Cat Hair Loss

QUESTION:

I have a 5 year old female Siamese. She has no hair on her belly and now one armpit is starting to go. I do not think it's fleas because she never goes outside and it started in the winter. She doesn't have any scabs. I read a lot of questions on your site and they all seem to come back to fleas. I'm not sure how the flea medication would work if it only takes one flea and she already has one?

I am thinking it might be food allergies and have changed her to a non grain diet with salmon. I was told chicken and grain cause the most allergies in cats. I have also added a salmon oil to her diet in an attempt to calm her skin down. It contains linoleic acid (Omega 6), Omega 3 EOA and DHA. It does not seem stress related but I'm not sure I would know that. I have heard there is a disease that causes hair loss but I'm not sure what that would be.

Thank you for any insight you can give me.



ANSWER:

You actually have done your homework well. Fleas are indeed the number one cause by far of hair loss in cats.

However, other feline allergies certainly exist including cat food allergy and allergies to just about anything in the environment.

Unfortunately, just because a cat is indoors doesn't mean she couldn't get a flea bite as you have probably read repeatedly on other pages of the site. And, yes, it only takes one flea bite to make a cat incredibly itchy.

The reason cat flea medication can help a cat with feline flea bite allergic dermititis is not that it directly helps the present skin problem, but that it prevents further flea bites. If there are no further flea bites, the itch will go away soon and the hair will grow back in.

It is difficult to know for sure what is causing your cat's hair loss. I would recommend taking her to a veterinarian, but if she is eating well and acting fine, you could try flea medication and see if things improve. I would recommend Frontline Plus for Cats.

Also, it can be VERY difficult to diagnose food allergy in cats or in anyone for that matter. Grain and chicken may indeed be major causes, but there are many other things. You can't just select a non-grain diet with salmon and assume that if she has a food allergy, that will fix it. She could be allergic to salmon or anything else in that diet.

Some cats groom themselves excessively and therefore have bald areas from stress. There are also cases of hair loss from endocrine diseases, such as diabetes, hyperthyroidism, etc.

Again, the number one reason for hair loss in cats is flea allergy. However, to rule out all the other causes, you would need a veterinary exam and probably blood tests.

Thank you for writing.

Best wishes,
Dr. Neely