Have you ever given your cat a loving stroke and realized that her fur is not as thick as usual? Or have you ever noticed that there are some bald patches on your cat’s body? Then, your cat might experience hair loss.
Some cases of hair loss in cats are considered normal, such as when they’re shedding their winter coat. However, if they lose a lot of hair, then there might be something wrong. To make your cat’s skin healthy, consider giving these best vitamins to improve your cats skin.
You have to
observe if your cat keeps licking or scratching herself. Cats are able to groom
themselves a lot. However, too much groom can lead to hair loss, skin sores and
infections. If your cat seems to be more interested to lick herself instead of
doing other activities, then you should start being worried!
Reasons Why Your Cat Loses Her Hair
There are some reasons of cat hair loss, such as the skin allergies, parasites and fungal issues and many more. Let’s take a deeper understanding of the 6 reasons why your cat loses her hair:
Allergies have become the most common causes of hair loss in cats. Similar to humans, cats are also able to get allergies. They can be allergic to food, insect bites, medicines, pollen and dust. As the result of allergies, they sometimes feel itchy on their bodies.
To ease the itch, they will start to lick their fur until it is not itchy anymore. However, sometimes because of too much licking, some bald spots start to appear. Make sure you know all the signs your cat has food allergies.
Treating allergies is simple but you might have to give your cat
medicine for the rest of her life.
The presence of parasites, such as mites, ticks and fleas also leads to hair loss in cats. These conditions will make the cats to feel itchy and they will start to lick and scratch. Again, too much scratching and licking may lead to bald spots and even sores.
If this condition happens, ask your vet about the medicine you should use. If your cat has fleas on her body, you can consider trying these ways to get rid and prevent fleas on your pets. They are natural and better than using medicines. But, make sure to consult with the vet first.
- Ringworm infection – also read how to treat ringworm in puppies. Though it happens to dogs, not cats, but the symptoms might be similar.
- Stress and anxiety.
When a cat is stressed or anxious, she may start to pull her hair out. She will continuously lick and scratch her hair and as a result she loses her hair a lot. This is called as “psychogenic alopecia”.
The cats that have this kind of condition tend to pick their hair at the sides, legs and belly. To treat this, you can start treating the wound and ask your vet if it is needed to give your cat antidepressant or changes in the environment.
The hormone imbalance in cats may also lead to hair loss. Cats have specific hormones that are responsible for the cat’s hair growth and they may also be the reason why the cats lose hair.
When there is a surplus or deficiency of these hormones, hair loss is possible to happen. Pregnant or lactating cats tend to lose their hair because of the changes in their hormones during that time.
However, don’t get panic as the condition will be normal over time. If it is not, then you should contact your vet immediately for the proper treatment.
- Poor Health, Nutrition or Underlying Disease
Unhealthy cats may have their hair loss too. When cats are having unhealthy diets, poor health or even some underlying disease, all of them may cause them to lose their hair.
That’s why it is very important to keep your cats healthy by having regular check to the vet and feeding them healthy and nutritious food. Make sure you get all these best nutrition facts that should be contained in-cat food.
Also remember that hair shedding in cats is normal as it happens all
year round. However, they tend to shed more during summer and autumn and this
period is known as moulting season. When the hair loss is from all over their
body and bald patches are absent, then it is still natural and will pass soon.
To prevent hair loss in cats, you can do some ways too. First, keep your cats healthy by feeding them healthy and nutritious food. Besides, make sure you also do some preventions of the infestations of parasites that may lead to hair loss. Then, provide some cat toys to keep your cat happy and mentally stimulated. More ways are also elaborated in tips for controlling hair loss in cats.