Your cat's ears are going bald: causes of baldness and treatment options

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06/29/2021 owner reviews 1,

If your cat has a bald spot on her head or is losing hair around her ears, it may be time to take a closer look. There are several causes of hair loss in cats, also known as alopecia. It can be inherited or acquired.

• Hereditary hair loss
• Acquired hair loss
• Ear mites
• Fleas
• Ringworm
• Scabies
• Food allergies
• Chronic stress
• Alopecia areata
• Atopy
• Facial baldness
• Sebaceous adenitis
• Solar dermatitis

Acquired hair loss

Acquired baldness is usually a symptom of other conditions that cause itching. Sick cats will scratch, chew, lick or rub the itchy areas until the fur is literally rubbed off. If hereditary factors are ruled out, there are many other possible causes, and some of them are contagious. Just keep in mind that the information presented here is not intended to replace a professional diagnosis from your veterinarian.

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How to treat alopecia in cats

The nature of the treatment depends on the cause that provoked the appearance of local bald patches. If the disease is allergic, it is necessary to isolate the animal from exposure to allergens. “The veterinarian should prescribe immunostimulants and antiallergic drugs to the cat.” In addition, the animal must adhere to a special hypoallergenic diet.

If alopecia is caused by parasites, the animal is recommended to use special sprays, gels, and ointments that have antiparasitic properties. In addition, the cat should additionally take vitamin complexes to stimulate immune function.

Abscess and pyoderma, which also provoke alopecia, are treated by treating the skin with systemic and external antibiotics, as well as antiseptics.

Taking hormonal medications is indicated for endocrine alopecia, but if the disease is of a psychogenic nature, the cat is prescribed sedatives.

Ear mites

Ear mites, scientifically known as Otodectes cynotes, can cause severe itching and cause hair loss on cats' ears and head. These mites are easily transmitted to other cats and are sometimes even transmitted to humans, although they cannot survive on humans.

Signs of an ear mite infestation include:

• Rubbing your head
• Trembling in the ears
• Scratches
• Redness
• Hair loss
• Brown waxy growths in the ears
• Unpleasant smell

Ear mites are easily diagnosed using an otoscope. Treatment usually involves thoroughly but gently cleaning the ears and applying veterinarian-recommended medications directly into the canals. It is usually necessary to repeat the treatment for seven to ten days to kill any new hatchlings.

Prevention

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To prevent a cat from developing a bald spot on its head, there are a number of preventive measures. The pet is periodically examined, regularly given prophylaxis against worms, and a balanced diet is selected. The animal is promptly vaccinated against diseases. Your pet should not be walked near places where stray cats accumulate.

Attention! Long-haired cats need to be brushed frequently. It is necessary to monitor the cleanliness of the fur of all cat species.

Diet

You need to put your cat on a diet diet. Do not feed your animal dry food, as industrial food contains a large amount of preservatives and artificial flavors.

It is recommended to feed your pet boiled dietary meat - veal, rabbit, turkey. You can add seasonal vegetables and fruits to your diet.

If a pregnant cat has a bald spot on her ear, the reason is a lack of vitamins, which she does not receive from food. Such pets need special nutrition rich in nutrients.

Important! It is forbidden to feed the cat sweets, smoked meats, and salty foods. Such products are strong allergens.

Protect from stress

A nervous situation in the house, the appearance of children or other animals - all these factors adversely affect the cat’s psyche and can cause bald spots in a cat.

If a cat reacts painfully to changes in his life schedule, the arrival of guests, or a change of environment, you need to try to protect him from stress. You can treat your pet’s nerve pain with sedatives, which should be prescribed by a veterinarian.

Regular inspection

To detect baldness at an early stage and prevent further hair loss, you need to constantly examine your pet. Once every six months the cat is taken to a veterinarian for examination. They take tests and conduct an external examination. If signs of illness or bald patches appear on the animal, treatment is carried out.

Abrasions and scratches that your pet received in the game must be treated with a disinfectant solution.

Examining your cat at a veterinary clinic will help identify the disease in time.

Regular visits to the veterinary clinic, proper nutrition, and grooming are the conditions under which the animal will be healthy. This is why you need to pay attention to the cat. And if a cat’s ears become bald, he is urgently taken to a doctor for examination.

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Fleas

The saliva left behind after a cat is bitten by a flea causes an itchy reaction that makes cats itch like crazy. While hair loss can occur anywhere on the body, the hair on a cat's head, face, and ears are especially vulnerable to hair loss when cats rub against furniture and rugs in an attempt to find some relief. Fleas can be easily identified by their physical presence or by the small droppings they leave behind in your cat's fur. Infestations can be treated with a number of insecticidal products, including sprays, shampoos and spot treatments such as Frontline for cats.

The cat has bald patches and sores above the eyes

One of the causes of hair loss and the appearance of sores is a serious disease that affects the cat's sweat glands (sweat gland cyst). The disease is typical for elderly and weakened animals. Ulcers develop on the pet's skin, inflammation begins, which leads to hair loss.

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Ringworm

Contrary to its name, ringworm is not a worm. It is actually an itchy fungal infection that lives in the hair follicles and feeds on dead cells. When the fungus colonizes the hair shafts, the hair shafts break off at skin level and leave bald patches. Sometimes hard spots form around the ears and other affected areas. Ringworm is highly contagious and can be diagnosed by culturing the hair for the fungus. There are a number of possible treatments to eliminate the infection.

This includes:

• Application of a course of lime-sulfur drops
• Prescribing griseofulvin tablets on the recommendation of a veterinarian
• Applying a topical ointment such as itraconazole.
• Repeated antifungal shampoos
• Completely shave the entire cat

The appearance of bald patches: what to do

A cat owner who notices the appearance of bald spots should not self-medicate. The pet should be taken to a veterinarian to determine the cause of the illness. The doctor will conduct an examination and prescribe adequate treatment.

