cat question

[swanlake]

this guy who i work with has a cat and it keeps chewing its fur off. he has taken it to the vet but they can't find anything wrong. any ideas? i told him i would ask you guys, since i know there are some pretty knoweldgable cat people on here.

 

[Happi Bun]

The first thing that came to my mind is that the Cat is barbering. You can find more information on barbering Here

 

[Leaf]

Ahh, I shouldnt be saying because I dont have time to look things up. My parents had a cat like that.

Barring food allergies et al...

My advice is to be careful what kind of meds the vet may put the cat on. Maddie was put on Ovaban (I THINK - its been years ago) and it turned her into a zombie. No barbering but no quality of life either. Then had to wean her off the drug ....



Better to have her chewing her leg/tummy fur off rather than having a cat that slept like a lump 20+ hours a day.

 

[LadyBug]

my friends cat was like that. it was fleas

gotta run:run:

~A

 

[swanlake]

no fleas. i dunno, i told him about that page you told me so yea.

 

[Becknutt]

My first thought was also fleas, food or enviromental allergies...something thats making the cat itch.

Since the vet found nothing, it could be out of boredom. Is it an indoor cat? Maybe he needs more stimulation, or attention.

 

[EileenH]

Indoor cats are not necessarily bored cats.

If there is nothing physically wrong with the cat, then it is a psychological issue. It is difficult with cats to figure out what is bothering them, but you friend should carefully think about what is going on in their life. Did something change in the family (ie: family member off to college, new boyfriend/girlfriend around, is less time being spent with the cat...) - the problem usually lies in some change, and it can be subtle. Overgrooming in cats is usually from stress.

PS - is the vet a feline vet? If they are experienced with cats, they should have introduced to your friend that if it's not physical, it's probably psychological.

 

[seniorcats]

We have3 cats at the shelter who were doing the same thing.Guines came in with kittens and her issue appeared to be hormonal and stress. She was given to Depomedrol (cortisone shots) and the problem disappeared.

The other 2 cats checked out fine physically. The vet suspected a food allergy issue so both were started on Evo grain-free cat food. It's pricier than most dry food

http://www.evopet.com/

Both cats are doing fine since their diet was changed.

Tally's has good info on skin disorders.

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/9352/alphalinks5-a.html



Info on hair loss and causes http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/9352/alphalinks3.html

 

[Bo B Bunny]

ALLERGIES!

Tank has them and he would pull all the fur off his butt. He also has swelling in his ears and digs them. We had to take him off all beef and fish products.

We first tried duck and rice but he turned his nose up at that...... we settled for a turkey based dry chow - it's not the best because there are some things we think bother him a bit but in the past 2 years he has gained weight, his ears bother him less and his butthairs are all nice and long again!

 

[juliew19673]

Allergies....... Been said it can be a skin disorder, fungal problem or etc.. You need to have a culture or a Vet look at the infected area (might be easy to diagnosis)...

Good luck and post what you found out so that others may gain tthe knowledge.