Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 7/18/2006

Question
I recently adopted a cat from my father, he passed away 6 weeks ago and we have had his cat since the day after he passed. About 2 weeks ago we started finding chunks of hair around the house and now shes got a bald spot on her back and she is beginning to pull more out. Could this be due to stress, also she does not have fleas. Any ideas any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Yes, cats pull hair when they are stressed.  But they also get allergies from things inthe environment.  Teere is a human drug called Elavil that may help the cat if it is psychological.  There is a drug called chlorpheniramine that helps in acute allergies.   There is an injection called DepoMedrol that will help allergies for 4-6 weeks per shot. Ask your vet to evaluate the cat to see what they think.  You will have to try one of these to see if there is an effect.