Hair Loss

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Wendy - 07 Nov 2005 12:25 GMT

My long haired 4-5 yr. old Isabelle is losing more hair around her hind
quarters. We adopted her around 2 years ago and she came with a bald belly
(they had shaved her to look for her spay scar) but long hair everywhere
else and thick hair on her hind legs. Her tummy hair appeared to be making a
come back but she only seemed to grow back a fine, sparse underfur. Now
she's losing hair from her hind legs, around her anus and the underside of
her tail where it joins her body. She had a vet visit very recently to get
her shots and I asked the vet about the bald belly then. He said not to
worry it would grow back when she went through the next shed. Sounded like a
lot of BS to me and I'm thinking a change in vet is in order.

She is an inside only cat as are all of my cats so it's not fleas (I checked
anyway). The skin looks healthy and is soft with no dryness or flaking. She
has lost a little less than 2 lbs over the last year but we had her on a
diet (no free feeding, less dry, more canned) so she now weighs a little
better than 12 lbs. and appears to be at a healthy weight (still has meat on
her bones but she has a waist and you can find ribs if you go looking). I've
increased her food intake a little recently to maintain her weight where it
is.

She has started that cough/gagging again just recently too. When I asked the
vet about it before he said it was hairball related. She has never gagged
one of them up though. She doesn't do any coughing over the summer or winter
so it could be related to seasonal sheds. I've been giving her petromalt in
case that is what it is.

She is in the same room with us most of the time and I don't see her doing
excessive grooming.

She's been a lot more affectionate since we had Tigger PTS and had been
getting a lot more attention than she used to as a result so it doesn't seem
to be stress related as nothing else has changed around here.

Any thoughts?

W

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cybercat - 07 Nov 2005 17:13 GMT

> My long haired 4-5 yr. old Isabelle is losing more hair around her hind
> quarters. We adopted her around 2 years ago and she came with a bald belly
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> she's losing hair from her hind legs, around her anus and the underside of
> her tail where it joins her body.

Wendy, you may recall that my shelter cat came with a bald "bikini"
area and I thought it was odd that the fur never grew back. Like your
Isabelle, there was just fine, sparse fur there for three years after her
spay. As it turns out, she was licking it off! She began doing this after
she
was spayed, and continued. How do I know? Because when she began
licking a spot on her side bald, I figured out that there was something
bothering her, fixed it, and the hair on her side AND her belly grew in!
(Her much more assertive sister was invading her turf, including lying
on her very own guest room bed, trying to get closer to me. I fixed this
by seeking out the other cat and spending time with her elsewhere.)

That was issue number 1. Issue number 2 is that my cat has that EGC
complex [Look here:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/eosinophilic_granuloma.html
so often seen in cats that have both allergies and asthma,
so in addition to the anxiety grooming, she is itchy and overgrooms
in between Depo shots. When I notice it I give her Chlortrimeton
(2 mgs every twelve hours for maybe two days) and it seems to
relieve her itchiness. Do you ever notice bumps on the backs of
Isabelle's legs, or sores on her mouth? You mentioned that she is
coughing. It sure sounds like the EGC/asthma combo my cat has.

I have to agree that it is time to get a new vet, given your other comments.
When you said this:

> She doesn't do any coughing over the summer or winter
> so it could be related to seasonal sheds.

I thought to myself, "or, to seasonal allergies that exacerbate
asthma." Also, allergies without asthma produce enough mucus
to choke cats up. Just as with us, when there is an irritant there
mucus is produced to salve it.

> She's been a lot more affectionate since we had Tigger PTS and had been
> getting a lot more attention than she used to as a result so it doesn't seem
> to be stress related as nothing else has changed around here.

Could it be that the death of Tigger has stressed her out more,
causing the overgrooming that then causes both the baldness AND
the hairball coughing?

