, back when I was worried about my kitty.

A patch over night does not sound good, so I hope this helps .

-Pam L-

My little cat Graycie has a similar problem of losing hair along her sides and under her chin and the hair just under the ears going to the eyes. She gets it when she is stressed with another illness usually. I have read that it is caused by hormonal changes from spaying.

of course, only a vet will know for sure.

Your poor baby....

Its hard when you dont have the cash - I can sympathise with you when money is short, but as others have said, I'm sure your vet will understand and maybe can arrange other types of payment, maybe installments....

Whatever happens, I hope your baby gets better soon, but the vet is the best place for her right now!

Originally Posted by katie=^..^=

My little cat Graycie has a similar problem of losing hair along her sides and under her chin and the hair just under the ears going to the eyes. She gets it when she is stressed with another illness usually. I have read that it is caused by hormonal changes from spaying.

of course, only a vet will know for sure.

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my sisters old cat who ran away lost hair under her ears to we asked the vet what is was she said it was normal it didnt grow back eather

i once had a dog who lost patches of hair. i't come and go it was an alergie she got it after she got hit by a motorcycle.

I don't know much about hair regrowth in cats. I haven't had a female cat in several years, so I don't remember how fast hair grows in after being spayed.

I do know that some dogs regrow hair very slowly. My sister's dog had be be shaved for surgery in her leg and took a long time for the hair to grow back.

Finally got Chewy to the vet and learned she has Feline Endocrine Alopecia. Basically, in some cats after they're spayed/neutered their hormones don't balance out they way they should resulting in abnormal seretonin levels in the brain. And surprisingly the solution my vet gave me was Amitriptyline (which is usually used as an antidepressants for humans!) But apparently in much smaller dosages, it works in cats as well. Who knew, the whole time my kitty was just depressed. Like owner, like pet.

Anyway, thanks for everyone's input.

Lauren

hi just found this web site quite insightful. i find it quite a coincident as just earlier this evening i was scratching my jonny cats belly and thinking he finally has all his belly hair back. you see he went in when he was six months old to be neutered and the vet informed me he only had one testicle and he would have to open him up to find the other one. well he said he couldn't find it. six months later i had one horny cat spraying and clammering to escape the house any way he could. so i talked to another vet and he said bring him in sure enough he had another big surgery cutting him open and there was that testicle tucked up by his stomach. so poor jonny has been neutered twice. that was three years ago. his tummy remained bare through two winters. it looked weird as he is all black and you could really notice his white belly when you picked him up. very unattractive. so now finally his belly is all grown in and he looks marvelous. it took a long time.