? Hair loss question (non-diabetic)

[Seth&Bell]

Hi all. A friend of mine is having hair loss issues with her non-diabetic cat, and I told her you all know everything , so we thought it would be worth a shot if anyone has experience with something similar.

Her cat (Bermuda) has gone through stages where she totally loses fur on her belly area. Here's a timeline and some photos:

Here is Bermuda in June of 2020 with all her fur:

My friend then went through a series of moves and got a dog, which she thinks may have added stress which caused the hair loss. Here is Bermuda with the fur loss after those moves/dog in Jan 2021:

She started getting growing hair back in 2022:

But then in July 2022 it fell out again:

Started coming back by July 2023:

And now is gone again:

This is Bermuda's food: https://a.co/d/e4g3x5S

Tagging my friend to answer any of your questions: @Bermuda’s Mom

 

[Seth&Bell]

@Bermuda’s Mom: Folks will most likely be interested in any diet changes you've made along this time period and if they align with any hair loss (if you can remember ha)

 

[Seth&Bell]

One more note I forgot to add. The only stressors @Bermuda’s Mom could think of during the last 2 cycles of hair loss were two new people coming to live with her during that period. But those people have been there awhile now and Bermuda's hair grew back while they were there, and then fell out again.

 

[Seth&Bell]

On a side note, Bermuda is the reason I got Bell and Blair. When my friend got Bermuda, she had to go out of town, so I was watching Bermuda for a couple of nights. She was so sweet and I missed her when she was gone, that I decided to get two of my own. She also has the famous Bermuda's triangle on her nose. It is the best.

 

[SmallestSparrow]

Stress can do it. So can Cushing’s —which is supposed to be rare in cats but I’ve had two unrelated cats with Cushing’s separated by decades so

 

[SmallestSparrow]

Hi all. A friend of mine is having hair loss issues with her non-diabetic cat, and I told her you all know everything , so we thought it would be worth a shot if anyone has experience with something similar.

Her cat (Bermuda) has gone through stages where she totally loses fur on her belly area. Here's a timeline and some photos:

Here is Bermuda in June of 2020 with all her fur:
View attachment 71863

My friend then went through a series of moves and got a dog, which she thinks may have added stress which caused the hair loss. Here is Bermuda with the fur loss after those moves/dog in Jan 2021:

View attachment 71864

She started getting growing hair back in 2022:
View attachment 71865

But then in July 2022 it fell out again:
View attachment 71866

Started coming back by July 2023:
View attachment 71867

And now is gone again:
View attachment 71868

This is Bermuda's food: https://a.co/d/e4g3x5S

Tagging my friend to answer any of your questions: @Bermuda’s Mom

This is one adorable girl!

 

[SmallestSparrow]

Also is this cutie spayed (I assume so)—progesterone can cause hair loss but if spayed shouldn’t have elevated levels (unless an adrenal tumor)

 

[Seth&Bell]

She is spayed. Cushings is a good thought, Bermuda is extremely food motivated and has a huge appetite, which from some cursory googling is a symptom. Did your Cushing's cats have hair loss in just one localized spot like this?

 

[SmallestSparrow]

She is spayed. Cushings is a good thought, Bermuda is extremely food motivated and has a huge appetite, which from some cursory googling is a symptom. Did your Cushing's cats have hair loss in just one localized spot like this?

I thought it was from the stress of our move to California but it didn’t grow back.

 

[SmallestSparrow]

Erik was in the days when cameras required film and phones were attached to the wall. So I don’t have many of him —my albums were lost moving but he also had hair loss where Methos does. He also had a big belly—which methos now has so I thought it was from being fat or his diabetes—which was found before his tumor. Methos’ tumor was found first and just recently the diabetes

 

[Seth&Bell]

Methos’ belly looks a lot like Bermuda’s. @Bermuda’s Mom can provide the details but she did recently have bloodwork done and Bermuda’s BG was normal. Is there any other indications in bloodwork that could point to Cushings?

 

[SmallestSparrow]

Methos’ belly looks a lot like Bermuda’s. @Bermuda’s Mom can provide the details but she did recently have bloodwork done and Bermuda’s BG was normal. Is there any other indications in bloodwork that could point to Cushings?

It’s diagnosed with a dexamethasone suppression test which takes all day. Idk if there’s any other way to diagnose. Methos’ lab work was always perfect —even quite a ways into this. I kept taking him for over a year saying “there’s something wrong, his coat has become terrible and he’s always had a gorgeous coat and my last cat had a terrible coat and had diabetes and then they found a tumor and there must be something wrong “—but even I didn’t think it would be Cushing’s bc it’s a rare —really rare—cat disease and I’d already been struck by lightening. But all his lab work was perfect.
His tumor was found on ultrasound (Cushing can be caused by a pituitary tumor or an adrenal one—both my cats had adrenal tumors). When he started drinking water a lot I had him tested for Cushing’s. When his K dropped for Conn’s. I knew diabetes would eventually show up.

 

[SmallestSparrow]

Methos’ tumor was found months before his Cushing’s, and both were almost a year before he developed diabetes. The reason for most cats it’s the other way around is the diabetes usually is noticed first even through it’s a late comer —Erik was treated for three years for diabetes (very poorly controlled) until one day he threw up AFTER his insulin and refused to eat. I took him to ER and they did an ultrasound looking for why he threw up.
Methos also got his US because he stopped eating. So his tumor was found before his disbetes

 

[SmallestSparrow]

All of this said, again it’s really rare. So it could be stress. Or diet. I have a very skewed view of causes of alopecia so don’t worry about the possibility but discuss it with her vet to decide if her needs a test. We tested Methos because we already knew he had a tumor.

 

[Seth&Bell]

Thanks so much, Colleen, you are the best! I can’t believe your luck to have to deal with this rare condition in two different cats… I would say it’s unlucky for you but extremely lucky for Erik and Methos to have you.

 

[SmallestSparrow]

Thanks so much, Colleen, you are the best! I can’t believe your luck to have to deal with this rare condition in two different cats… I would say it’s unlucky for you but extremely lucky for Erik and Methos to have you.

in the last year I’ve had my vet, four ER vets, two internists and a radiologist all say “wow, I can’t believe you’ve had two” …I’ve been blessed. Erik was an amazing cat, I thought I’d never have another one so wonderful. And then I met Methos.
Please stress to your friend that Cushing’s is unlikely but something to keep in mind and see what her vet thinks about it. Both of my boys the first sign was coat —first the belly hair loss then dandruff/dull. Then they got pot bellies—looked pregnant. Methos also became ravenous about the same time as the belly (Erik was always a good eater but Methos is picky). Then diabetes.

 

[Seth&Bell]

Thank you, Colleen. We’re thinking it is stress, since a lot of the hair loss cycles happened during life changes. But it is really good to be aware of the Cushing’s possibility, even if it is rare.

Weirdly, tonight I noticed that my non-diabetic cat, Blair, had overgroomed her belly into a large raw spot. I think this is also stress (I had a visitor last weekend and then she was stressed by Bell coming back smelling like the vet) but I might need to get that checked out now. Strange how these things coincide.