Cats and bald bits

[Simpo Two]

Very often cats develop bald or thinning areas at the base of their tail (like mine!) - why is this and can it be fixed, or is the best thing simply to ignore it and wait for it to go away?

[eldudereno]

Must admit to not having a cat that lost hair in that area.

[paoloh]

Maybe something like this sir?

[paoloh]

Simpo Two said:

Very often cats develop bald or thinning areas at the base of their tail (like mine!) - why is this and can it be fixed, or is the best thing simply to ignore it and wait for it to go away?

My other concern is, what are you doing looking at your cat in that area?

[Baby Huey]

Could be due to lice/mites type of thing, the skin gets very itchy and can scratch the fur off.

[space1999]

Ours gets that when he is stressed also when he is not feeling well. We have noticed he does not produce oil very well to help look after his coat. So we put out a bowl of olive oil and he drinks it and he is in perfect condition now. Try it works wonders. (Any oil is ok)

[paoloh]

space1999 said:

Ours gets that when he is stressed also when he is not feeling well. We have noticed he does not produce oil very well to help look after his coat. So we put out a bowl of olive oil and he drinks it and he is in perfect condition now. Try it works wonders. (Any oil is ok)

WTF. A stressed cat.

[Yertis]

Our last moggy had this problem, and it gradually got worse and worse developing into big, bleeding wheals. The only way to keep them under control was steroids taken orally (ointments having no significant effect). It became difficult to balance the steroids against the bald bum/wheals and his long term health. I think the steroids increased his quality of life, but probably also shortened it somewhat.

Cats can be quite sensitive souls, I think his initial problem was brought on by there being more and more cats introduced into his "manor".

[cod man]

space1999 said:

(Any oil is ok)

WD40? It does fix a lot of problems!

[Fatboy]

space1999 said:

Ours gets that when he is stressed also when he is not feeling well. We have noticed he does not produce oil very well to help look after his coat. So we put out a bowl of olive oil and he drinks it and he is in perfect condition now. Try it works wonders. (Any oil is ok)

I'm guessing olive oil works slightly better than Castrol R though...

[space1999]

cod man said:

space1999 said:

(Any oil is ok)

WD40? It does fix a lot of problems!

Ok that serves me right!!!!! LOL Ok I meant any kind of cooking oil!!!

[tribbles]

My vet told me that on my cat it was an allergy to fleas; it's grown back since he's not had any. There could've been an element of stree, as he'd just come back from the cattery (which is probably where he got his fleas).

[Disco_Dale]

Frontline.
Proper stuff, vets or pharmacist.
Not the supermarket "just as good, honest" sh*te.

[TheEnd]

if it does it from excessive cleaning, it's likely to be stress.
A vet will check for skin irritations first, but ours was just a little mad.

He cheered up after a while, and has even become more playful these days, must a fair bit over 10 too.

[Simpo Two]

Interesting replies, thanks. There are no fleas or scratching and I can't think it's stress - but then seeing as a cat spend 90% of its time asleep it's hard to tell!

[Disco_Dale]

Simpo Two said:

Interesting replies, thanks. There are no fleas or scratching and I can't think it's stress - but then seeing as a cat spend 90% of its time asleep it's hard to tell!

Not being condascending, but are you absolutely sure?
Is it a cat you spend a lot of time with - as in on your lap for hours on end of an evening?
Just saying that if not I doubt you'd know if it had fleas. Ours have occasional outbreaks and its the missus that finds them while they're lying all floozie like on her lap. Chemical warefare is then declared and they usually go 6 months or so before the next outbreak.