Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 1/1/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
My three year old cat has recently begun pulling out her hair.  While grooming, she rips out hair from her back.  She is developing several bald spots.  The skin on the bald spots      seems a little dry, but otherwise healthy.  Would dry skin cause her to rip out her hair?  If so, what can I do to moisturize her skin?

Thank you,
Stephanie

ANSWER: This is most likely an itchy skin disease that results from an allergy.  YOu need to have your vet check the cat to see what this is.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you Dr. Gotthelf.  I've actually already taken her to the vet.  She was given an anti-histamine which has not helped at all.  If anything, it is getting worse.  They also did a full blood work-up and found slightly elevated thyroid levels, but still within normal range.  They don't want to see her again for a couple of weeks so I just wanted to get some information about other possibilities or other options to try in the meantime.  I figured it wouldn't hurt to explore dry skin solutions.  Any thoughts?
Thanks again!
Stephanie

Answer
There is not much you can do for dry skin other than adding oils to the food.  That is a very unusual situation in a cat.  Ask the vet to give a shot of something called DepoMedrol.  It is a long acting steroid that will take away the itching.  It could be a food allergy that is causing this and the only way to know is to feed a special hypoallergenic diet for 4-6 weeks.