clumping cat hair

Hello all. My cat, Nicki, seems to be just fine, so I don't want to take her into the vet, but I'm really just curious.

Yesterday I noticed that the hair on her back near her tail was clumping terribly. I combed her and combed her until most of the clumps were gone. Though the clumps of hair I pulled out would put any hairball to shame, there don't appear to be any resulting bald or thin hair spots on her back.

She is not ill. She is eating, drinking, peeing, and purring as much as ever. In fact, getting combed is her very favorite thing in the whole world, so she enjoyed the whole thing, even though I was literally pulling her hair out.

Anyone have any idea what causes this, and should I be concerned?

I think this might have happened once before, many years ago, when she got fleas for the first time. But that's not the case here. A brief bio on Nicki: She'll be 13 in September and has never had any major health problems (knockon wood). She's in indoor cat and doesn't have much contact with other animals (other than the occasional boyfriend of mine).

Thank you!

Our dear sweet Ebony was a long-haired cat and used to get terrible clumps. The clumps literally had car litter in them so I guess when he was scratching up a storm in the litterbox it was getting all over him. I used to have to cut them out.

I suppose frequent brushing would probably help and as long as he's not really losing hair, cutting them out wouldn't be a bad thing in my opinion but there are others here that can probably better advise you.

When was the last vet check?? I would recommend a senior panel ... What food is she eating??

Her last real vet checkup was a couple of years ago, so I have been remiss in that. I know I do need to take her in. But she has had her shots and all that.

She is not a long-haired cat, which is why I thought the clumping was kind of odd. And generally they just came right out with a flea comb.

I didn't see anything in the clumps -- no cat litter, no fleas, nothing like that. However, I have changed her cat litter recently. Would that make a difference? Maybe she's allergic? I used to use the clumping kind, and how I just use regular.

As for food. she's been eating Purina Cat Chow dry food and Friskies canned food for years. No changes there.

I guess I'm so used to nothing ever being wrong with her that I find any small difference strange. But she is getting up there in years.

My advice would be to take her in and have her checked really well by a vet if for no other reason than to rule out any serious problems.

Vet check and if all is good get her on premium senior food with high omega 6 aka linolinec acid

Considering the cat's age, maybe she can't reach to her back to groom that area? My friend had a cat that had problems grooming his back because of his weight.

Originally Posted by zak&rocky

Considering the cat's age, maybe she can't reach to her back to groom that area? My friend had a cat that had problems grooming his back because of his weight.

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Interesting possibility. I would never have thought of something like that. She isn't exactly petite (she takes after her mom), so perhaps that has something to do with it. I'll watch her grooming.

And yes, this is prompting me to take her into the vet soon.

Thanks!