Hi:
Questions 1-
I have 3 cats which have all gotten along well for 2 or more years. All
are females, the oldest 2 (mother/daughter) are spayed. Recently, the
oldest (about 5 years old) went into hiding in an attic crawl space that
I have left open for the cats to explore. (I opened up the space well
over a year ago.) I check on this oldest cat and she still comes to me
and purrs as I pet her. She has lost a good deal of weight, but is still
healthy looking. If I take food to her she eats, but when I tried to
bring her down stairs to the feeding area, she was very disturbed by the
other 2 cats and took off, back to the attic.

She went into hiding once before.  I hadn't seen her in 2 or 3 days, so
I set out looking for her. I found her under my love-seat sofa. I left
her  alone for another day or two to make sure she really was hiding.
When I brought her out I noticed She had developed a small skin problem
that caused hair loss in a few small patchy places. I purchased some
ointment which cleared up the skin rash and everything was fine for
several months. My first inclination was that the skin rash had
reappeared, but I see no sign of skin irritation or any other physical
problems.

She has always been a bit of a recluse, but this is extreme -even for
her. Any ideas or thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Question 2-
The youngest female (about 2 years old, not spayed) has bad breath. She
has had this condition since I found her at only a few days old. I took
her to a vet before I brought her home to have her dewormed and checked
for other parasites. She was cleared by the vet, so I assume the breath
isn't caused by a parasite. My 2 other cats have never had bad breath
like hers. It smells like old seafood. Again, any suggestions or
information would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,