losing fur

by candace
(kitchener, Ontario)

my cat is an out door cat and he's about a year old. lately we noticed his fur is comming out (on his tail only) in clumps. There is a spot on his tail that is completely bald. What causes this and is there anything we can do?

Answer by Kate
well it could be caused by a few things. It could be over grooming by your cat due to stress. It could be a parasite which is casuing irratation or a skin condition like an allergy. Please see my pages on this site about skin and fur problems and allergies.
It is difficult to say what it could be, a vet will be able to take a skin scraping to see if there are parasites etc.

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