06
Jul
Psychological disturbances are a very common cause of self-inflicted hair loss in cats. Cats tend to pull out their hair usually by accident when overgrooming themselves due to having itchy skin matted fur or even due to stress.
These range from bacterial infections cancerous tumours or high levels of growth hormone.
Why my cat is pulling her hair out. So what would cause a cat to pluck out her own coat. Overgrooming in cats is usually a sign of itch Dr. An itchy cat may respond by scratching but in other cats itchiness can manifest as hair pulling and licking.
Pinpointing the cause of. Feline dermatitis and why cats pull out hair. Feline dermatitisis typically caused by an allergy to flea bites or a mite infestation.
If you notice sore patches of skin with scabs its likely to be dermatitis. Your cat will be obsessively scratching and grooming the affected area. The commonest manifestation of an allergy in cats is itchy skin which in turn results in excessive grooming and pulling hair out.
In much the same way that some people have a peanut allergy or a seafood allergy or get hay fever a cat may be allergic to one substance and be fine with another. A cat pulling hair out is likely dealing with a skin condition allergies parasites hormone condition skin infection or possibly anxiety. Cats tend to pull out their hair usually by accident when overgrooming themselves due to having itchy skin matted fur or even due to stress.
Cats lose or pull their fur out in chunks due to medical illnesses or disease allergies environmental pest or food-related skin parasites sudden changes to their environment or because theyre a certain breed of cat. The illnesses that cause fur pulling are hyperthyroidism alopecia cancer heart disease or diabetes. In some cases cats can pull their hair out due to obsessive-compulsive tendencies or extreme anxiety.
VCA Hospitals describes such a condition as feline psychogenic alopecia which expresses itself through compulsive grooming habits like licking tearing out patches of hair chewing on paws or tail chasing to name a few. First - the hair pulling I think is something some cats do like grooming. Consider it a compliment but dont let him do it.
My cat started when he was a baby pulling my hair out. I thought it was cute but now hes big. Luckily I stopped him.
Any time he tries I just pick him up and move him to my lap. My boyfriends cat did this and none of the vets could figure it out. Eventually we found her hiding one day kind of foaming at the mouth and we ran her to the vet.
Turns out it was some kind of autoimmune disease - which has fur mowing pulling out hair as a symptom. We never would of figured it out had her mouth not gone crazy. One of my cats licks herself raw and Ive got a Feliway plug-in which seems to help some.
In Kanoes case were not sure if its anxiety or allergies yet. The Feliway might help though. Its available online should be at Petsmart or perhaps through your.
In some cases hair-pulling occurs due to medical factors such as allergies skin infections or parasite infestation. Your cat could be experiencing an itchy or irritating feeling in his skin causing him to lick chew and yank out the hair in the area in a futile attempt to alleviate the maddening itch. A cat that is losing hair has multiple potential causes including flea allergy excessive licking mange ringworm stress and thyroid disease.
Treatment is based on diagnosing and eliminating the underlying cause Excessive amounts of cat hair loss is not normal an can indicate some type of underlying disease. Johnnys new bald spot on his tail isnt only unattractive it may also be a warning sign of something more serious. Cats are supposed to groom themselves and can lose some hair in the process but he shouldnt be pulling out his hair.
He needs immediate medical attention. You wrote that your cat is over-grooming and pulling out hair. When there is no hair the medical term is called Alopecia.
There are MANY causes for alopecia. Id recommend that you talk to your vet to ensure he did all the tests necessary to ensure that there is no underlying cause and the problem is behavioral. Cheryl My cat pulls hair when my other cat is asleep and obviously it freaks him out.
He runs after he does it because he knows hes not supposed to do that. I use a squirt gun to dissuade him. Psychological disturbances are a very common cause of self-inflicted hair loss in cats.
Cats who pull chew or excessively groom their fur do this despite the fact that their skin does not itch. This may be a manifestation of stress or anxiety. These range from bacterial infections cancerous tumours or high levels of growth hormone.
It is also possible that the cats claws have been cut to close to the nail bed leaving them susceptible to infections. These are just a few of the issues that can cause your cat to pull at his or her claws. Why is My Cat Biting Their Fur.
If you notice your purr-fect pal constantly biting or grooming their fur pulling at their hair or pulling it out - or if they lick repeatedly at a certain spot they may be overgrooming. There are lots of reasons for this behavior. Allergies and stress can be the main causes so its important to notice if.
The hair doesnt just fall out. The cats actually lick it so much that they pull their hair out. Its not that the hair cant grow Dr.
These cats are licking it out. Another form of alopecia not many cat owners consider at first is the psychogenic one which makes the cat pull out and chew its own hair due to anxiety stress or fear. However since cats love their routines and arent that easy to adjust to new people and environments this form of alopecia is relatively common.
Some cats will pull the hair out with their teeth and create skin wounds and ulcerations. This behavior is often associated with some new stressor in the cats life. Psychogenic alopecia is more common in young female cats but can occur in any cat.