Prevention measures:

• feeding with quality feed,
• regular hygiene procedures,
• timely vaccination of the animal,
• taking vitamin complexes,
• regular checkups with a veterinarian.

Be sure to read:

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Scabies

Scabies is another type of mite infestation that causes severe itching, especially around the face, ears, and neck. The skin in the affected areas experiences significant hair loss, and the skin usually begins to develop a grayish-yellow crust, similar to severe eczema.

Feline mange is divided into two types: notohedral and demodectic . Either type is diagnosed by taking a skin scraping from the affected area and examining it under magnification for the presence of mites. To treat mange, you need to trim off the long fur and apply a layer of lime sulfur once a week until subsequent skin scrapings show that the mites are gone. Treatments can be repeated six to eight times to cure the infestation.

Baldness treatment

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If the owner notices that the cat's ears are peeling, the pet is immediately taken to the doctor.

The veterinarian performs a number of manipulations:

• Examines the cat for parasites.
• Takes a skin scraping to determine a skin infection.
• Performs a blood test to detect inflammation in the pet's body.
• Conducts an analysis of the animal's hormonal levels.
• Additional studies may be performed to clarify the diagnosis.

Based on the examination results, the doctor prescribes home treatment and advises the owner on the cat’s nutritional issues.

Vaccinating your cat helps against diseases that cause hair loss

Food allergies

Food allergies can also cause severe itching and bald patches on the ears. Sick cats quickly begin to lose hair, and chronic ear infections make the problem worse. Diagnosing a food allergy requires a series of food tests in which your veterinarian will prescribe a restricted diet that will slowly introduce foods one at a time until an allergic reaction to a specific food is noted.

Sometimes more than one food is involved in the reaction, but all problematic foods are eliminated from your cat's diet permanently. Once the harmful substances are out of your cat's body, the sores will heal and the fur will tend to grow back, although it may be slightly different in color and texture from the original fur.

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Diagnostic methods

If your cat's ears are going bald, there is brown discharge from the ears and redness of the skin, then you should contact a veterinarian for help. The specialist will examine the area with lost hair and become familiar with the symptoms that are bothering the pet. If it is not possible to visually determine the cause and severity of the disease due to which the bald spot appeared, then additional diagnostic procedures are prescribed. To make a diagnosis, the following manipulations may be required:

• laboratory testing of blood and urine;
• bacterial culture of urine;
• scraping from the damaged area with further microscopy;
• ultrasound diagnostics of internal organs if there is a suspicion of a violation of their function;
• allergic reaction test.

Chronic stress

Perhaps a less obvious reason why a cat's ears go bald is that chronic stress does play a role in hair loss. Cats self-soothe by grooming themselves, and the more stressed they are, the more they groom themselves. Constant licking and washing of the paws will eventually wear down the fur, especially in areas with very short fur such as the head and ears. This particular condition is known as psychogenic alopecia.

To manage stress in cats, you need to pinpoint the things that are causing your anxiety and remove them from your cat's environment as much as possible. Some cats also respond to healthy stimulation, such as a cat tree to exercise on. This will relieve the cat from boredom and give the cat the opportunity to focus on something other than itself.

Bald patches near the ears

The development of characteristic bald spots near the ears of an animal (periacular alopecia) occurs in a cat for the same reasons as hair loss above the eyes.

To make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment, your pet should be taken to a veterinary clinic, where the doctor:

• will conduct a visual inspection,
• will prescribe a series of tests,
• take scrapings from the skin,
• Based on the data obtained, he will prescribe treatment.

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Existing types of illness

• Physiological alopecia. Localized on the temples, back of the head. It is observed in infants in the first months of life due to constant friction against the pillow. Treatment is not required because the disease will go away when the child stops lying down all the time.
• Anagen. Associated with drugs used to treat cancer.
• Hereditary. Appears in a child if his parents also had this pathology.
• Congenital. It is one of the symptoms of a congenital pathology or defect. Quite rare. Occurs against the background of endocrine, skin diseases, etc.
• Telogen. Develops due to sudden weight loss, surgical interventions, past illnesses against the background of elevated body temperature.
• Focal or nested (baldness). Serves as a symptom of disorders in the functioning of the immune system. The lesion is local, that is, separate areas of baldness form on the head. This form of alopecia affects one child in a thousand. Source: N. Bekbauova, R. Aliyeva, Zh. Zharasova, O. Stepanova Etiology of alopecia areata in children // Medical Journal of Western Kazakhstan, 2012, No. 3(35), p.90
• Diffuse. The most common type. Represents a uniform loss of hair from 150 per day.
• Seborrheic. Develops due to seborrhea.
• Universal. Loss of hair all over the body.
• Broca's pseudopelade, or atrophying alopecia. Hair loss occurs in the forehead and crown areas. This is a rare pathology among children, usually affecting women over 35 years of age.

Physiological causes of hair loss

Moderate hair loss is a natural process that does not always require treatment. The main reason for this phenomenon is annual molting, during which the old hair falls out and a new one grows in its place. It is noteworthy that cats lose much more fur than male cats.

Other causes of physiological hair loss:

• chafing collars, bandages or harnesses;
• bathing more often than once every 5 months;
• bathing with cheap human shampoos and detergents not intended for these purposes;
• stressful situation;
• age-related baldness in the area of ​​the eyes, ears, paws, loss of mustache.

These causes do not pose any danger to the cat’s health and do not require treatment. As a rule, after a certain time, the fur grows back if the animal is not old.