Hair loss on both ears

Status
Not open for further replies.
Ana & Frosty (GA)

Ana & Frosty (GA)

Member Since 2018
Hi guys,

My civvie Pumpkin, who is 8 years old, started losing hair on the outer portion of both of her ears. Photos are below.

I noticed it maybe for the last 2 months. The brown spots you are seeing where the fur is missing is actually the color of her skin, not scabs. There doesn't seem to be any rash or abnormality in the skin where the hair is missing.

I took her to the vet and they took some hairs for a fungal culture to check for ringworm. The doctor also looked at the area under a UV light but did not see any signs of fungus. I was told to call tomorrow for the results, but I suspect the test will be negative and wanted to check if any of you have seen this.

I have not seen her scratching her ears or grooming the area excessively. She has had infections of the inside of the ear in the past which resulted in scratching the inside of the ear, but this hasn't happened for a few months. I did use medicine to treat it, and it went away. I noticed this change after we added the new kitten to the family, but he doesn't have any similar fur or skin issues. Neither does our other cat, dog, and none of us humans have developed any rash either. She doesn't spend a lot of time near the kitten - my other civvie does. There hasn't been any fighting with any other cats, and the other cats do not groom her.

There has been no change to the food or detergent we use either. I also checked her blood sugar with the AT2 meter, and it was normal. I declined senior blood work at the vet.

Any ideas?

Thanks.
Ana

260BA337-B6E1-43F1-B4FE-A8B85530787E.jpeg


CC48F359-B0F3-463B-800E-98317563CEC1.jpeg


82470FF3-1437-4622-8016-DB9EB927A2EF.jpeg
 
@Ana & Frosty (GA) my civvie lost the fur on her ears last year. It was do to stress of constantly being ambushed by the other 2 civvies. Didn't have Olive at the time. It has never grown back, but we still have the civvies and in the winter she is in up in the house with them. She prefers and is happier in the basement but it's to cold in the winter.

Olive lost fur on one ear when I tried the Halo salve. I stopped immediately and the fur grew back.
 
Olive & Paula said:
It was do to stress
Click to expand...
I thought maybe it was stress related due to our new kitten, but I haven’t seen her scratching or over-grooming the area. Would fur just randomly fall out of the ears because she might feel stress? Why just the ears? She is a scaredy cat but I’ve never seen it happen before, to her or any other cat. :confused:

It doesn’t seem to bother her in any way, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I find this really strange. She didn’t have this problem when we got Frosty either, although he was pretty vocal and rambunctious around meal times and occasionally tried stealing her food. She would swat at him sometimes if he ran passed her too fast and startle her, and it’s pretty much the same way with the kitten. The kitten will play / jump with the other civvie, but doesn’t seem to bother Pumpkin.

Don’t really know what to make of it. o_O
 
My Fabby lost the hair on her ears there.
After her glucose test I would apply neosporin.
The hair loss didn't show up for a while, but as soon as I switched to polysporin the hair grew back.

Since you did medicinal treatment a bit ago, perhaps she was having a reaction?
Or is there anything new in the last few weeks? New house plant? New furniture? New treats? New toys?
 
AlphaCat said:
Since you did medicinal treatment a bit ago, perhaps she was having a reaction?
Or is there anything new in the last few weeks? New house plant? New furniture? New treats? New toys?
Click to expand...
She has used the medicine before without any side effects. Could it be a really delayed reaction? We did a 2 week course of the ear drops, which go into the inside of the ear, and then the irritation and itchiness went away. Her ears look clear now.

Nope, nothing new in the environment. Same old fancy feast although I was giving them hair ball medicine for a while but I haven’t given it in about a month or so. The only other thing I can think of is we got SureFeed bowls in October that work off of their microchips. But her head and ears don’t rub on the sides or anything. I’ll try to watch her when she eats more closely tomorrow to make sure. That’s the only new thing I can think of.
 
Allergic reactions are hard to figure out in cats.
My vet's when facing allergies took the -take allergy medicine, see if it helps- route when dealing with them.
Same with anxiety. -here's a pill, see if it helps-
So when they call to say it's not fungal, double check what the next route it, or could be.

They may push for the bloodwork before prescribing a med to try though.
 
