Hair Loss

[Samsonsmom]

My cat seems to be losing his hair from his waist down.  He is not bald per se, it is just thinning.  It appears as if he was shaved especially on his behind, hind legs and belly area.  He appears to have lost weight, but it could be that his hair is so much less.  He has taken to sleeping under my desk light.  I am not sure if he like the warmth or if that is a symptom so I included it.  He seems to be eating, etc normallly.  I have not noticed any sores and I have checked for fleas and applied Advantage 10 days ago just in case he had them.  I have 5 other cats (I know that is a lot!!) and none of them are displaying any of these symptoms -

Thanks!

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

6 cats in a household is fine!  You are giving all these cats a home, which is much better than the alternative.  

This type of hair loss is most commonly due to behavioral barbarism,  food or environmental allergies, or, mites or fungal skin infections, such as ringworm.  If it was due to an a fungal or mite infection other cats in your household would probably be exhibiting symptoms.

Please take him to the vet for evaluation.  The vet can perform a skin scraping and other diagnostic tests.  If it is truly behavioral, there are excellent behavioral modification medications that should help.   If it is allergies,  prednisolone, Atopica, and/or a special hypoallergenic diet may help.  The significance of the lamp may be due to the fact that he feels safe away from the other cats on your desk, or he requires the heat from the lamp.  

There is a pecking order in any multi-cat household and if he is lower on the pecking order there may be an alpha cat who is bullying him.  Since he is too fearful to retaliate he pulls out his hair to try to relieve stress,  and uses avoidance behavior.  Bully's try to control and "own" areas of importance, such as litter boxes, food and water bowls and owners laps, favorite sleeping areas, etc.  Please use one litter pan for each cat,  plus one additional per household, to avoid additional behavioral problems

[Samsonsmom]

Thank you for the advice, I will make an appointment with our vet immediately.