Why is my cat pulling out fur from his back and legs when grooming?

This is likely either skin mites or ringworm. Poor kitty. He needs to be seen by your vet for skin testing to determine which is likely so that he can start treatment for this right away. Best wishes at the vet and I hope his skin clears up soon. Take care.

The most common problem causing Milly's symptoms is a severe flea allergic dermatitis. Regardless I recommend brushing her to remove the old fur and skin, giving a bath with a hypoallergenic shampoo and using Advantage flea prevention on her. You can purchase it at PetCo. She may need antibiotics to heal the skin and your veterinarian will do an exam to determine the cause of her problems. They may run a blood panel in addition to determine if she is anemic or has a metabolic problem. Once they have a diagnosis they will give her the appropriate treatment and hopefully she will recover quickly. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Milly.

There can be several reasons for hair loss in cats, such as Infections (fungal or bacterial), overgrooming, allergies, or an underlying medical condition. I would recommend taking Mickey to his regular veterinarian to have it evaluated and started on any treatment if warranted.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. The cause of the hair loss could be allergies or skin mites as well. I would make sure the veterinarian scrapes the skin to check for parasites of the skin. This may also need an oral antibiotic in addition to topical therapy to see if it will respond. You can also try a different shampoo such as Douxo PS Chlorhexidine combination shampoo and bathe twice weekly. If there is no improvement and your vet is unable to resolve this, I would recommend a second opinion with a veterinary dermatologist if possible. 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.

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. 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!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear that Zorra and Ellie are having problems. Over grooming is possible but other things may be going on such as a fungal infection (ringworm), bacterial infection, external parasites (flea, ticks, mites), etc. It is best if you have them examined by your veterinarian so a cause can be determined especially since some of the things mentioned are contagious between cats and people living in the house or who have contact with the cat/kitten directly or indirectly through the shed hairs in the case of ringworm. Your vet can look at these areas and advise a Woods lamp exam, fungal culture, or other tests to determine the cause. They can also advise treatment if any is needed. Good luck with them.

There are a number of reasons that a cat will overgroom themselves, but one of the most common reasons that we will see a cat overgroom the inside or back of the thighs is a flea allergy. If a cat has a flea allergy, it only takes 1 flea bite a week to keep them itchy and cats are such good groomers that you will often never see fleas. So, it is always recommended to have all animals in the house on a monthly flea preventative if any animal in the house has allergies or skin problems. I have attached a handout below on allergies and itching in cats. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2607 If Voltaire is already on a regular flea preventative, the next step would be to have your veterinarian examine him and determine if he has any evidence of secondary bacterial, fungal or parasitic infections. If not, then you can discuss using anti-itching medications such as anti-histamines or steroids short term to resolve the itching and licking. And if those techniques are unsuccessful, then the final step might be a diet change. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.