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Wendy - 07 Nov 2005 18:27 GMT

>> My long haired 4-5 yr. old Isabelle is losing more hair around her hind
>> quarters. We adopted her around 2 years ago and she came with a bald
[quoted text clipped - 51 lines]
> causing the overgrooming that then causes both the baldness AND
> the hairball coughing?

I would be amazed if Tigger's passing did anything more than make Izzy a
happier camper. They both wanted the position of
big-kahuna-queen-of-household-I-eat-first and as Tigger had claimed that
position many, many years prior, she wasn't giving it up just because the
newer, younger whipper-snapper came in the house. Isabelle has always gotten
along with the two boys and has played mother to both of them since they
were kittens. I don't know what it is that could be stressing her out.

I'll have to ask around and see if I can get a recommendation for a vet who
is good with allergy issues then. I'm really annoyed that the regular vet
just blew it off

W

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---MIKE--- - 07 Nov 2005 22:41 GMT

I wouldn't complain if she is losing hair around her anus. I have to
have Tiger groomed in that area to prevent "klingons". Tiger is not
cooperative about this so he has to be tranquilized.

---MIKE---

>>In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
>> (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

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Wendy - 08 Nov 2005 00:35 GMT

>>In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
>> (44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

lol I was thinking about that this morning. Isabelle never had any
dingleberries though, so there isn't any up side to her looking bald from
behind.

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cybercat - 08 Nov 2005 04:32 GMT

> I would be amazed if Tigger's passing did anything more than make Izzy a
> happier camper. They both wanted the position of
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> along with the two boys and has played mother to both of them since they
> were kittens. I don't know what it is that could be stressing her out.

You have probably noticed what creatures of habit cats are. The same
school of thought that tells humans that any change is stressful, even
"good change" may apply here.

> I'll have to ask around and see if I can get a recommendation for a vet who
> is good with allergy issues then. I'm really annoyed that the regular vet
> just blew it off

You deserve a better vet and so do your cats. Have you noticed any
bumps on Isabelle's legs, on the back of her back legs?

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Wendy - 08 Nov 2005 11:39 GMT

>> I would be amazed if Tigger's passing did anything more than make Izzy a
>> happier camper. They both wanted the position of
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> You deserve a better vet and so do your cats. Have you noticed any
> bumps on Isabelle's legs, on the back of her back legs?

I checked last night - no bumps. No nothing except normal looking kitty legs
with sparse hair and nice soft pink skin showing through.

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cybercat - 08 Nov 2005 17:09 GMT

> I checked last night - no bumps. No nothing except normal looking kitty legs
> with sparse hair and nice soft pink skin showing through.

Well, good! That at least means that Isabelle has no active linear granuloma
lesions. Of the skin bumps that EGC causes, these are the rarest, though.
(The name comes from the fact that they are in a straight line up the back
of the cat's legs.) Anyway, "granuloma" is just a fancy word for BUMP. ("a
solid grouping of inflammatory cells coming together in a lump or solid
structure.")

Maybe she has no EGC at all! But the good thing about a cat having EGC is,
even though it is annoying and makes for
an itchy cat who needs steroids or other anti-imflammatory drugs, it is
pretty much harmless. Here is that site again that explains the itchiness of
EGC etc.:

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/eosinophilic_granuloma.html

Two other signs of EGC are the plaque and the ulcer. The ulcer starts as a
swelling on the lip and gets nasty pretty quick unless you get some steroids
into the cat.

The plaque, from the above web site:

"THE EOSINOPHILIC PLAQUE
This lesion typically looks like a raised thickened raw area of skin usually
on the belly, inner thigh, or throat area. Cats with these lesions are
commonly extremely itchy. A microscope slide pressed onto the affected area
often picks up numerous eosinophils which can be detected under the
microscope thus confirming this condition. Cats with this condition
generally have increased circulating eosinophils in their bloodstreams as
well."

It could be something else, but hopefully it is EGC, stress, or allergy
because all are treatable and you can find relief for
Isabelle and for yourself, having to look at a half-bald kitty. :)

Let us know what the new vet says, and good luck.

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