Hair loss

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Flycaster - 21 Dec 2004 01:06 GMT

My 7 year old female brown long hair tabby started leaving tufts of hair
all over the place during the last week. Surely, she loses hair every
now and then, but this time the hair loss seems to be excessive. Let me
give a few particulars in order to aid in your giving me some
help/direction.

Most amazingly, although her hair loss seems to be excessive, at least
compared to her hair loss pattern over the years, her coat seems to be
in great shape! Her coat is shinny and healthy looking, without a hint
of bald spots. Her health (appetite, bowel movements, urination, and
attitude) are perfectly normal. We live in south eastern Florida and
recently have been entering into a cold spell, which would lead one not
to expect hair loss. Also, Kismet has eosinophilia granulatoma which
was treated with a depot steroid about three weeks ago. She has had
such treatments sporadically over the last three years with no apparent
hair loss.

Given that overall she seems quite healthy and normal, my only "naive"
thought is that she is going through a period of normal shedding and
putting on a "new" coat. What do you guys think? Thanks,

Adam

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Karen Chuplis - 21 Dec 2004 02:26 GMT

> My 7 year old female brown long hair tabby started leaving tufts of hair
> all over the place during the last week. Surely, she loses hair every
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> Adam

Well, if the coat is in good shape, no bald spots and everything else is OK,
I wouldn't worry.

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Judy - 21 Dec 2004 03:03 GMT

>> My 7 year old female brown long hair tabby started leaving tufts of hair
>> all over the place during the last week. Surely, she loses hair every
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> OK,
> I wouldn't worry.

Seeing as this cat was diagnosed with "eosinophilia granulatoma," can you
tell me what this is? I did a web search on this and nothing came up.

Judy

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Flycaster - 21 Dec 2004 17:22 GMT

>>>My 7 year old female brown long hair tabby started leaving tufts of hair
>>>all over the place during the last week. Surely, she loses hair every
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
>
> Judy

Your search failed because I misspelled the word "granuloma." Here's
the results of a Google search:

http://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=eosinophilia+gr
anuloma&spell=1

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Mary - 21 Dec 2004 18:00 GMT

"Judy" <wumpygirl@**DITCHME**yahoo.com> wrote :

> Seeing as this cat was diagnosed with "eosinophilia granulatoma," can you
> tell me what this is? I did a web search on this and nothing came up.

Judy,

My 5-year-old females was diagnosed with "eosinophilia granuloma"
after she was diagnosed with asthma and they found some little bumps
on the backs of her legs. (The kind she has is called "linear granuloma"
and the vet says it is rare. It just means "bumps in a line" from what
I can tell.) Someone below sent you some links for the "eosinophilia
granuloma
complex," so you can read more. It manifests as different things--sometimes
an ulcer on the lip, but usually some sort of skin disturbance. It is, like
asthma, allergy related.

She was diagnosed over two years ago and the only thing
I do for her is get her Depo Medrol shots if I see her wheeze or cough
or if the bumps on the back of her legs come back. (This is a powerful and
really effective steroid injection, but with repeated use brings side
effects
like diabetes, so the idea is to get your cat as few as possible while still
controlling the condition. It works wonders, but there are also other
treatments with less side effects that you may discuss with your vet.)

But back to hair loss. About three months ago I started finding tufts of
her
fur (she is a shorthaired cat) around and noticed a small bald patch on
her side. I attributed it to overgrooming from stress due to our other cat
coming into her territory for the first time, but now I am not so sure. She
now
has a very stylish "fade" looking do-it-herself haircut on one entire side
of
her body. In other words she has licked the fur completely off the entire
area she can reach, all the way up to the pretty longer fur at her back
bone, so that it looks sort of mohawkey. I sometimes notice very small
bumps, but cannot be sure if the licking causes them or they cause the
licking. But I know for sure it is time for a Depo shot. The thing is
she does not seem to be in any discomfort. But I have noticed that she
keeps the backs of her legs bald, too--and her tummy around where
her spay incision is.

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Flycaster - 21 Dec 2004 19:13 GMT

> "Judy" <wumpygirl@**DITCHME**yahoo.com> wrote :
>
[quoted text clipped - 38 lines]
> keeps the backs of her legs bald, too--and her tummy around where
> her spay incision is.

My cat manifests EG by having swollen lip margins. Depo Medrol does do
the trick when this issue doesn't resolve by itself. DM is a great drug
and cats do tolerate it much better than do dogs. However, it is a good
idea to only use it when necessary and try not to use it too often. I
believe that in humans, hair loss has been reported with its use and i
guess anything can happen in animals, too. But as my cat presently
shows a good caot, albeit there appears to be a lot of tuffed hair loss,
I'll just keep an eye on her.

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