Why is my cat losing so much hair

Índice Show

What causes hair loss in cats?
Excessive grooming in cats
Visiting your vet
Ideas to reduce a cat’s stress level
Anti-anxiety supplements, medications and calming foods for cats
Other Symptoms to Check For With Hair Loss in Cats
Causes of Hair Loss on a Cat
How Veterinarians Diagnose Cat Hair Loss
Treatment of Hair Loss in Cats
Recovery and Management of Cat Alopecia
Cat Alopecia FAQs

Your vet will give your cat a thorough check over to find out what’s causing their alopecia. If they discover fleas, which are a common cause of itching and subsequent hair loss, they may recommend flea treatment (which you should keep up to date, anyway).

Treating alopecia depends on the cause behind your cat's hair loss. Once your vet has run some tests, you’ll be able to get the right treatment. Check out some of the treatment options for cat hair loss below.

Is your cat losing her fur? Hair loss in felines (alopecia) can occur for many different reasons, so identifying what’s behind a cat’s loss of fur may take some work.

What causes hair loss in cats?

Feline fur loss may have fungal and parasitic causes, such as ringworm, mites or flea allergies. Food allergies are another possibility, as are metabolic conditions such as hyperthyroidism, the term for over-production of thyroid hormones. In some cats, urinary tract issues reportedly cause continual licking, with hair loss as a result.

Answers to the following questions may help reveal the cause: Does she groom herself a lot? Is she itchy and does she scratch herself often? If you have other cats, what is her relationship with them — harmonious or contentious? Have you changed anything in your home lately that could be causing increased stress in your cat?

Signs of a healthy cat

Excessive grooming in cats

If your cat appears to be healthy otherwise, it’s possible that over-grooming to reduce stress — also known as displacement grooming — may be what’s happening. Displacement grooming, which is considered to be rooted in anxiety, may serve to lower a cat’s stress level, help calm her and deflect aggression from other individuals. It is common to see a cat who’s in a stressful situation suddenly begin to groom herself.

Over time, this displacement behavior can become independent of the initial stressor and eventually become compulsive in nature. This condition is known as “psychogenic alopecia.” (Psycho means “of the mind,” genic means “producing or arising from,” and alopecia means “hair loss.”) This type of alopecia generally occurs on the inner forelimbs, the rear area of the abdomen, the groin region, the tail and/or the lower back area, and it may or may not be symmetric. The hair loss occurs only in places that can be reached by the cat’s tongue; secondary skin changes, such as redness or bumps, are rarely evident.

Visiting your vet

To find out more about what’s going on, take your cat to your veterinarian for a complete exam, including blood work, a thyroid function check and a urinalysis. These tests will help to rule out any metabolic causes of hair loss, such as Cushing’s disease (which is rare in cats), hyperthyroidism or urinary tract disease.

One study examining cats with a presumptive diagnosis of psychogenic alopecia found that medical causes of itching and hair loss were identified in 76 percent of the cats, while only 10 percent of the cases were found to be purely behavioral. The remaining 14 percent involved a combination of psychogenic alopecia and medical causes of itching and hair loss.

How to find a good vet

Ideas to reduce a cat’s stress level

If your cat’s lab results are all normal and there is no evidence of other causes, you may wonder what to do next to help your cat. Because psychogenic alopecia is based on emotional states of stress, anxiety and frustration, focus on minimizing stress for your kitty. Here are some ways to do that:

Place perches and climbing posts in key areas, such as in front of a window. This may encourage your cat to express her natural tendency to rest on high surfaces and view her environment from above.
To enrich her environment and offer privacy, give her access to some cardboard boxes and paper bags (with the handles removed for safety).
Play with her using interactive toys, such as a feather wand, to stimulate her natural hunting instincts and help her burn off excess energy.
Get a Feliway diffuser, which releases a synthetic version of a feline pheromone, a calming chemical substance that cats produce naturally.
Other options for providing enrichment include scattering kibble around to encourage her to “hunt” for her food, offering nontoxic cat grasses or catnip, and giving her food puzzle toys.

