My cat chewed her tail fur off. How can I help it grow back fully?

Depending on the amount of damage to the skin, the hair may or may not grow back. I do recommend consulting a vet to get the cat started on medications. The type will depend on the suspected cause of the hyperesthesia. A good-quality flea preventative, probiotic, and joint supplement should be used in addition to pain medications and/or medications for anxiety. Laser therapy and acupuncture can also aid in healing of the skin, hair growth, and pain.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If you are noticing a flea infestation and this is the cause for the excess shedding/over-grooming of her fur, then simple treatment and prevention of the fleas and time will allow for her coat to regrow. It is important, however, to understand how Capstar works. When administering a Capstar, this will kill all the fleas on Jackie and those that re-infest her for 24 hours, after which it is no longer effective. It is important to also follow with a preventative treatment, such as Advantage II, that will then continue to kill and prevent the re-infestation of fleas for one month. This is a topical treatment that is applied between the shoulder blades. Another option would be a Seresto collar, which provides flea prevention for up to 8 months. Remember to also treat the environment where Jackie is located (indoors and outdoors) to add another layer of protection against re-infestation. In some rare cases you may notice minimal or no hair regrowth if significant trauma was caused to the hair follicles due to over-grooming, but in most instances adequate control of the fleas and therefore the itch will allow for hair regrowth with time.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The washing and ointments should help tremendously. The hair should grow back but it will take time. The other recommendation is neutering Toby. Good luck and kisses to Toby!

If there is a chance that the skin was burned by the wax, I would recommend having Milks examined by your veterinarian because burns can be very serious and difficult to heal. If the skin was not damaged, then the fur should regrow normally. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and answered your question. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If the hair is growing back in the area, the original problem has likely resolved. It could have been from an allergy that caused Buddy to chew the hair off of the tail. This could also be due to a skin infection, skin parasite or hormonal disease causing the hair loss. I would monitor this for now and if it does not resolve or if it worsens, I would have a veterinarian examine him so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please remember to rate this answer as helpful or not. Thank you!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. The hair is expected to grow back when the allergies and infections resolve. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies as opposed to being behavioral. This is possibly more specifically due to flea allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!