by Sassafras

Created on: May 19, 2008

The hair coat of cats is among their most striking features. The loss of that beautiful hair can be very distressing to both the cat and her guardian. There are a number of disorders that result in hair loss or thinning in cats because of parasites, allergies, immune problems, infections, hormone or endocrine imbalances and psychological factors.

EOSINOPHILIC GRANULOMA

Eosinophilic granulomas cause hair loss because of skin ulceration and granulation, which is an outgrowth of capillaries and connective tissue cells in an open wound. Cats with allergies or who are immune-depressed are susceptible to this group of disorders. They tend to recur and are treated with cortisone. There are four general types.

Rodent ulcer, also known as indolent or eosinophilic ulcer, appears on mostly female cats up to nine years old and is the most potentially dangerous of the four. It begins as painless shiny red patches of hairless skin, usually on the middle upper or lower lip or the back of the jaw behind the last upper molar. It's not itchy but can become an open sore and erode the lip, and may turn into a squamous cell cancer or fibrosarcoma. It may be brought on by a tooth infection or an allergy. Cats exposed to the leukemia virus often get a rodent ulcer and should be tested for FeLV. It needs immediate treatment because of the possibility of cancer.

Eosinophilic plaques (patches) occur in young to middle-aged cats. Signs are a raised red circular plaque with hair loss on the stomach or inner thighs.

Linear granulomas affect kittens and young cats and more females than males. They present as linear plaques in the back of the hind legs.

Mosquito bite hypersensitivity causes crusty sores with erosion and scabs on the bridge of the nose and the tips of the ears, and is sometimes accompanied by fever and swollen lymph nodes.

MANGE

Demodectic mange is rare in cats but when it occurs causes hair thinning and loss around the eyes, creating a moth-eaten appearance. The culprit is the demodex mite, which causes a mild infection with itchy, scaly, crusty sores in immune-compromised cats who may have FeLV, diabetes mellitus, chronic respiratory infections, or be receiving chemotherapy or hydrocortisone. It can be either localized or more generalized over the body and it is not contagious. Sometimes this type of mange goes away on its own, but it can be treated with medicated dips and shampoos.

Other kinds of mange that cause hair loss are notoedric mange (scabies) and otodectic mange

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