worried about my cat - his fur is falling out in clumps and he's got lots of dribble

[AllieBongo]

my cat appeared earlier looking very bedraggled. i have noticed he was losing a little fur but thought it was because he was moulting. it is now falling out in clumps and he has loads of saliva coming out of his mouth. He seems ok apart from that. where the fur is coming out on his back there is a dark patch. i called the vets 2 hours ago, but have heard nothing from them. has anyone experienced this before?

COuld it be an abscess? Hair can fall out around the site of an abscess but you would probably see pus and be able to see the wound as well. Not sure about the excess saliva. Is he prone to fighting?

maybe he has dentals probs,hence the dribbling and is unable to groom himself ?

well on his back it is like a large dark patch, but no puss. he seems to be shaking his head around when he is eating. i have never seen his fur come out like this. he doesn't often fight, he's a soppy old thing. thanks for your replies

It could be an ear abscess.

poor thing. i called the vet 2 and a hlaf hours ago. do you think i should call again?

Shaking his head when eating does sound like teeth problems. I would call the vet again, yes. Hope he's ok.

thanks very much. he is 10, i thougth it might be the case

Does he have bad breath kind of like amonia smell?

Have you put any spot on flea stuff on him - I have seen some cases where the product (usually a supermarket bought brand) causes skin damage, and if licked can cause hypersalivation too. If this is the case he needs to see a vet pretty urgently.

He hasn't got anything stuck in his mouth, that would make sense with the shaking of his head, but have no idea about the bald patch unless it's an abscess like it has been mentioned before, my cat often gets these!! Good luck and please let us know how you get on!!

This happened to my cat and I am afraid he was very ill. Your cat could be fine but I would contact the vet again. Hopefully he will be fine. Good luck.

Sounds like a tooth problem to me.

flea allergy maybe,that causes hair loss, poor thing

hi all. I rang the vet again after waiting 3 hours, and she said it wasn;t an emergency and to wait until tomorrow. (She was not from my usual practice) he's been in, still moulting, stuffed his face and then buggered off out again. He seems fairly ok in himself, just looks scruffy. I'll take him to the vets first thing to get him checked. thanks for all your help x

Glad to hear he seems to be ok. Hope it goes well at the vets.

morning, we have just got back. It turns out that he had a really nasty cut on his tongue, dermatitis from fleas (although i treated him at home) and ear mites. He is also having a really big moult. poor old boy. we have ant-biotics, he has been treated for the ears and the fleas and he should perk up quite quickly. thanks for all your help

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Get well soon, alliebongo's cat!

poor thing - hope he feels better v soon

he looks like shite, at least he's on the mend. he's gone to hide somewhere so dd can' terrorise him