Cat with bald patch on head

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Dystrophin Structure. Accrual Basis Income Statement Sample. Sig Holo. Dry Aged Cheese. Terminal Brain Cancer. Luxury Holiday Cottages. Some cats are very sensitive to topical medications, like flea medications. If this happens, talk to your vet about what your options for flea and tick control are. Your cat may do better with oral medication or a prescription collar.

Always make sure you are purchasing legitimate, veterinary-grade flea and tick medications. Cheap big-box store brands are notorious for causing these reactions and far worse reactions, like seizures. Some online pharmacies will sell fake veterinary products, so purchasing directly from your vet is your best bet for safety.

Cats can be allergic to some foods and they can also become allergic to a product they previously did well with. Systemic allergies in cats usually lead to diffuse hair loss across the body.

Food allergies are usually related to a specific protein, so if you believe your cat has developed food allergies that are leading to hair loss, switching to a different protein food and trying it for weeks may help. So, if your cat has been on a chicken-based food, you may try a fish-based food.

Some allergies are environmental, like grasses, trees, and even other animals like dogs and humans. There are allergy tests your vet can perform to identify what exactly your kitty is allergic to. A post shared by Meownistry of Cat meownistryofcat. Mange can be contagious to other pets or benign and is not common in cats , especially cats that are not stray.

If you have recently taken in a stray cat, or if your cat was missing and is now back home, and you notice large patches of hair loss, talk to your vet about testing for mange. Multiple medical conditions can lead to hair loss, including cancers, hyperthyroidism, and protein deficiencies. Identifying the underlying cause of the hair loss will determine the course of treatment you and your veterinarian decide on.

Keep in mind that hair loss in cats is a symptom of a problem, not a problem itself. Watch your cat closely for changes in behavior, like irritability and loss of appetite, as well as hiding more than normal.

Collect as much evidence as you can before you take your kitty to the vet so you can give your vet as much information as possible to help get your kitty back to normal. Cats with this issue can be so allergic that a single flea bite can make them itch and have hair loss for weeks even though you never saw any fleas on them. There are several types of mites cats can get, including Mange and Scabies mites.

Another reason cats commonly over-groom and cause hair loss is stress and anxiety sometimes called Psychogenic Alopecia. Cats love routine, and anything that disrupts routines can be stressful for them. Not all cats get along with other cats or other pets, and that can be a source of stress too. Many cats are predisposed to anxiety and stress, which can lead to excessive grooming and hair loss. Pain can also cause them to lick excessively and lose hair in the painful area.

Most commonly, this happens on the belly due to stomach or abdominal pain, constipation, or even bladder inflammation and pain. Cats may lick too much and cause hair loss over painful joints too. Ringworm a fungal infection is another fairly common cause of hair loss, especially in kittens. This fungus actually damages the hair and the hair follicles causing hair loss.

Ringworm can also be itchy and cause cats to lick, chew, and scratch the area. This creates bald spots. Rarely some older cats can get bald patches on bony areas like their ankles and on their ears as an age-related change.

If your cat is losing a significant amount of hair, it may be a symptom of pain, stress, or a health problem. As a first diagnostic step, your vet will do a thorough physical exam, focusing on the skin and coat and looking for evidence of pain or any fleas. Your vet will also ask about any other symptoms you might be seeing, like any scratching, head shaking, behavioral changes, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, or urinary issues.

Mites, bacteria, yeast, and fungi like ringworm, can only be seen with a microscope so your vet will probably recommend checking for these with testing like skin scrapes, cytology, and fungal cultures.

Allergy testing can be done with a blood test or a skin test. Your vet may recommend blood and urine tests as well. Your vet will put your cat through a series of tests to determine the underlying cause of his allergy. Ringworm is not an actual worm. Instead, it is a type of fungal infection that is characterized by the formation of circular lesions on the skin.

Mammals, including cats and people, can become infected with ringworms. Furthermore, this fungal infection requires immediate treatment because it is contagious. When a cat is infected by ringworm, the hair on the area where the lesions form become thinner or even fall off, thus creating bald patches on the fur.

To confirm if your cat has ringworm, the vet will get a tissue sample from his skin. Parasites like fleas can also cause your cat to lose hair in different areas of his body. For flea infestations, the bald spots usually appear on the tail and lower back. The saliva of fleas causes skin irritation, causing your cat to scratch an infected area. And when he scratches his skin to relieve the itch, he can lose hair on the affected area.

Flea bites can also cause an allergic reaction in some cats which in turn causes baldness, In such cases, a vet can treat the allergic reaction to relieve the symptoms. Hair can resume growth once the inflammation in the affected area has stopped.