posted 02-20-2003 12:03 PM           

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My 17 yr siamese has started to pull out hair. Mostly on her legs stomach and tail nothing is different in the house to explain this behavior. Any ideas?

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posted 03-05-2003 08:04 PM           

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My cat is a 2yr Main Coon (long hair). Last summer he pulled at a small spot on his back. The Vet said the skin was healthy. Last month (Feb) he pulled out a hug area on his side (2"x1"). The next day he had a 4" bald strip on his other side. We've caught him doing it...there is nothing stressful going on at the time. He's a relaxed happy cat...he's king of our house. I'm distraught.

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posted 03-07-2003 08:41 PM           

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My cat(s) were doing the same thing, although I never caught them pulling their hair out. The only evidence I had were large tufts of fur on the floor. As both of them are calico, I din't have a clue who was doing this. Both are healthy cats and not stressed, in addition there have been no changes in the household. However as fast as this behaviour started, it stopped. I also have no explainations as to why.....

I have been told a couple of things such as fleas or other pests or dry, itchy skin which the hair falls out with the scab.

If you look at the past messages on this board, there have been many cat owners with a similar problem. Take a look back and maybe that will help.

Good luck.

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posted 04-03-2003 07:26 PM           

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Our cat Sadie does this as well. She is 3 years old, and started pulling a year ago. The vet thought it might be allergies, but we gave her meds, changed foods, and had cortisone shots and nothing worked. Vet now thinks it is a psychological disorder, that she's compulsive (she will sometimes eat too much and then throw up, and is very vocal and needy). Maybe it was caused by the move from California to Denver two years ago?

In any case, the only thing that worked was putting her on valium. But we couldn't keep her on that forever, so the problem persists. We try to give her tons of extra attention, but she doesn't appear to be in pain--just a little kooky--so what can you do?

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Member

Posts: 19
From:NY
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 09-21-2003 10:28 AM         

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Hi,
I had an elderly cat who began ripping out her fur. She had a favorite stuffed animal, and she would also pull the fur out of it! My vet ruled out allergies, and then tried her on Elavil to address anxiety. Like your cat, mine didn't seem to be anxious. Often she would start frantically ripping out fur while she was curled up in my lap. I finally figured out that she did this when she was hungry. I guess as she got older, she misinterpreted signs to eat. She always had food available to her (in all rooms of the house), but when she started to pull out her fur, I put the food in front of her and she would eat. I ended up putting her food in front of her every couple of hours when I was home, and after about a month, picking was almost completely eliminated. I'm sure this isn't a common cause, but maybe it will shed some light on your problem. Good luck!

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Member

Posts: 996
From:sheridan, wy
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 09-21-2003 11:49 AM         

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I had heard that calicos are more prone to psychological problems like scizophrenia. Someone on the board had put their cat on kitty prozac and it helped.

My cat is actually a tabby and she pulls her fur out. The way I understand it is that if it is allergies normally they pull out the fur on the belly, tail, and legs. Usually they just groom excessively and the fur comes out with the licking. My cat actually rips chunks out along her back. I have seen her doing this. It was getting better, but I think she is doing it again, she looks a little more bald than she was. I am in the process of ruling out allergies. If they prove not to be the problem I will move on to psychological problems. The person who had the cat who did this when it was hungry was interesting. My kitty is only 2 so I don't think this would be her problem.

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