My cat is losing it's hair around the base of his tail, any ideas what it might be?

Question

The hair loss is only at the base of the tail and no where else, he itches it a lot but doesn't rub his rear all over the carpet. He's also getting some gray hairs on his tail too and he has these brown scab looking things. He's 5 years old, neutered, and has already had his flea medication so I'm pretty sure its not that, any ideas what it could be?

Answer 1

Mine does that occassionally, and even though I've treated him for fleas, he may have already eaten a few live ones and gotten worms (which make them itchy on the back end).  Ever notice little rice looking things in a fresh litter deposit or on you cat's rump?  If so, it's worms.

Answer 2

It sounds like a hot spot (from him scratching the fleas.) give him some frontline. and i do mean frontline. nothing else that is the only thing that works. i gave it to my cat once and then she slept on my pillow i woke up to a bunch of dead fleas in my bed. GROSS!  

Answer 3

Yes it is food allergies and you are feeding dry food





Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health

Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.

Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean? Is the first ingrediant a muscle meat like chicken or meal or other things?

http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Rea...

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...

Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms

The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with grains and carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process.  Also, Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food but in

Dry, 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.

http://www.catinfo.org/#My_Cat_is_Doing_...

You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all.    The best food for cats does not contain any grains at all.

Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies  whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. I would rather feed a middle grade canned food then the top of the line dry food.

Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get stuck? http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bp...

Please read about cat nutrition.

                               http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics...

                               http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.ht...

      http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.ht...

Vetinarian diets  The reason your vet thinks so highly of the pet food they sell probably has more to do with money than nutrition. In vet school, the only classes offered on nutrition usually last a few weeks, and are taught by representatives from the pet food companies. Vet students may also receive free food for their own dogs and cats at home. They could get an Iams notebook, a Purina purse and some free pizza.  http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...

Answer 4

he may need his anal sac emptied.i know the site enclosed is for dogs but it the same as cats have problems with

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_ana...

Answer 5

Sounds like ringworm, aka dermatophytosis, which is a skin disease caused by a fungus. It's perfectly treatable, but you need to get him to a vet ASAP. Also keep him away from any other pets.

Answer 6

It sounds like a typical flea alergy. My dog gets the same thing if I am one day late on her flea meds. It only takes one flea to get her going. Then you are looking at a skin infection. If it isn't fleas I would be worried about mites, environmental allergies or food allergies.