Overview:

Alopecia isn't a disease in itself but a symptom. All cats lose hair, but alopecia is defined as an excessive loss of hair.

What causes alopecia?

There are many possible causes of alopecia in cats, and they can be defined as pruritic/self induced or non-pruritic/non self induced. Below are some possible causes;

Pruritic

• Flea allergy dermatitis
  

• Food allergy
  

• Inhalant allergy
  

• Notoedric mange
  

• Ear mites
  

• Psychogenic
  

• Pyoderma

• Abscess
  

Non pruritic

• Hyperthyroidism
  

• Stress: surgery, illness etc.

• Cushings disease (hyperadrenocorticism)

• Ringworm
  

• Feline Acquired Symmetrical Alopecia
  

• Drug reaction (topical, injected)

• Telogen defluxion (hair loss which occurs during the resting phase of the hair growth cycle)

• Anagen defluxion (hair loss which occurs during the growing phase.

• Sunburn
  

• Seborrhea

• Stud tail
  

How is the cause of hair loss diagnosed?

Your veterinarian will perform a complete physical examination & pay careful attention to the location, size & shape of the hair loss, if any other symptoms are also present & obtain a medical history from you. He will need to establish if the cat has been scratching, itching, how long it has had symptoms, if it has recently had any medication (topical flea/worming products, injection etc).

Some diagnostic tests your veterinarian may wish to perform include;

Trichogram - This is a microscopic examination of the hair root. Broken tips indicate that the hair loss is self induced.

• Fungus culture - To look for ringworm.
• Food elimination trial - Your veterinarian will place your cat on a food trial which usually lasts between 8-12 weeks. During this time, you must not give your cat any other foods, vitamins, minerals or chewable medications apart from the prescribed diet. If any other foods or vitamins are given during this trial it will invalidate the results. If the allergy clears up after the specified time then a food allergy is the likely cause. The diet given to your cat during the trial will be a food the cat has never had before such as rabbit, duck or venison. The diet may be home made or a special 'prescription' diet. After the trial, if the cat's allergies have cleared up it will be placed back onto it's regular food & if after a short period of time the allergies return then it is safe to conclude that the food was the cause of the allergy.
• Specific blood tests to check for hyperthyroidism.
• Specific blood tests to check for Cushings disease.
• Skin scrapings - These are studied under a microscope to look for mites.

Treatment of alopecia in cats:

Treatment depends on the underlying cause of the alopecia.