If you’ve gone to stroke your cat and noticed their fur isn’t as thick as normal, or you’ve discovered a bald patch on your cat, it’s likely that you’re feeling worried. There are several reasons why your cat is losing hair so it’s important to take them to see your vet to get them treated.

What is Cat Alopecia?

Hair loss in cats is referred to as alopecia. This cat hair loss disease occurs when hair is lost quicker than it can grow back. It can also happen when the hair fails to grow at a normal rate, due to an underlying condition or excessive grooming. A cat with alopecia will have a thin coat or bald patches.

Alopecia in cats shouldn’t be confused with increased seasonal shedding, which is normal and not of concern. You should only be concerned if the shedding is heavy enough to create thinning hair or baldness. Hair loss during pregnancy and lactation is also common and nothing to worry about.

What Causes Hair Loss in Cats?

In most cases, cat hair loss and bald patches are caused by overgrooming, but what is the reason behind their excessive licking? Possible causes include:

• Atopy: cats can be allergic to environmental triggers, like dust mites or pollen, through contact or inhalation.
• Flea allergy dermatitis (FAD): some cats are allergic to flea saliva, which makes a flea bite really itchy. They will excessively groom to remove the fleas, which can cause cat hair loss patches and sores.
• Food allergies: specific proteins in food can be the cause of an allergic reaction in cats, resulting in skin irritation and inflammation.
• Medication: fur loss in cats can be a side effect of certain medications.
• Mites: ear mites or harvest mites are common parasites that cause intense itching for cats, resulting in them overgrooming.
• Pain: cats may overgroom to relieve pain. It’s common for cats with a urinary tract infection to overgroom their belly and around their back end.
• Psychogenic alopecia: cats use grooming as a way to self-soothe when they’re feeling stressed or anxious, often due to changes in the household.

Sudden hair loss in cats can also be caused by an underlying health condition or a secondary infection. Hair growth is reliant on a healthy, functioning hair follicle. A cat’s hair remains in the follicle until a new hair grows and replaces it, shedding the old hair. This is a continuous cycle. If the follicle is damaged, destroyed or affected by inflammation or infection, it can hinder long term regrowth or cause hair loss.

Conditions that can affect the hair follicles include:

• Congenital alopecia: in rare cases, some cats are born with abnormally functioning hair follicles. This is most common in Siamese cats.
• Demodectic mange: a small number of Demodex mites naturally live in the hair follicles and cause no issues. Demodectic mange is caused when the number of mites increase and cause hair and skin issues.
• Feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) dermatitis: FeLV can cause problems with the cat’s skin and hair. This usually results in scaling, crusting and loss of hair, mostly on the head and face.
• Glandular or hormonal disease: conditions like hyperthyroidism can cause hormonal changes that affect the hair growth cycle.
• Pyoderma: a bacterial skin infection that clogs and damages the hair follicle.
• Ringworm: a fungal infection that causes circular patches of hairless, red and dry skin.
• Seborrhoea: a skin disease that causes excessive flaky skin.

How Do I Know What Is Causing My Cat's Hair Loss?

If your cat's coat condition changes and you notice bald spots, scabs, inflammation, a rash, itchiness or overgrooming, take them to see your vet. They’ll ask you for a full history and will perform a physical examination of your cat.

They may want to run some diagnostic tests to find out what’s going on and how it can be treated. This may include a blood test, skin scraping or skin biopsy, as well as taking swabs and hair samples.

Cat Hair Loss Treatment

Once the hair loss cause has been determined, your cat can start the right treatment to get them looking and feeling themselves again. Fleas, mites and mange can be treated with parasite control products. Cat hair loss from ringworm, pyoderma or seborrhoea can be treated with antifungal medications and/or antibiotics.

Allergies can take longer to treat as you first need to identify the allergen and then remove it if possible. Your vet can run some tests to check for reactions against common allergens. If the overgrooming is due to pain, the underlying problem will need to be treated before the symptoms will resolve.

If your cat’s excessive grooming has caused bald patches, it’s likely they’re experiencing psychogenic alopecia. To treat this, the cause of their stress will first need to be identified. Speak to your vet, they will be able to offer advice and refer you to a pet behaviour specialist.

The best at home treatment for cat hair loss due to stress is to stick to your cat's normal routine where possible. This will help them to feel safe and calm. Also make sure your cat is getting enough environmental enrichment, like climbing trees, toys and if possible, plenty of time outside. Playing, climbing and hunting will relieve stress and help your cat to feel good!

When the underlying problem has been treated, the hair follicles can recover, and hair will grow back. But if the follicles have been permanently damaged or destroyed, there will be a permanent bald patch on your cat, and no new ones will form.

Bald patches on cats can be quite an alarming sight as we’re so used to their glorious shiny coats. There are many causes of hair loss in cats, most of which are treatable. But some skin conditions can be expensive to treat and there are often no quick fixes. Your vet will be able to advise on the best treatment plan for your cat.

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Content provided from Vetstream's Vetlexicon Felis - www.vetlexicon.com/treat/felis

Vetlexicon is the world’s largest peer-reviewed online clinical reference source. All our content is written and peer-reviewed by over 1,000 of the world’s leading veterinarians, ensuring relevance, accuracy and quality.