The condition of a cat's hair is a reflection of the work of the whole organism. Normally, a cat sheds a small amount of hair daily or during seasonal shedding. Excessive hair loss is called alopecia or alopecia, and indicates serious health problems for your pet.
Hair is a modified part of the skin, and only part of it comes to the surface (Fig. 1). The root is attached to the hair follicle, which is surrounded by blood vessels and nerve endings. Therefore, hair loss is the result of various causes.
Rice. 1. The structure of a cat's skin.
Alopecia, or feline hair loss: what is it?
All cats shed twice a year, and this is the norm. How to distinguish: is it molting (the process when the fur is renewed) or pathology (baldness of the animal)? To do this, you need to know how the disease manifests itself, what its prerequisites are and in what cases the owner needs to sound the alarm.
Alopecia is the name given to abnormal hair loss in cats, as a result of which bald spots are formed on the animal's body - areas with absolutely no hair. The fur may fall out in clumps, forming bald areas on the animal's head, ears, and paws. Having noticed such areas, the owner should immediately take the pet to an appointment with a veterinarian. Baldness can be a signal of serious problems in the animal’s body.
But this should not be confused with hair loss, which normally occurs in all healthy felines. Cats lose their fur during:
- molting (a seasonal change of “coat” occurs twice a year; cats usually shed more than males);
- stress (the animal may shed some hair due to excitement);
- age-related changes (old animals lose hair and whiskers);
- frequent bathing (this is why it is recommended to bathe the animal only if necessary; twice a year is quite enough).
At the same time, the wool does not come out in clumps, without forming bald spots. But the disease has slightly different symptoms.
What to do
Technically, average pet owners can fix the problem of hair loss at the base of their cat's tail themselves. However, if you want to be on the safe side, it is highly recommended that you take your furball to the vets for a thorough examination. Veterinarians will carefully examine your cat and may run some tests to see what's going on and then develop an appropriate treatment regimen. Obviously, people should refrain from medicating cats without prior approval from veterinarians.
Alopecia symptoms
You can recognize alopecia in a pet by the following signs:
- The fur falls out excessively, in clumps. Bald spots in cats appear mainly behind the ear, in the neck, back, and on the tail.
- The skin in these places may have its usual pink color or turn red, sores or scabs may appear there.
- Check your pet's reaction to touching the bald spot: perhaps the spot hurts or itches.
- Check if the animal has symmetrical bald spots.
If you notice these symptoms, you should urgently seek professional help from a veterinarian. Otherwise the disease will progress.
What measures are needed to prevent the problem?
The problem has been identified, the cat is scratching its neck and hair is coming out. And the bald patches all over the baby’s body say that you can’t cope with the problem on your own. What to do? The best thing to do is go to a veterinary clinic. An accurate diagnosis is needed. Tests and monitoring of the cat’s general condition will help you find out exactly what is causing hair loss from the kitten’s neck.
You may have to change the food or cleanse your pets of parasites. Only a doctor can decide whether vitamins or medications are needed to treat your cat.
Cat owners know that from time to time they have to collect cat hair around the house, as the period of natural hair loss begins. But why do some cats have too much fluffy cover, and even bald patches form near the tail or on the tummy and paws?
Severe hair loss is not normal; you should definitely pay attention to it and seek advice from a specialist. But don’t be alarmed right away; perhaps the animal is lacking vitamins or this is how a skin disease manifests itself.
The veterinarian will diagnose why the cat’s hair is falling out and bald spots are forming, prescribe treatment, and explain preventive measures. If the cat sheds hair, but new hairs immediately grow, then it’s just shedding season.
Causes of this disease
If an animal has bald spots on its body and head, this may be a sign of a food allergy. Allergies should be looked for in your pet's diet. They can be:
- Proteins of animal and plant origin;
- Various cereals;
- Meat – in particular lamb.
In addition, it may be an allergic reaction to flea bites, cigarette smoke or other odors (inhalation allergy).
The causes of baldness may lie in the psychological state of the pet, that is, hair may fall out due to stress. If the veterinarian diagnoses this reason, then the first thing the owner needs to do is find out what kind of stress or experience the pet has had recently, eliminate it, and only after that give sedatives, which only in this case will be effective. Symptoms of alopecia of a psychogenic nature are bald patches that are located on the thighs, abdomen or paws.
The causes belonging to the third group are infectious. If a cat's hair is falling out, the culprit may be scabies, lichen, fungus, or mites. If a cat has a bald spot behind its ear, it could be ringworm. There are several varieties: fungal (another name is ringworm; contagious to humans), psoriasis or eczema, viral.
Hair mites can also cause hair loss. They are very small and impossible to notice with the naked eye. Lice eaters do not live long, but they reproduce very quickly.
If your cat has bald spots on its neck, the cause may be dermatitis. It can be caused by various chemical and biological factors. Even treatment for parasites can cause hair loss.
