Persians lose all hair after groomer visit

[PandP]

We took our cats, Persians, for their regular grooming, and now all their hair is falling out in clumps.  This began slowly, about 10 days after the grooming.  Now all the hair is falling out, both cats.  The groomer used a new shampoo on the cats.  The vet said he sees no sign of mites, ringworm, any illness -- the cats are eating, playing, grooming themselves, not scratching.  But all their hair is coming out in huge lumps, right down to the skin.  The hair is all dead, just waiting for us to comb it out.

The groomer says this is impossible.  The shampoo manufacturer says this is impossible.  Our vet of twenty years says there is no other explanation he can think of except a reaction to the shampoo -- and he's never seen anything this dramatic in the many years he has been in practice.  These poor animals are now on antibiotics as a safeguard, on a product to keep the inevitable hairballs from killing them, and I am still pulling huge clumps of hair off them, and will continue to do so until all the hair is gone -- the vet removed enough hair in his office to build two more cats.  We do see some new growth appearing, and the vet hopes all their hair will grow back, but we can't be sure.

Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this with their cats after a shampoo at the groomer?  Thank you.

[PandP]

A depilatory?  I hadn't thought of that one!   Is that something that would be in a groomer's arsenal of bottles and such on a shelf in their establishment -- able to be mixed up with a bottle of shampoo, then used by mistake?

Our vet said the hair shafts are just detached from their bodies at the root (and, with three-inch long hair, what we've got are huge mats of clumping hair that have to be pulled out).  The shampoo company (well known, been around for a long time) agreed to pay for the vet visit yesterday (groomer remains mum after swearing this has nothing to do with her).  

But that's not the point  when you really get down to it-- the point is I've got two beloved and traumatized cats here, one 12, one 14 years old.  The shaded silver one is now completely bald on her belly -- she has very thin, very pink skin! -- and the brown tabby looks like a middle-aged man trying to do an 'comb-over' on his balding head.  The older one is taking this very badly...

I worry that they are upset, but they are still eating, so that's good, and they're on antibiotics for another 11 days, and some vile, sticky paste to dissolve hairballs.  They will be seen by our vet in two weeks, sooner if they stop eating.  They've begun throwing up some pretty horrible hairballs, to go with the blowing clumps of hair all over my house...

Thank you for your answer!

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

It sounds as if there was a depilatory in the shampoo.  I would request a bit of the shampoo from the groomer and have it analysed.  

I just hope that your cats are at least behaving normally.