My cat has "bald-belly syndrome"

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Edna Pearl - 06 Oct 2006 18:38 GMT

One of my three DSH's, a black 9yo neutered male named Ted, recently started
licking the hair on his tummy excessively, leaving a large, downy area of
near-baldness. He also "scrubbed" a couple spots bald on his right foreleg.

I took Ted to the vet yesterday, and was told he doesn't have any sign of
any dermatitis or allergy or skin problem -- it's "bald-belly syndrome."
The vet prescribed 2mgs of Valium for one week, 1 mg for an additional week,
then recheck.

An Internet research reveals that bald-belly syndrome is basically the
feline equivalent of obsessive-compulsive disorder. I read that Valium and
Prozac are sometimes use to treat it.

I've been under a lot of stress in recent months-- personal and family
tragedy, illness, and loss, etc. And stress is contagious. Poor Ted caught
it from me. I feel guilty, I guess.

This particular cat and I are very close. F'rinstance, he sleeps on the
pillow by my head at night. His "baseline" personality is that he is very
vocal, skittish, and goofy -- and he only lets me and sometimes my SO touch
him. Now, with a snootful Valium, he's more whiney, less skittish, clumsy,
and totally glued to me -- on my lap or underfoot at all times, crying when
not.

I would be glad to hear from anybody who has been through this with a cat.
It's just breaking my heart.

ep

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cybercat - 06 Oct 2006 19:58 GMT

"Edna Pearl" <edna_pearl@BiteMeSpammeryahoo.com> wrote[...]

> I would be glad to hear from anybody who has been through this with a cat.
> It's just breaking my heart.

Edna,

When I got my little 7-lb tabby, her belly was bald--just her "bikini" area.
I stupidly thought, "oh, that must be from her spay." And when it never
"grew back" I thought it sort of odd, but did not imagine she was licking
the fur off.

Then our other cat began coming into what Gracie thinks of as her very
own "territory" to sleep and hang out. Suddenly Gracie's left side was
going bald! And she was vomiting hairballs from the fur she ingested.

I did take her to the vet, and thought, as you thought, that it was an
allergy. (She has EGC and asthma.) The vet found no skin condition.
I read here and saw the same sort of info you saw, that it might be
psychological. As soon as I stopped our other cat from coming
up into Gracie's safe zone, not only did the hair on her side grow
back but Gracie now has this gorgeous, creamy, spotted fur on
her belly!

Your cat needs soothing and reassuring. There is nothing you can
do about the sources of stress in your life (I mean the specific ones
you mentioned, which are just a hard part of everyone's life at one
time or another) but if you can somehow comfort your kitty, keep
her from feeling the tension, this would help.

I would NOT give her valium or anything else until you try to alleviate
stress in her life. Be sure one of your other cats is not bothering her,
hanging out in her area or ambushing her at the litter box, spending
too much time with you, etc. Good luck. The happier you can make
your kitty, and the more secure, the more fur she will grow back!

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Randy - 06 Oct 2006 20:21 GMT

>One of my three DSH's, a black 9yo neutered male named Ted, recently started
>licking the hair on his tummy excessively, leaving a large, downy area of
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>
>ep

We have had the same problem with one of our cats for the past four years. The
vet has checked her out and could not find anything physically wrong with her.
He said it is probably due to stress. A cortizone shot helps but does not last
long. I took her again last week and he gave us some drops to give her. They
are an herbal based solution simply called "tension" (I don't recall the
manufacturer). We will see if that helps her. I can check the mfg name and post
if you are interested.

Randy

http://picasaweb.google.com/crmartin1

http://kittenwar.com/kittens/74045/

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Outsider - 06 Oct 2006 22:32 GMT

> One of my three DSH's, a black 9yo neutered male named Ted, recently
> started licking the hair on his tummy excessively, leaving a large,
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
>
> ep

It is not like you did this on purpose. Give yourself a break. Your cat
will notice the difference. Stay calm and good luck.

