Solitary chicken - need advice

[The Dogmother]

As some of you will know, I have a British Shorthair cream tabby called Biscuit. I am a little concerned about the way that he is going a bit bald around his rear end; this happened around winter time last year, and I just assumed that it was down to his overly careful grooming. But over the last couple of months, he has been going bald again, in the same areas. I have checked for any fleas (he wears a collar and has spot-on treatments every month) and not see any, also the skin in that area appears normal.

 

There's no change in anything in his environment or diet that I know of, and I wanted to see if anyone here had any experience in this before I take him to the vet.

[Groovychook]

One of my cats develops bald patches on her face and tum which she then over grooms and they scab up.

She is regularly treated for fleas but as it always happens during the hayfever season, my vet has started to wonder if it may be a pollen allergy.

 

Just wondered if your cats case could be related to tree pollen?

[Cat tails]

My first two causes would indeed be fleas or food allergy. But since you have covered that, I'm not sure what else it could be. How old is he?

It could be an allergy of his surroundings. Like a dust and mite allergy in humans. I guess he spends more time indoors during the winter months. If it goes away after that period, it could well be that.

 

I'm convinced my cat also has allergies. But the vet told me allergy testing on cats is very difficult. If he isn't too bothered by it, I wouldn't worry too much.

[Olly]

It can be over-grooming, sometimes caused by stress, but allergies are quite common. My old, sadly departed cat was allergic to harvest mites and went completely bald on his tummy before I noticed - he only developed it in old age, it wasn't something he'd always had. There was nothing visible on his fur, and I didn't see him scratching a lot, which was why I didn't notice a problem till his fur fell out! It's a bit early for them but there could be something else around.

 

If he's otherwise well and you don't want to take him to the vet you could try feeding him cat food without cereals in case it's a wheat allergy. However the fact that he's had this at a similar time of year before might suggest it's a mite of some sort.

[The Dogmother]

It seems to appear arpund the start of winter.

 

Nothing in his regime has changed, he is fed on a raw diet, although he may well be scrounging elsewhere.

 

I need to order more flea meds, so will check when he is next due boosters, snd book him in for this if they aren't soon.

[chickencam]

My cat has bald patches during the winter too, we wonder if it is the dry air and artificial heat. It started to improve this year as soon as we stopped lighting the wood burner. It could also be boredom, she is an over groomer too and she has a full fluffy coat at the moment but by ester this year she was completely bald underneath and around her backend and tail. Her sister was much the same. She is out and about more in the summer months even this year!!