Cat Health – Hair Loss

Alopecia or hair loss is common cat health problem. Alopecia may be complete or partial, appearing as impaired growth of new hair or as a patchy loss of hair from specific body areas. Skin surrounding the area affected by alopecia can look normal either it can have bumps, redness, scabs and even skin loss. Hair loss may appear in symmetrical form or randomly. In all those cases it can be treated, but treatment options are limited. Usually diseases that cause alopecia at first do not cause a cat  much discomfort. Causes are various, for older cats having cancer diagnosed alopecia is quite common. Hormonal imbalances of almost any kind, but especially increased level of steroids in blood or thyroid imbalances, may lead to alopecia. In case of cat allergies, hair loss may appear. Common cause of hair loss are also parasites bringing about fungal issues or mange.

Nervous disorders may be the causes and rarely heredity. Psychogenic hair loss is a syndrome in which a cat over-grooms hair and skin. The results of psychogenic alopecia are baldness usually starting on the abdomen and progressing up to the rear of the body. This syndrome, as its name implies, is believed to have a behavioral, psychological basis and therefore it is frustrating to be treated and hardly curable. Diagnosis is usually given upon complete blood count in order to be determined whether there is any hormonal or thyroid imbalance causing the hair loss. If the veterinarians caring about the cat believe that alopecia is due to some skin isue then culture or biopsy is done. Cancer or abnormalities in the adrenal glands signs are ruled out by X rays or other imaging tools. In general, treatment options are fairly limited, but what is treated is usually the cause combined with medications and available topical treatments. It is sometimes better to observe the cat’s health condition to make sure it does not become even worse, rather than administering the appropriate medication and treatment.