[AustralianKiwi]

Hello fellow Catlovers,
I am new to the forum. We brought a rural property last year that came complete with cats. I have no objection to this, however they were in awful condition when we arrived some seven months after the owner had moved out. One cat (believe her to be the female boss of the group) immediately developed hair loss along the lower part of the back, inside the hind legs and around genitals and her tail. Rest of cat had complete long lush coat????. I think its "Feline Acquired Symmetrical Alopecia" from the description. We were unable to catch any of these cats, and now can only catch some, however not this particular one - she wiser than the younger ones. Initially I put some "Ovarid" (1/4 tablet) in her food and she appeared to recover... She eats on the table in the shed - - and the rest of the cats eat under the table.... nobody keen to get up with her so she got the complete dose herself. This condition has now returned..... I believe its stress related as she got it when we first moved in with our four large dogs, goats, cattle, sheep, chickens etc.... to her peaceful little farm. Any other suggestions on this - - or should I trap her in a cage and drive her 70 km to the nearest vet (imagine the stress from that).
Any suggstions gratefully received...... but please - don't all start with the "Take her to the vet" as its costing me a small fortune getting them in reasonable condition to start the "Neutering" process..... We have counted nine cats (quite hard as they are all black and white) but really are not sure how many there are. As I store a lot of grain, hay etc I am happy to have them "hanging round" Apart from the hair loss she has bright eyes, happy nature and good appetite so I am not sure if this is a common thing or not...
Thanks Muchly......

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[fleabag]

I think you are right about the stress and I suspect she is overgrooming as a result ..the areas that are bald are those she can reach ..they actually break the hair off at the skin pretty much ...
Given they are all hard to catch I'm not sure how you'll manage to calm her down...tho Rescue Remedy is an anti-anxiety essence you can put in their water..or rub in her ears ..( yeah I know ..gotta catch her first..)
I'm thinking if she is the one coping the most poorly ..maybe you WILL need to borrow a trap and leave it on the table with her food in ..unset ..until she's lulled into a false sense of security and then GOT HER!!!
Maybe ring a vet and ask advice...if you get HER desexed first ..and you can get her calmed and relaxed EVERYONE may be easier to deal with ..just a thought...

[AustralianKiwi]

Thanks "fleabag" - I have a bottle of the magical "rescue remedy" at home from when we transported the house cat up from Melbourne..... no hope of putting on its ears - but I can put in the drink..... I think you are correct in the overgrooming. I am not going to stress as she looks healthy apart from looking like she has had a bath (they don't look great without hair).
I will try the rescue remedy..... and formulate plan B if that does not work.... She lovely cat - the lady across the road calls her Grasshopper - because she said had we not had a grasshopper plague they would not have survived.

[furball]

The areas you have described, could also point to a flea allergy which in turn will cause her to overgroom. Are you able to use spot on?

[catissi]

you are a very kind person caring for these poor animals i agree with the others fleas and stress because she is a bit wild you must be careful not to get scratched by her so the water treatment is the go you can get spot on wormers as well if you can catch her good luck keep us posted ..kay

[karshe]

Are all the other cats ok? as not loosing any fur? It could be either flea infestation causing over grooming as the others have said. Or it could be ringworm as well as that also causes bald patches on cats.. You can also buy Rescue Sleep, that put mine to sleep nicely when I was transporting her home. Just a bit srtonger than the rescue remedy. That might just help when you need to try and catch her/him. Good luck with this problem.. Sheryl

[AustralianKiwi]

Thanks for your help people. The other cats appear to be fine. I don't think its ringworm as this is specifically on her rear end. Think its overgrooming....stress related. I am using the rescue remedy in the water, but having to put it in all waterbowls as she appears to drink from the other cats bowls. Her appetite is fine, her eyes healthy and the top half of her coat is beautiful... Her coat seems to be growing back already... I will monitor her closely. I now have her on the front porch eating so may be able to trap her if required.

[AustralianKiwi]

Update on the furrless one.... I managed to capture her... Initially she was horrified... but now she is happily living in the laundry and I was able to put the rescue remedy on her ears as suggested. I did this for a couple of days and amazingly I am watching the hair grow back... so thanks very much for that little tip... worked wonders....
I hope to put a bit of weight on her before I worm her, then we are ready to go for the "no more kittens for you" operation... We have named her Ruby (mother of the kitten called "gem").
Attaching photo of Ruby and her sister behind her (Jewel) and Rubys daughter (Gem) peeping through the window...

[fleabag]

Oh well done ..great moves ..She will be much better off with "the operation". I love Rescue remedy too ..I wonder who ..and WHERE Dad is..Do you think he's just a local boy taking advantage of her??

[Heather Sharada]

Oh well done you. Actually if you have used Revolution as your spot on it does a lot of worms as well....and it sounds like now she is discovering that people don't hurt she is less stressed so that will help the hair grow back as well.

Isn't Gem an unusually marked little girl? I guess it will be a few trips to the vet to get all these young ladies de-sexed soon as it must be breeding season there as well.

One thought as well is that you could check for FIV or AIDS as that is a real possibility given that they have been free ranging. If "positive" not necessarily a death sentence but you need to know.

[AustralianKiwi]

Hello everyone.... I am happy to report that Ruby has recovered, been wormed and is going to the vets mid October for Speying. Thats the good news..... The not so good news is that Ruby and her sister Jewel have brought the other sister "opal" and a lovely big male cat up to the house now so I can't even let my dogs out without first feeding the cats in the laundry..... Each time I go out there there seems to be another cat. They are all lovely marked - and I have now taken to photographing them to try and count them... quite hard when they are all Black and White - with the exception of the male.... here he is below.... strange looking thing....




Enclosing photo of another black and white..... and the coloured one we thought was a male... but don't male cats only have two colours - any more and its female?????