Anti-anxiety supplements, medications and calming foods for cats

If these modifications are not successful, or your veterinarian feels additional intervention is necessary, anti-anxiety supplements such as Anxitane or Composure can be considered. There are also calming food options on the market by brands such as Royal Canin or Science Diet that may help. If further therapy is needed, you may want to talk to your vet about putting your cat on an anti-anxiety medication, such as Fluoxetine or Paroxetine.

With so many potential underlying causes, fur loss in cats can be a difficult thing to resolve. The key is to keep an open dialogue going with your vet, and to explore the solutions that feel right for you and your sweet feline.

Keeping your cat healthy

Other Symptoms to Check For

Alopecia is the medical term for hair loss in cats. This is a common problem for cats and can have a variety of possible causes. In many cases, there is more than one contributing cause, making the problem frustrating for pet parents to figure out and eliminate.

Some types of cat hair loss involve the hair falling out spontaneously, while others are caused by cats overgrooming, biting, or scratching themselves. Occasionally, alopecia is nothing to worry about, such as the small areas of hair loss many cats develop in the area between their ears and eyes. Other times, it can be a symptom of serious underlying disease.

Cat alopecia can be broken down into two types:

Congenital alopecia occurs most often in newborn kittens or young cats, and it does not cause them to be itchy. This is usually related to your cat’s breed or genetics.
Acquired alopecia occurs in cats that are born with normal hair coats and lose hair because of an underlying systemic illness or skin disease. It can occur at any age and there are many possible causes, ranging from an infection with parasites like mites, to an allergy, or a metabolic disease like hyperthyroidism. These cats may or may not be itchy, depending on the underlying cause.

Other Symptoms to Check For With Hair Loss in Cats

Cats with alopecia can have patches of hair loss in one area of the body or in multiple areas. The locations vary based on the underlying cause of hair loss. Cat alopecia may be inflammatory or non-inflammatory, meaning that the skin may appear red and irritated, or it may appear normal.

Cats with inflammatory alopecia may show a number of symptoms:

Be obviously itchy and seem to lick, bite, gnaw, and scratch at their skin more than normal.
Experience an increase in hairballs.
Have other skin abnormalities such as redness, bumps, scabs, sores, or crusts.

It is important to note that just because you don’t see signs of itchiness, that doesn’t mean your cat is not itchy. Often, cats hide those behaviors, only to gnaw and scratch when they are hidden from view.

If there is an underlying systemic disease affecting your cat, you may see these signs:

Changes in appetite
Vomiting and/or diarrhea
Changes in energy level
Increased thirst and urination
Enlarged abdomen or a pot-belly appearance

Cats with allergies may also experience additional symptoms:

Conjunctivitis
Inflammation of the ears

Causes of Hair Loss on a Cat

There are multiple causes of congenital alopecia.

Alopecia universalis is a condition in which the cat is born without hair. While hairlessness is a feature of some breeds (e.g., Sphinx, Elf, Delf cats), there is a genetic mutation that makes this type of alopecia possible in any cat breed.
Hereditary hypotrichosis is when a cat is born with a thin coat of hair, then loses it over time. This is more commonly seen in Siamese, Devon Rex, Birman, and Burmese cats.
Follicular dysplasia takes place when cats are born with a full coat of hair that thins over time. Cornish Rex breeds are predisposed to this.

There are many potential causes of acquired alopecia in cats, and the problem may be the result of one or more of the following:

Infection caused by bacteria (most commonly Staphylococcus), yeast (usually Malassezia), ringworm, or parasites (e.g., Demodex, Cheyletiella, Notoedres, or Otodectes mites).
Allergies to fleas, food, or environmental allergens.
Discomfort caused by another disease, such as inflammation in the bladder, kidneys, gastrointestinal system, or anal sacs.
Endocrine disease like hyperthyroidism (common) or Cushing’s disease (rare in cats).
Recent metabolic stress, such as pregnancy, nursing, or fever.
Cancers, including cutaneous lymphoma, thymoma, pancreatic carcinoma, and bile duct carcinoma.
An immune-mediated disease, like alopecia areata (extremely rare).
Psychogenic alopecia, a behavioral issue in which the cat overgrooms due to compulsion and anxiety.

