Problem with hair pulling and strong ammonia smell in pee

Hi,

We have had our cat for about 2 and a half years. He was a rescue cat that we got from his foster carer and has always been quite highly strung. He has never been a lap cat and it took several months before he was really comfortable with us even holding him for more than a few seconds (he does much better with that now and we can hold him about as long as we want).
The problem is that he has always been a hair puller and the problem has just lately got much worse. The reason for this is quite obvious because we've moved twice since we got him and about a month ago we decided (perhaps foolishly) to get a dog. The dog is a scotty (another bad idea) that we got from a scotty rescue (and another bad idea!). The cat, needless to say is not at all amused by the situation and is now pulling out hair like crazy. He always had such a nice soft coat, but now he has several large bald patches.
I've also noticed that his litter box is smelling much worse that it ever did before with a really strong ammonia smell after only a few days with fresh litter (we use that Yesterday's News stuff that's made from recycled paper). Is this something we should worry about? He's also started decided to pee and poop in other places I think purely because he can't even stand the smell of the litter box.
Does anybody have any suggestions on either the hair, the smell or the dog? I don't know why we decided to destroy the harmony in our house like this

Is your cat drinking more water than he used to drink?

I think he might be. I think he's been drinking from the dogs bowl too when the dog is safety in his crate.

It would be best to have him checked by a vet to rule out any medical issues. If you do get a clean bill of health, have you ever thought about trying Feliway?

I agree with Karen, he really should be seen by a vet. And try the Feliway; I've heard great things about it on the site.

Welcome to TCS by the way.

I would make a trip to the vet.

Very ammonia smelling urine just like in humans can mean a UTI (urinary tract infection) this can be very bad and can spread to the kidneys and could cause kidneys failure if bad enough.

the hair pulling out could be a mental thing. I am not sure about that...

I don't know anything about the hair pulling issue.

Drinking excessive water and excessive urination are both signs of diabetes. When one of my cats was diagnosed with diabetes I read everything I could get my hands on about feline diabetes. I also had a friend with a diabetic cat which proved more helpful than my research. Both of our diabetic cats had problems with constipation and would sometimes "go" anywhere they were when they could finally "go". I think diabetes somehow causes constipation, but I never found any research to back up my theory. After she was on insulin the constipation was worse, so I am not sure how that figures into my theory.

Thanks for all the responses. We took Kitty to see the vet today and she said that he has an e coli infection. She gave him so antibiotics which we'll have to try and stick down his throat and she took some blood to send away for tests. Very expensive, but hopefully the antibiotics will clear up the problem. It's funny because he doesn't seem under the weather. He's still tearing around the house (when he knows the dog is safety stashed away) and eating and drinking just fine.

So glad things have worked out so well. I mean other than the "poking antibiotics" down. I know that can be a real task!