ASK-THE-VET: WHAT TO DO WITH A CAT WHO IS PULLING OUT HER HAIR?
October 12th, 2009 by Dr. Donna Spector
Q: My cat has the same thing. Again a rescued kitty, she pulls her hair out in clumps. She then gets her hair back and looks beautiful again, and then she starts all over pulling it out. The people I rescued her from say the vet said she just had bad nerves, I would too if I lived in one room with 3 big dogs and 2 bother cats who were all mean, probably because they were neglected! She is not the same cat I got 2 years ago. A lot of love and now she gets up in peoples laps; she is not scared of anything now! She lays all over me; she thinks I’m her pillow! What do you suggest? I am on SS disability; I only get $674 a month that really limits what I can do. Her hair is back right now, I think it’s because I switched her to Friskies can. Let me know what you think. Thank you and god bless all of you @ halo every animal deserves to be spoiled!
A: Your kitty is lucky to have found you–bless you for rescuing her!
Pulling out hair can be a sign of several things in cats: 1) Nervousness/anxiety; 2) Behavioral problems; or 3) Allergies (most commonly inhaled allergy or food allergy). My recommendations are as follows:
• Identify any stressors in her environment. Sometimes it isn’t an obnoxious dog or a bully cat that stresses a cat out. Sometimes it is the lack of proper play items in the environment or something not even as obvious. Visit The College of Veterinary Medicine web site to read details on the Indoor Cat Initiative. This initiative gives tips to identifying possible stressors for indoor cats and ways to enrich their environment to minimize nervousness and possible behavioral and medical problems.
• Begin a natural diet (like Halo)–free of artificial colors, preservatives, or other synthetic chemicals that sometimes lead to allergic skin reactions.
• Begin a fatty acid supplement (like Halo Dream Coat). Fatty acids are essential to soft supple skin and an excellent hair coat. Fatty acids have been proven to have beneficial anti-inflammatory effects within the skin and may be “just what the doctor ordered” for your kitty. This is especially true if she has allergies that may be contributing to her pulling out her hair.
Give these things at least 8 to 12 weeks to work. If she is still pulling out her hair, you should make an appointment with your veterinarian to discuss the next steps for her. Read my article Allergies in Cats for ideas on what might be necessary at upcoming vet visits.
Good Luck
Dr. Donna Spector
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October 12th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
That is fascinating… I have a condition myself called trichotillomania, which means I also pull out my hair. Its a form of OCD. Of course, it may be tough to find out what is really going on inside the cat’s head via therapy (LOL), but I believe a healthy diet is a fantastic place to start.
October 15th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
I ran across this looking through my FB account and this is what my cat is doing also. She is 11 years old and I have had her since she was 6 weeks old. She sleeps in bed by me so it gets kind of bothersome she’s always biting at herself and ripping chunks of hair out. It’s calmed down in the past 3 weeks though. It just started in July maybe so it’s a new condition. Maybe the new food I bought for her. Maybe I need to stick with what she’s used to. She isn’t a fish type of kitty. She likes birds (chicken). So much for buying something that was cheaper.