Expert: KC - 3/4/2008

Question
My two year old male cat has developed a hair loss problem since thanksgiving.  It began from the tip of his tail, on one side and now has progressed to the belly and a few other spots.  I have taken his to two vets.....dermatologist and regular vet (both having practiced for over 30 years.)  Both has said that they have never seen a cat develop hair loss in this pattern.  They both have said they cannot know exactly the cause, but probably psychogenic or autoimmune or food allergy.

Bubba Dolce is a 14 pound tuxedo short-hair.  He developed an anterior uveitis at 1 year which recurred last May and has been on steriod eye drops.  The suspicion is an underlying immune system issue, but is not known.  Otherwise he is healthy and active.

He was one of a litter of 9 which we raised and supplemental bottle fed.  has been on Wysong wet and dry food since a kitten, but we have added Evo and Wellness dry food.....and last year I introduced Merrick canned food.....and added Wysong 4-life to it.  Recently I have stopped the 4life addition and have not given the Merrick wet food for 3 weeks.  

We have never seen him over-groom.

He is one of 4 cats.....two from the same litter.  

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. I am thinking of trying Feline Pride raw food.

S Abee

Answer
Hi,

I greatly apologize for taking so long to reply to your question.  I had an unexpected emergency and have been out of town.

I'm assuming that you had a broad range of lab tests run on him?  If not, talk to your vet about running a kidney panel.  I would want to make sure that his kidenys are functioning properly and there are no signs of adrenal tumors...as adrenal problems, including tumors, can possibly lead to hair loss in animals.  It may require further tests, possibly only an x-ray, to fully determine if the adrenals are involved.  It's not too common to find it in cats.  However, adrenal problems do cause hair loss as you've described.  I would also be worried about an underlying autoimmune issue.  However, you'd expect to see red, itchy skin, etc.  With most any major hair loss problem, particularly those caused by adrenal tumors, auto immune problems, etc, you would expect a different hair loss pattern.  I'm unaware of any that begin on the tail as you mentioned...as most start on the back or base of tail.  I would suspect over grooming...in fact, more so that it being a mere food allergy...as this causes itching all over due to an inflammatory process.  Or, it can cause thinning of the hair and hair loss in patches.  You would also most certainly notice a duller than normal coat, perhaps super oily, and a dandruff problem.  

Do you have other cats that could possibly be grooming him?  Is he (or all of your cats) alone in the house for an extended period during the day when you can't monitor him (in case of over grooming)?  Any chance you have a cat door installed in your home?  I've seen cats with baldness on the stomach and back (over weight cats who needed a larger cat door) and also missing hair on the tail tips from going too slowly through the opening...but particularly because the door was old and worn and needed replacing.  If not, is there any other small space that the cat has been crawling into?  ...I'm just trying to throw out some ideas.  

Please keep me posted on what it turns out to be.  Sorry I can't offer more suggestions.
Best of luck!