Question for cat people: My kitteh has a place on her side where she's missing a patch of fur.

It's about the size of a dollar coin (or JFK half-dollar for those of you as old as me). There's no sore or wound of any kind and she doesn't act like she's feeling bad. I called the vet and they made an appt for Friday, so must not be too worried. But I'm just curious as to what it is, and whether the other too cats or the beagle might get it.

Anyone ever have anything like this?

Could be fleas. In which case, ugh, I feel bad because they can be a real pain to get rid of, especially if there are other animals.

If there is no obvious wound or pain, still take her to the vet.

Sometimes its OCD. I had a cat who licked most of his fur off. He looked like he was wearing a beautful mink jacket and no pants. Funny but sad.


It's weird, scary, and sad but normal.

Khash.

I remember my dog lost some fur along his sides. The vet said it was a classic sign of hypothyroidism. A blood test was done and it confirmed low thyroid function.
Treatment: He had to take levothyroxin for the rest of his life.
Giving a pill to a dog is a lot easier than giving one to a cat.

Sometimes indoor cats will overgroom themselves. My little guy tends to overgroom his back legs during the cold months when he doesn't have free access to the porch.

Maybe itchy in that area?

One of my cats licked the fur off her belly from stress, because my daughter has been visiting every few weeks with her new puppy. I looked for info online and found that this was a stress-related behavior.

The rest of her was covered with luxurious, shiny black fur. The odd thing was, the hole would get bigger during winter, when you'd think she'd need the fur, and shrink again in spring.

As far as any vet ever told us, it was some kind of fungus. There really wasn't anything we could do, short of getting her a kitty rug. :-)

The vet said it was an allergic reaction and gave him a cortisone shot, and the problem cleared up.

It is worse in the colder months. I took him to a couple of vets and finally got the correct diagnosis of it being due to allergies. He takes atopica now whenever it flares up. Works like a charm.

I also had a kitty with a bare patch due to ringworm. (Which is not actually a worm but a fungal infection.) Inconvenient and contagious as hell, but treatable.


Doesn't sound like anything urgent. Good luck to you and kitty!

Of the two cats I've had with it, one licked the fur off like that. But it could be ringworm too. It could be a lot of things though.

An allergic reaction can continue well after the allergen is removed.

Trip to vet for a definitive answer (and maybe a little course of kitty steroids) is probably in order

I don't think it's ringworm. When I was fostering cats, I had one with ringworm (which is a nightmare when you're fostering 11 cats and have two of your own!). It doesn't have the raised, round area on the skin that ringworm has.

Don't think it's fleas, either. I treated all the cats with methoprene on the first of the month. I have one cat who's prone to flea infestation for some reason, so I've become really careful about this. The flea-prone cat is yellow, which happily means I can easily see fleas on him. He doesn't have any, so I doubt Sophia does, either.

I'm kind of thinking it may be emotional, you know, nerves. Sophia is very skittish and shy. She was one of my fosters. She went into hiding when she first came to live me, to the extent that I had to use a humane trap to get her to the vet for her wellness check. She's come a long way since then, but the reason I still have her, rather than adopting her out, was that she was still too poorly socialized when it was time for me to move. I was afraid she'd be euthanized, so I adopted her. She's made HUGE strives, but even now she's a loner and scared of everything. So, I wouldn't be surprised if it's some kind of nervous issue.

Still, it would be nice if it were just something easily treated with meds. I'll find out Friday, and will be sure to share the news with all of you. Thanks for all of your thoughts. If the vet seems perplexed, I may use some of this info in talking with him.

As always, DU :yourock:

With the one cat that gets bald spots anyway - the only cat that lets the dog maul him. Anyway, Bodhi (the dog) is always pulling the kitty's hair, and doing the teeth "nibble" thing on the cat, and he's frequently sporting bald spots like you describe because of it. :)