How Veterinarians Diagnose Cat Hair Loss

It is important to take appropriate steps to identify the underlying cause of your cat’s alopecia. The first step in diagnosis is a detailed history. Details like the age of your cat and whether it’s on prescription flea prevention, seems itchy, experiences seasonal skin issues, or has had any recent stressors helps your vet determine the proper plan of treatment.

The next step is a physical exam performed by your veterinarian. The location of the cat’s alopecia is often a clue for what the underlying cause may be. For example, the base of the tail and lower back is often affected in cats with flea issues. Anal gland issues can cause irritation around the anus below the tail, and a cat with psychogenic alopecia will not have hair loss on its neck or face.

Your veterinarian will likely perform one or more diagnostic tests:

Wood’s lamp: This test detects some occurrences of ringworm infection.

Fungal culture: A veterinarian may perform a ringworm culture in-house or send a sample to an outside laboratory. It can take several days to get these results.
Cytology: A skin impression or tape sample is viewed under a microscope to determine bacteria or yeast.
Skin scraping: A scrape can be used to look for parasites, such as mites.
Skin biopsy: If the appearance of the cat’s skin is unusual or other tests do not provide a diagnosis, a veterinarian may perform a punch biopsy—or surgically remove—a small area of skin for a pathologist to view.
Bloodwork and urinalysis: These tests may be recommended to evaluate for an endocrine disorder (such as hyperthyroidism) or other underlying systemic diseases.
Allergy testing: Your veterinarian may recommend an elimination diet trial using prescription food for 8 to 12 weeks to test for a food allergy. The vet may also recommend intradermal allergen testing if other causes of alopecia have been ruled out and the vet thinks your cat could have an environmental allergy.
Imaging: An ultrasound and/or X-rays may be used to look for signs of cancer.

Psychogenic alopecia is a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning that it can only be definitively diagnosed after other causes have been ruled out. It is more likely if there have been changes to the cat’s environment, like new pets, visiting family members, moving, or other stressors.

Treatment of Hair Loss in Cats

Treatment will depend on the underlying cause of your pet’s hair loss. Use of an Elizabethan collar (e-collar) may be recommended if your pet is licking or biting the skin. The collar helps prevent infection and allows the hair to regrow.

Possible treatments may include:

Parasiticide treatment (e.g., Revolution, Bravecto, Credelio), which may be prescribed for eight weeks for all pets in the house. This is recommended even if no parasites are found on exam, as cats are excellent groomers and may effectively remove most of the parasites from their hair coat before you see them.
Topical therapy which may include medicated shampoo, mousse, or ointment.
Systemic antibiotics and/or antifungals.
Elimination diet trial for 8 to 12 weeks with a prescription allergy diet or a limited-ingredient diet.
Medications such as prednisolone, cyclosporine, and/or antihistamines to reduce itch.
Behavior-modifying medication (such as fluoxetine) and environmental enrichment, including improved access to resources (food, water, litter box), playtime, and interactive toys.

Recovery and Management of Cat Alopecia

Recovery time for cats with alopecia depends on the underlying cause, and it may take weeks to several months. If the underlying cause is identified and appropriate treatment is pursued, your cat’s hair will likely grow back.

Many diagnoses will require long-term management such as year-round flea prevention, prescription cat food, regular use of topical therapies, and/or consistent use of medication. It is important to work closely with your veterinarian and follow instructions for follow-up visits to achieve the best possible outcome.

Cat Alopecia FAQs

Can alopecia in cats be cured?

Most cases of alopecia can be cured if appropriate steps are taken to diagnose and treat the underlying cause.

Do cat bald spots grow back?

Bald spots on cats typically grow back after the underlying cause is addressed. For shorthaired cats, hair may grow back in a matter of weeks, but it may take several months for other cats.

How do I know if my cat has alopecia?

Your cat has alopecia if you notice areas of hair that are thinner than the rest of the haircoat. This is different from shedding, a normal process that does not cause visible areas of hair thinning or baldness.