Andy

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T - 07 Oct 2006 00:10 GMT

> One of my three DSH's, a black 9yo neutered male named Ted, recently started
> licking the hair on his tummy excessively, leaving a large, downy area of
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>
> ep

Ny little DSH Emily did the same thing. Took her to the vet and the two
prevailing theories were that it was either fleas, which my eldest cat
Randy did not have, or stress. The sold me 6 pack of Advantage flea
control saying that it sometime shelped a nervous cat too.

Trust me, it was stress. Emily is a 1.5 person kitty, mostly Keyron's
but I'm a surrogate when necessary.

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barb - 07 Oct 2006 15:53 GMT

I've read in this group about several cats, particularly black cats, with
this bald belly business. My own black cat, Sapphire, developed this in
1996. I was under no stress at the time and neither was she.

There was no physical problem. The vet had me rub her belly with lemon
juice. She licked it off. He tried a few medications but nothing worked.
He then said he didn't want to keep medicating an otherwise healthy cat.
For the next 10 years her belly and insides of her back legs were bald. It
didn't show unless she lay on her back.

Bottom line, it seemed to have no effect on her life.

--
Barb
Of course I don't look busy,
I did it right the first time.

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Edna Pearl - 07 Oct 2006 22:38 GMT

That's really interesting, that it didn't seem to have any real effect on
your cat's life. I do seem to notice that Ted gets worse when I'm out of
town for a couple of days or having nightmares or something. It seems like
he licks his belly to comfort himself, calm himself -- and it seems like
when he's really stressed he starts on his front legs. But I'm notorious
for anthropomorphizing Ted :-)

I'm going to do as I'm told for now. Ted is obviously bombed on the Valium,
but is also obviously less nervous, skittish, etc. It will probably do him
good to have a little Valium Vacation, and a lot of time in my lap. I'm
trying to stay calm myself, too, as Andy says. It obviously doesn't do the
poor cat any good for me to stress about him :-)

Thanks, everybody.

ep

> I've read in this group about several cats, particularly black cats, with
> this bald belly business. My own black cat, Sapphire, developed this in
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> Of course I don't look busy,
> I did it right the first time.

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no one - 07 Oct 2006 22:51 GMT

I have a completely bald pussy here and people seem to like it !!

>That's really interesting, that it didn't seem to have any real effect on
>your cat's life. I do seem to notice that Ted gets worse when I'm out of
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>trying to stay calm myself, too, as Andy says. It obviously doesn't do the
>poor cat any good for me to stress about him :-)

>> I've read in this group about several cats, particularly black cats, with
>> this bald belly business. My own black cat, Sapphire, developed this in
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>>
>> Bottom line, it seemed to have no effect on her life.

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Rene S. - 10 Oct 2006 15:44 GMT

> An Internet research reveals that bald-belly syndrome is basically the
> feline equivalent of obsessive-compulsive disorder. I read that Valium and
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> I would be glad to hear from anybody who has been through this with a cat.
> It's just breaking my heart.

My DH and I have a DSH named Benny, who sounds similar in personality
to your Ted. After he and the other cat, Tucker, got into a tiff (after
a stressful vet visit), Benny started pulling out his fur on his right
side. I took him into the vet, who could also find nothing medically
wrong.

We were not thrilled about medicating Benny, so I looked into more
natural options. After experimentation, I found a combination of using
a Feliway diffuser, Rescue Remedy in their water, and Calms Forte
(homeopathic remedy), along with lots of praise and attention, helped.
He slowly regained his confidence, and now I only use Rescue Remedy in
the water.

He still has a few "thin" patches of fur along his back, but overall he
seems happy and healthy, so we don't worry about it.

Rene

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jean@nowhere.com - 18 Oct 2006 21:20 GMT

My cat, Willie, started licking until he has a bald belly also. I took him
in for blood work and found that he has hyperthyroidism and vet says this is
probably related due to stress.
Now, I'm here to see if I can find more info on this condition.
Good luck to your kitty.
Jean

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