Question:
Hi
Hope you can help! My cat has been losing his hair in patches. He lickes his fur alot. The vet I take him too dosen't know what is causing it. He has had him on a course of antibiotics and that hasn't helped. Could you give me some suggestions as to what is causing this please?????
Thanks,

Tommy and Margaret

Answer:
Is he actually losing his fur, or is he overgrooming and licking it off?

Bald patches caused by overgrooming are usually the result of some kind of stress. Some cats are very "thin skinned" and easily stressed.

Answer:
Where are the patches that the cat is licking? Specific areas?

Answer:
My Chico was licking himself bald on his tummy and hind legs when Vinnie came along,stressrelated.. The vet gave me some Variton-creme to put on the bald spots,his hair grew back and he is not licking anymore,but also more relaxed around Vinnie.There is an antihistamine in the creme,maybe he was allergic to Vinnies presence

Answer:
If your cat has ever had fleas it might be over grooming as a result of a skin rash caused by the fleas. My vet told us that often times a cats skin might become over sensitive and constantly itch as a result from a bite (it may only take one bite to start the rash). One of the ways a cat then deals with the itch or rash is to lick or try to clean the fur.
My Aunt's cat sweetie has several bald areas from a flea problem that was taken care of several years ago.
Our vet said that sometimes a cat will do it either from stress (they might not like begin alone; might not like have a lot of people/animals around; they just like being high strung) or they think they need to constantly groom to keep themselves clean. Then when we told him about the fleas he said that it sounds like sweetie is allergic to fleas and might have a skin condition resulting from bites. (kind of like dry skin in humans, if you use the wrong kind of lotion it only makes you skin worse.)
As long as the over grooming is not causing your cat to vomit or become sensitive to petting then I would not worry to much about it. But Keep and eye on it. If anything changes talk to the vet again.

Answer:
Same thing happens to my cat. Skittles stresses alot, overlicks his fur, looses patches, gets sores. My vet gave him a shot of quartazone (sp) and that helped so much.....lasted for over two years. He has started up again, as we moved recently and that seems to be stressing him, and we will be taking him in again for another.

Answer: