Cat licking her hair off - allergies or stress?

[Samson_Delilah]

My female cat has started licking off her hair on her paws and legs and possibly is starting on her belly - they are long hair and it's kinda hard to tell until a definite bald patch appears.  This has been happening since before Christmas.  At first I thought it was due to the loss of her beloved "Cat tree" but I got her a replacement - although I'm not sure she likes it near as much.  The Vet thinks it's an allergy - probably to food - but I can't get her to eat the $35 per 8lb bag of Green Pea and Duck food I bought for her.  She went days without eating and I finally gave in - as I didnt want to deal with those complications too.  So, I have just ordered another type of food - Venison and Green Pea - hopefully she'll like that a little better.....and I've ordered the stop itch wipes and lotion from Dr. Fosters and Smith.  I am hoping one of those will help.  The other issue is that I travel A LOT for my job - often gone at least 3 or 4 days.  I started travelling this heavy in September and her hair loss started after Thanksgiving.

Any ideas or things I can try.  I was thinking of trying the Feliway diffuser - but after just ordering over $50 of food and itch relief - I am going to hold off before spending $30 on an air diffuser.

Any comments are appreciated.

[opus88]

welcome to our site, I hope we can be of some help....I will copy  and paste a reply I gave above...this can definitely be FOOD ALLERGIES...it can certainly be an allergy or reaction to all the flea meds and treatments you are OVER treating him these topical and injectible treatments are very strong chemicals!!! shame on any Vet that keeps giving these treatments when there are no visible fleas please read thru the following and open the link at the very end of the post....good luck, keep posting so we can help:(

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.than I'm 99% certain its food allergies....particularly to GRAINS...most cat foods are full of grains because they are cheap..much cheaper than meat...and most cats are intolerant to grains..
even if her diet hasn't changed, like us humans allergies take a while to develop and some will be more affected than others..

also dry kibble has tons of preservatives and other chemicals that canned food doesn't, even has mites due to long storage after bagging.
I strongly suggest you try changing her food to a GRAIN FREE CANNED FOOD...there are many available a good pet stores (not walmarts or grocery stores!!!)
It is more expensive, however you will find kitty won't be as hungry when she's on a good diet with more protien rather than grains...and you will save all the Vet bills and she will look and feel so much better, can you imagine how uncomfortable she is with all the itching..

I will send you a site and you can look at the photos also read the causes of itchy/hair loss..

but I will say DO NOT follow the natural treatments mentioned, these are NOT good for cats...besides why spend money of medications and creams when a diet change works...

if you need more info I would be happy to help..I will mention most cats aren't crazy abt the taste of grain free canned food, because its lacking all the artificial flavoring that many other commercial foods have added. so you have to start feeding this slowly to get them used to the new taste..start with 1/4 of her feeding a new food and 3/4 of the old...than gradually increase the amount of new food...also by adding slowly she won't get any gastro-intestinal issues like diarrhea..

http://www.cat-health-guide.org/cat-allergy-symptoms.html

[Ecaps1]

I'm going insane, one of our cats is loosing fur and he looks a mess, eyes are bright though. We have 4 other cats, all fine. Thought it was fleas, he got the problem soon after we got 3 more cats... But I give flea treatments and it still affects him. Been to the vet about it twice, first time they said probably fleas and gave an injection to help.... That would last a month, but time went buy, can't say it cleared up perfectly, and he got bad again. Went back, another injection.... Might have lasted a bit but no real effect. Time passed again... Now it's been rubbish for over 6 months. We give them flea treatments, but don't want to go back to vet as it costs £50 for an injection which we don't know is linked to anything or just a temp fix (not even a cure, doesn't stop his licking but may be slightly better). Been trying 3 different flea treatments in case it's that but no way to be sure. Might be that, might not.... Irk!

[winterskykim]

my cats doing the same thing and we use tidy cat too!!! I am dumping it tomorrow and will check back!! I pray this is it.. poor kitty

[winterskykim]

my cats doing the same thing and we use tidy cat too!!! I am dumping it tomorrow and will check back!! I pray this is it.. poor kitty

[CML2014]

Hi twins,

I think the best thing would be to have your cat seen by a vet. A professional is the only one who can tell you what is going on, because they can see it and test it. This could be more serious than stress. Let's face it the cat themselves is not licking it , she has no other spots on her , and it is not getting better rather worse.

Time for a vet check. Please let us know what the diagnosis is. This is how we learn and can help others on the forum.

Good Luck and sure hope it is nothing serious
CML

[twinskidmore]

Did you figure out what was causing the sore?  My cat has one on the back of her head behind her right ear.  She can't reach it herself, but I think our other cat has been "grooming" it for her. The hair loss is about the size of a nickel now, and has been bleeding some from the surface of the skin.  I have sprayed with bactine and applied neosporin, but not sure if it's helping since it's still quite large and I have not separated the cats. It doesn't seem to be causing her any distress, though.