Hair loss can be a consequence of seborrhea, a disease in which the functioning of the sebaceous glands is disrupted. This is usually indicated by baldness in a cat near the tail. That is why this disease is sometimes called “greasy tail”.
Another group of problems that cause baldness is disruption of the hormonal system:
- thyroid problems, manifested by both increased and insufficient levels of hormone production;
- diabetes;
- malfunctions of the adrenal glands, in particular their hyperfunction.
Other reasons include the presence of tumors in the animal, genetic predisposition and reactions to medications. Thus, a kitten’s bald spot may appear due to the fact that during pregnancy its mother did not receive various essential minerals and vitamins.
Consequences of injury
Observing a cat after it has fallen and been severely injured, you will notice that it has also lost a lot of hair on some parts of its body. Sometimes injuries are visible and easy to diagnose, but they can also be hidden, which is even more dangerous.
Hair loss is sometimes the only visible symptom of internal injuries. Therefore, having detected the appearance of alopecia after a fall of a pet, you need to immediately report this to the veterinarian observing the cat.
Bald spots in combination with fearfulness and wariness quite accurately indicate the stress the cat has experienced. With this state of psychological health, the pet does not want to be handled, does not allow itself to be petted, looks for secluded corners, and may flinch from sharp and loud sounds.
IMPORTANT! As you can see, bald spots on a cat’s body always indicate some kind of health problem, so this symptom cannot be ignored.
Diagnosis of the disease
If a cat's hair falls out in clumps before bald spots form, it should definitely be seen by a specialist. Only a veterinarian can accurately determine the diagnosis. To determine the disease and prescribe the correct treatment, the doctor must:
- Find out how and when the disease manifested itself. The owner will have to tell in great detail the animal’s lifestyle, what the pet ate and drank, what it came into contact with, and whether it walked outside.
- Examine the patient.
- Examine hair roots under a microscope.
- You may need blood and hormone test data, and a scraping will be required.
- Sometimes an ultrasound or x-ray is done to confirm or rule out the presence of tumors.
Infectious and invasive diseases
If the reason lies in the invasion of a pathogenic fungus, the cat not only loses hair, but also crusts and scabs appear in large numbers, and the skin on the affected areas can become very flaky (pictured). Scabies is characterized by severe itching, redness, and even the appearance of foci of purulent inflammation.
With dermatitis, the main manifestation is severe and painful redness of the skin, local body temperature can rise significantly, the cat is constantly itching, sometimes it comes to wounds and ruptures of the skin. Various diseases of the endocrine system (feline endocrine alopecia) are also common, the clinical manifestations of which can be very diverse. To make it easier for you to determine the possible cause of your pet's baldness, we have prepared a table. It contains all the main pathologies accompanied by hair loss.
Treatment of hair loss in cats
Hair loss in cats is a serious but completely treatable disease. Treatment must be selected individually. What medications the doctor will prescribe depends on the causes of the disease. If bald spots on the ears or other places appear due to allergies, the animal must first be isolated from the allergen. The doctor also prescribes drugs that stimulate the immune system and antiallergic medications. If there is a food allergy, you should review the animal’s diet and switch it to hypoallergenic foods.
If the cause of an animal's hair loss is parasites, the pet is treated with gel and ointment that have antiparasitic properties. In such cases, it is also recommended to give the pet drugs that stimulate the immune system.
If the bald spots were caused by an abscess, the animal must undergo a course of treatment with antibiotics and antiseptics. If a cat has been diagnosed with endocrine problems, she is prescribed hormonal medications.
Preventive measures
To prevent ear baldness in cats and hair loss on other parts of the body, it is recommended to take preventive measures in advance. Namely:
- regularly independently examine the animal, take it for professional examinations, and, if necessary, for treatment at the veterinarian;
- vaccinate your pet on time;
- do not forget about proper hygienic care of the cat;
- Provide your pet with proper nutrition.
Bald spots in cats on the head, ears, belly or paws are a fairly common phenomenon. Why a cat has bald spots on its back or other parts of its body - only a doctor can say for sure after conducting the appropriate diagnosis. Depending on this, treatment is prescribed, which can consist only of diet, or contain a course of hormonal drugs or antibiotics. But it is highly not recommended to self-medicate your pet: you can only torture the animal with unnecessary drugs, and in the meantime the cat will lose most of its fur coat.
Bald spots at first glance seem harmless, although they spoil the aesthetic appearance of the animal. But it should be understood that they can be provoked by quite serious diseases that develop in a pet. Therefore, you should not hesitate to visit the doctor.
Preventing hair loss in cats
To protect your pet from the unpleasant symptoms of hair loss, owners need to follow several rules:
- Provide your cat with a balanced diet.
- Avoid factors that provoke stress.
- Vaccinate against infectious diseases on time.
- Avoid contact between a healthy animal and a sick one.
- Treat wool promptly when parasites appear.
- Carry out preventive examinations regularly.
