Unidentified illness for my kitty??

[Kristin2010]

My kitty just turned 12.  He recently had total hair loss on the front shoulder blade quarter panel of his body.  We brought him to the vet/emergency room - where he received an antibiotic shot and soft collar.  It proceeded to get worse that week and we brought him into our normal vets for his yearly check up also scheduled.  His blood tests and check up came back normal.  White blood cells slightly high but they said it was most likely due to his hair loss issue/stress.  We did a culture on the hair and skin connected to a chunk of hair - this came back with no results (no ring worm found as they suspected this as well.)  We quaranteened him for an entire month in the guest bathroom while waiting for these results and gave him antibiotics 2x a day for this entire time.  His hair is now back - appetite great.  However; he also experienced extreme weight loss from a little over 12pds down to 8 pds.  A little diarrhea is still present (antibiotic side effect??), occasional hairball vomiting but sometimes brown liquid.  He seems to be getting SLIGHTLY heavier (very slight) - could weight gain just take a while?  What could this have been - is there something they're missing??  He does get a little moody now - hissing @ our other kitty, growls now & then when you're visiting with him.  Not consistently - could this just be old age?? He has never been a skinny kitty!

[Kristin2010]

Sorry you didn't have a chance to treat your kitty.  Thank you for sharing that - I'm going to look into all the test results and see what there was for kidney results - or if we need to put this one on the list.  His hair's been back for about three & half wks now and I'm watching it/him like a hawk for changes!

[rouxmaker]

I had a fairly young adult cat that had long hair and didnt appear to be sick but began losing a lot fo weight and its hair got greasy ugly and greasy looking.She had lost a lot of weight and vet gave her antibotics but ask vet if maybe her kidneys messing up. My cat was having kidney failure and to late to reverse or treat it.

[Kristin2010]

I do wet food (my other little guy has inflammation and crystal issues so the wet's the way to go.)  Typically use vet brands (Hills, some form of CD prescribed, etc.)  The CD was expensive and very ineffective so I've since found Pro Plan Urinary Health (wet with gravy - the chunks are like cut meat) that's been outstanding.  I separate them while they eat so I can feed different types.  Going to look into some aging, sensitive stomach type for Leroy and see how it goes.  - I'll update!  BTW - if any other brands come to mind - feel free to share.  Thanks!  

[PrettyKitty1]

That's a good idea. Go around and see which brands are better for your kitty. I'm not sure what you prefer - dry or wet - but I'd say 96% of us folks on this forum prefer wet foods. This way, you can add digestive enzymes, salmon oil and probiotics to his diet to re-enforce very easily while kitty is getting proper hydration.

We had a case very similar to yours, some time ago. The kitty was losing hair and the cause was a lack of digestive enzymes. I have not seen this member post on the cat forum lately but you can certainly send her a message. She is my good friend Marisposa. Her kitty lost a lot of hair and we all thought it was candles or some kind of essence, or perhaps a cleaning product; which I also recommend that you look into. Cats can be allergic to a variety of cleaning products. Have you thought of this?

Let us know how it all goes. We can help you get his food stuff together.  We could also help you with types and brands of digestive enzymes are GREAT for kitties, as some of us have spent some time preparing our cats' foods at home with good results.

Good Luck and keep us updated!!

PK

[Kristin2010]

Good questions - I thought of the diet and nutrition first as well.  He's an indoor kitty and no flea treatments.  He's always been on food from the vets.  I was hoping it is food related so we could simply add or change something in his diet and move forward.  So far - they have not felt it was dietary.  (The hair loss was aggressive and dramatic - totally bald like Austin Powers/Dr Evil kitty on one side - completely freaked me out!)  

This week I thought to look into new types of food for older felines just in case they're missing this possibility so it's good to see someone bring this up - the thought can't be that far off right??  For a little man that eats so much it's just scary to see his little boney body.  I thought perhaps the loss of fur was the final symptom for malnutrition due to some kind of illness or "bug".

[Jade59]

Just to address the initial problem, my first thought is to ask if you put a flea treatment on your kitty?  It's usually put up between the shoulder blades.  We have a neighbor cat who loses her fur right where this stuff is applied.