Tail Hair's Disappearing!

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chumpster - 28 Oct 2006 09:32 GMT

Hi there,

My cat was hit by a car around a month ago, and despite having received
a nasty blow to the head and broken pelvis, she's been making an
incredible recovery.

Yesterday, however, I noticed a large clump of hair missing from her
tail that certainly wasn't like that the night before.

There are no cuts, or bite marks around it, and it doesn't appear to be
burned. I'm just baffled as to what's causing it.

I've tried to capture it with my camera, and it can be seen here:

www.digitalbuddy.co.uk/tail1.jpg

www.digitalbuddy.co.uk/tail2.jpg

Thanks so much for taking the time to look. We're all a little
worried.

Chris and Jane.

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buglady - 28 Oct 2006 11:49 GMT

> My cat was hit by a car around a month ago, and despite having received
> a nasty blow to the head and broken pelvis, she's been making an
> incredible recovery.
>
> Yesterday, however, I noticed a large clump of hair missing from her
> tail that certainly wasn't like that the night before.

..........Does she use her tail normally? I wonder if it's an injury that
no one noticed before. It's either repair of a damaged area or part of the
tail is dying off. I'd take a trip back to the vet to see what they have to
say.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

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ChristyLynn - 28 Oct 2006 13:57 GMT

Does she appear to be fine neurologically? Sometimes after a trauma, there
can be neurologic damage and animals (and people) can get behavioral
problems such as OCD. Keep a close eye on her and see if she is doing any
excessive licking or pulling of the hair. If you see her giving more
attention to this area, she has developed a behavioral problem probably from
the trauma of the event (accident).

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chumpster - 29 Oct 2006 21:36 GMT

> Does she appear to be fine neurologically? Sometimes after a trauma, there
> can be neurologic damage and animals (and people) can get behavioral
> problems such as OCD. Keep a close eye on her and see if she is doing any
> excessive licking or pulling of the hair. If you see her giving more
> attention to this area, she has developed a behavioral problem probably from
> the trauma of the event (accident).

Neurologically she SEEMS to be fine. She has occasional twitches
around her bum, but the vet seems to think that's actually a good thing
- she's getting 'pins and needles' as nerve endings rebuild themselves.

As we've kept a close eye on her over the past few days we've noticed
that she does indeed seem to be giving that area around her tail a lot
of attention with her tongue. Is she reacting to pain? If we do
nothing, will she eventually stop? This can't be good for her.

What should we do? She's having a minor operation to try to fix one of
her blocked tear ducts on Wednesday - should I hang on until then to
let the vet assess this new problem, or should I get it dealt with
ASAP?

Thanks for your help everyone!
C & J

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buglady - 29 Oct 2006 22:40 GMT

> Neurologically she SEEMS to be fine. She has occasional twitches
> around her bum, but the vet seems to think that's actually a good thing
> - she's getting 'pins and needles' as nerve endings rebuild themselves.

.......That might be what it is then as the spinal cord ends somewhere in
the lumbar region and the nerves that stimulate everything below it may have
gotten traumatized when the pelvis was broken. I'd mention it to the vet
and ask. B vitamins are good for nerve function.

.Here's some cat tail anatomy:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_cats_with_broken_tails.html

buglady
take out the dog before replying

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chumpster - 30 Oct 2006 11:15 GMT

Great - a thousand thanks for all of your help. We've had the
appointment brought forward to this morning... We'll report back with
the vets opinion.

> .......That might be what it is then as the spinal cord ends somewhere in
> the lumbar region and the nerves that stimulate everything below it may have
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> .Here's some cat tail anatomy:
> http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_cats_with_broken_tails.html

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ChristyLynn - 30 Oct 2006 02:00 GMT

Yep, it could have something to do with the nerve endings. Maybe the "pins
and needles" are causing a tingling in her tail and she is licking at it
because of that. Mention it when you go in on Wednesday.

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I dont know - 31 Oct 2006 19:57 GMT

> Hi there,
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Yesterday, however, I noticed a large clump of hair missing from her
> tail that certainly wasn't like that the night before.

And yet some people still think it's a good idea to let your cat run
free and un-neutered or un-spayed as the case may be.

How many more cats have to die before you idiots figure it out?

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radbooboo@gmail.com - 06 Nov 2006 13:33 GMT

> > Hi there,
>
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> How many more cats have to die before you idiots figure it out?

I agree absolultely with this post.

Anal glands - have the vet check the anal glands.

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mouser - 20 Dec 2006 00:45 GMT

> And yet some people still think it's a good idea to let your cat run
> free and un-neutered or un-spayed as the case may be.
>
> How many more cats have to die before you idiots figure it out?

Oh, that's a LOT of help, that is!

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Dan Espen - 20 Dec 2006 02:19 GMT

> Hi there,
>
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> There are no cuts, or bite marks around it, and it doesn't appear to be
> burned. I'm just baffled as to what's causing it.

Is there is any possibility that your cat is mating?

Damage like that is typical of the cat fights that go with mating.

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