Why is my cat losing fur?

[MyBloodyBrother]

My cat is a neutered, 4yo male and has never had any health problems before now. He’s regularly wormed, wears a Soresto flea collar and has no signs of fleas and is up to date on all his injections.

Over the last couple of months I’ve noticed his fur was going a bit thin on his back legs and round his tail. He’s now almost completely bald there and it looks almost obscene, like he’s walking around without his trousers on. I’ve taken him to the vet who thinks it must be stress/ anxiety and she felt his legs and wasn’t showing any signs of being in pain with them. Nothing has changed around the house, he still goes out at the same time every day, as far as I now there aren’t any new cats in the neighbourhood. I’ve tried changing his food but he refuses anything other than Felix wet food and Royal Canin dry food. He seems perfectly happy and isn’t acting like anymore of a prick than he usually is.

Has anyone got any ideas? Or do I just have to get used to having a cat with no trousers?

He just seems to have hair loss, no sign of irritation to his skin? He's not over grooming? Do you work from home or did you and you no longer do?

Has he had his thyroid checked?

I'd drop the flea collar as well to be honest, they're a safety risk and some cats can have a nasty reaction to the chemicals in them.

Mine seemed to be over grooming - vet thought she might have an allergy and gave her a jab - this was a few months ago and she seems to be fine now, so not sure what it was

He had bloods done when he I took him to the vet and she said they all came back normal. Would that include thyroid stuff or should I ask for that separately?

He has a terrible flea bite allergy and the collar is the only thing that seems to guarantee him not getting bitten in the first place. The vet was the one who got it for him and changes it for me every few months as he’d skin me alive if I attempted it.

My female black cat is like that too. It was the same last winter and then she furred back up in the Summer. It's almost like instead of gaining a winter coat she strips off what she had before.

If he has an awful flea bite allergy then I wouldn’t be surprised if it is that. Any signs of fleas? Collar ineffective for some reason? House needs spraying?

My cat is shedding like mad too.

You could try eliminating stress as a cause? Try Feliway or similar, and adding Zylkene to his food, to see if that makes a difference.

If it is stress related, yay. If it isn't, then you've lost nothing by trying and at least you'll know to keep looking for other reasons.

We found that a new floor cleaning product was the reason our cat started losing bum and back leg fur.

Hair loss in cats has trap main causes pain and allergy.
Pain most commonly is urinary problems or osteoarthritis.
Whilst flea allergy is the most common many cats have multiple allergies and it take quite a bit of unpicking.

Can you answer my questions OP? When my cat had bare patches and skin irritation it was a reaction to a fabric conditioner being use on the bedding where she liked to sleep. The vet gave her a steroid and I changed product. The irritation went away and never recurred.

I asked about your work because of the time you've had the cat. Is he stressed because you're not around as much, but we're WFH during pandemic lockdowns?

Ah, mine is exactly the same! The vet tried a steroid injection but it didn't help. I've come to the conclusion that she hates winter and it makes her bored and miserable, so inclined to overgroom. When the summer comes she can sunbathe in the conservatory and muck around outside so is much happier.

@WeAreTheHeroes no sign of any skin problems at all. My working patterns haven’t changed, I’m mostly working from home with maybe 1 day a week when I’m out during school hours.

@Wolfiefan definitely not a flea bite. When he has a flea bite he gets an enormous welt and strips the fur around it. He doesn’t seem to have one particular sore point, all his skin is fine, he’s just stripping his back half for some reason.

I’ve not changed any washing or cleaning products. I did used to have Feliway in a couple of rooms, I’ll try that again.

Can be pain. Can be anxiety. But I wouldn’t rule out the flea issue. My girl would just overgroom. No sign of an actual bite.

Fur loss like that is most commonly down to allergies, pain or stress.

If nothing in your environment has changed and you're certain he's not been bitten, then I would put it down to stress - it's very common in cats.

My old DCat used to get this after one flea bite. Not fleas. One bite. The vet sorted it each time.