AlphaCat said:
Allergic reactions are hard to figure out in cats.
My vet's when facing allergies took the -take allergy medicine, see if it helps- route when dealing with them.
Same with anxiety. -here's a pill, see if it helps-
So when they call to say it's not fungal, double check what the next route it, or could be.

They may push for the bloodwork before prescribing a med to try though.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's true.

I'm actually OK with blood work, but in order for pet insurance to cover it, it can't be "wellness" bloodwork. It has to be "bloodwork to figure out why hair is falling out." I am not opposed to it, but I think it should be done because we are looking for something.

Dyana said:
How long ago did she get it?
Click to expand...
I honestly don't remember. I think it was sometime after Frosty passed (October). We got the kitten on Thanksgiving weekend. So it was sometime between those dates. That's the best estimate I can make, LOL.
 
Ana & Frosty (GA) said:
I thought maybe it was stress related due to our new kitten, but I haven’t seen her scratching or over-grooming the area. Would fur just randomly fall out of the ears because she might feel stress? Why just the ears? She is a scaredy cat but I’ve never seen it happen before, to her or any other cat. :confused:

It doesn’t seem to bother her in any way, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I find this really strange. She didn’t have this problem when we got Frosty either, although he was pretty vocal and rambunctious around meal times and occasionally tried stealing her food. She would swat at him sometimes if he ran passed her too fast and startle her, and it’s pretty much the same way with the kitten. The kitten will play / jump with the other civvie, but doesn’t seem to bother Pumpkin.

Don’t really know what to make of it. o_O
Click to expand...

Why just the ears I don't know. She would get ambushed by the kitten whenever she would use the box. Tux started jumping her anytime she walked down the hall. She was moving and Tux and PJ thought of playtime. Tripper is a loner and wants to be left alone. The other 2 did not leave her alone. Yet all 3 will sleep on the bed together. Tripper developed alopecia on her ears, ears have the thinnest surface for hair. All tests normal. Did not do allergy testing. She occasionally got yucky ears but when she is in the basement even that goes away.
 
Ana & Frosty (GA) said:
Yeah, it's true.

I honestly don't remember. I think it was sometime after Frosty passed (October). We got the kitten on Thanksgiving weekend. So it was sometime between those dates. That's the best estimate I can make, LOL.
Click to expand...

It could be reaction or stress from Frosty passing. Tux was very depressed after Smokey passed. He didn't lose fur but he barely ate, would not play, avoid everything he and Smokey did, used, sat on. Wouldn't even eat from Smokey's bowl. And I had to change the water bowl to a new one cuz he wouldn't drink from it. He lost his only friend and couldn't understand.
 
Olive & Paula said:
He lost his only friend and couldn't understand.
Click to expand...
Aww, that is so sad, poor baby :(

Pumpkin wasn’t close with Frosty. She barely tolerated him. She would swat and hiss at him if he got too close. He was super friendly but learned quickly that she wasn’t, so he would walk around her. :( Whenever it was feeding time, Frosty would be really excited and run really fast up the stairs to his bowl (when he was still feeling well). As he would run past Pumpkin, she would swat at him a few times, which usually followed by me yelling “Stop hitting him!! He’s got fragile skin!” :cat: I miss that guy so much. cat_wings>o
 
Food allergies can also cause hair loss, sometimes just in specific spots. I know you said there had not been a food change, but allergies can sometimes take a long time to show. I used to feed my girls food that had turkey in it, for years. Eventually, Willow started losing hair on her back legs and tail. It was very gradual, so it was a long time before we really noticed it. When I changed food, the hair gradually began to grow back. Once it was back, I had not realized how much loss there had been, and I felt bad for taking so long to change their food.

Could it be a plastic allergy? Did she eat out of a plastic bowl before you got the new feeder? (SureFeed does make a stainless steel bowl for that feeder, by the way.)

Sounds like stress, that she otherwise hides well, could be a suspect as well.

Also, as cats get older, they sometimes do just lose hair in weird places. 8 is not that old to me, but I guess it is possible.
 
That photo of the ear looks just like Ravan's ear. But I assumed it's from the ear pokes. Your kitty doesn't have diabetes so now I'm wondering if Ravan's hair loss on his ear is from something else?
I just started rubbing CoConut oil on it . I'll let you know if it helps.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top