Martha's Fur!!

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Hosanna

Hosanna

Member Since 2012
Martha's fur is falling out, big time. I can simply run my fingers down her back and clumps come out, sticking to my fingers. Is this related to DM or something else? it really hurts to see this happening.
 
Hosanna
When Martha was diagnosed, did they run a full panel of bloodwork? One thing that can cause that is hyperthyroidism, or it could be something as simple as a parasite. Where the hair is falling out, does the skin underneath look okay?

Carl
 
If it were something like ringworm:
Ringworm: A fungal infection. Scaly, crusty, or red circular patches 1⁄2 to 2 inches (12 to 50 mm) across. Patches show central hair loss with a red ring at the periphery. Sometimes just broken hairs around the face and ears. May become infected. Highly contagious, including to humans.
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or
Cortisone excess: Symmetrical hair loss over trunk and body, with darkening of the underlying skin. Seen with Cushing’s disease. May also indicate a thyroid problem. Thinning of the skin is also seen with this condition.
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http://pets.webmd.com/cats/diseases-hair-loss-cats

This just happened all of a sudden? I know that my civie, Mullet, would lose clumps of hair occasionally if he got flea bites or ticks, but not to the extent it sounds like you are seeing with Martha. That went away when he became an indoor only cat.

Carl
 
Her skin is all white all over. Looks thick. But along her back, spine, lower back it is very scaly, like dandruff, so very dry. Other than that I don't see anything resembling ringworm.
 
One thing I noticed with all my cats once we switched everyone from dry to wet was we went through a massive shedfest as all the old dry dull dry food hair fell out and was replaced by the silky soft wet food hair. But it sounds like Martha maybe losing it faster than a normal shed. Although I have one civie that will shed like crazy when his allergies are acting up, so if it continues with Martha you might want to take her to see the vet to rule out any other health issues and then watch what you are feeding her to see if there is something setting off food allergies...in Onyx case is was grains, but I have another civie that anything containing egg will cause him to barf and then itch like crazy and with that scratching will start losing hair like crazy.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
I'm going to through a crazy thought out there, well maybe not too crazy. Could she have fleas?

I ask because my cats got fleas this summer and my one cat had a bald patch from it. At first I didn't realize it was fleas, but I took out the flea comb and found dirt and larvae and had the vet confirm it.

So, maybe if not fleas, some other parasite that could be causing this?
 
while she was on my lap this morning, I went inch by inch over her body. All I saw was that awful dandruff. No flea dirt or anything unusual. I wonder if it could be because of the recent switch from dry to all canned food? Never heard of that, but sure sounds good if that's possibly it.
 
Hopefully that is all it is, well that and the fact that if you are like us right now in Nebraska going through the seasonal shed anyhow and she is just doing it up big time. When we made the switch in food it was late October so everyone (12 at the time) were already in full seasonal shed, but with the food switch I was literally drowning in shedded fur. I was sweeping up buckets for months to the point I even mentioned to DH that how could they lose that much hair and not be bald like him.. :lol: Mine all had dandraff as well which went away in about 6 months after the food switch. But if you aren't seeing any red or blotchy skin or a rash I would try not to panic and just keep an eye on it...now if she is getting bald spots then I would head to the vets just to get her checked out to be on the safe side. Mine never got bald spots just shedded like crazy.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
It does seem like she's losing a TON of hair, when I see it just fall off onto my fingers. But no bald spots. Nothing seems wrong with the skin except very dry and the dandruff. Maybe best to keep an eye on it and see what happens. But it is worrisome. She's gone through so many changes since DM diagnosis.
 
You know I also think we notice things like how much they shed normally after we find out they are extra sweet...I know I have started noticing things about all my bunch that I took for granted before my first FD was dxed. We worry over them so much after we know they are diabetic everything seems to be a big deal and at least here I have the advantage of having 13 that aren't diabetic and of the two that are one in remission for almost 2 years which at least gives me a baseline for what is really normal. But I do know I notice things more like size of pee and poop in the litter boxes, the amount everyone sleeps or eats etc. Things that I didn't think twice about before having Muse become diabetic.

The flipside of that is that I have caught health problems earlier in my civies than I might have otherwise too. Because now I can tell the difference between someone not feeling good rather than just being a finicky cat. But we do seem to obsess over everything when one of our babies becomes extra sweet, much like I'm sure every new mom does the first time her human baby gets sick...it is just what we moms do.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
That is so funny I have a civie that was born in the South Carolina to some friends of the family because they took their pregnant momma cat with them on vacation there. She gave birth while they were there so technically he's a Carolina cat.

Mel, Maxwell,Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
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