Why is my old cat losing hair and has a painful lump on her back?

This is probably caused by an allergic reaction. first of all make sure you flea your cat regularly every month with a high quality spot on (ex. Advantage) as fleas are by far the most common reason for these reactions. If the fleas are not the problem, it could be an allergic reaction to food or an environmental factor. this is more complicated to treat and will sometimes require medications such as Steroids, anti histamines or cyclosporin in order to stop the allergy. Regarding the lump, it needs to be checked to make sure it's not a tumor, usually a simple FNA test can give some answers regarding the nature of the lump.

The most common reason that we will see hair loss at the base of the tail is a flea allergy. Even if you do not see fleas on Benny, it is still possible. Cats are very good groomers, so they will often groom the fleas off themselves before we can find them. And if a cat has a flea allergy, they only need 1 flea bite per week to keep them itchy. So, my first recommendation for Benny is to make sure that all animals in the house are on regular flea prevention. I am attaching an article on flea control that also has a link to flea control products. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1575 If you are not seeing improvement with a flea prevention or notice any bumps or redness in that area, I would be certain to have your veterinarian examine Benny to see what else might be going on. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

I can't really appreciate the lump on your pictures. But with Midnight's history some potential causes for her signs could be allergies to food or the environment as well something called psychogenic alopecia. It looks like she has given herself a secondary skin infection, likely bacterial. The skin infection perpetuates the itch so it's like a vicious cycle. It's good to keep her on a flea preventative even though she's indoors but at this point I would recommend having your veterinarian take a look because she may need antibiotics and potentially steroids to help her itch. At that time your veterinarian can do a further exam on that lump and give you a better idea what it could be.

Cats will over-groom and lick the fur off of areas for a variety of reasons, however in my experience in the area you're describing it's usually related to pain. This could be kidney pain (the kidneys are on either side of the spine in the region of the last rib) or it could be back pain. The other possibility is that the lump you're feeling is indeed some type of tumor which is causing her discomfort. Unfortunately it's impossible for me to say, and while it's good that Ella still has an appetite and no weight loss I don't think we can be sure this isn't something serious because of that. I would definitely urge you to get this checked as soon as you possibly can; consider applying for veterinary credit at carecredit.com.

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. From the photo there does not appear to be any bald spots, however, it is not a very close up view. Honestly, unless there are bald spots and/or she is scratching the area I would not be too concerned. If the problem persists though (like for a few months) then you should take her to your vet for an exam. Some reasons there could be changes in the hair coat: 1. Diet - the special diet she is eating may be causing some nutrient imbalance. You should talk to your vet about putting her on a supplement for her coat (like fish oils) as this may help. 2. Skin Allergies - even if she has never had any symptoms of allergies before, they can develop over time. If this was the case though, I would expect hair loss and/or scratching, redness of the skin, etc. If you are not seeing any of that then this is not as likely to be the problem. 3. Fleas - again, I would expect hair loss and scratching. If you are not noticing that, then this is also not very likely to be the problem. 4. Stress - even if you don't think your cat is stressed, she could be. Try to see if you could think of anything that could be causing stress like visiting family, stray cats hanging around outside, you got a new pet, new furniture, etc.... 5. Thyroid disease- either a low or high thyroid can cause problems with the hair coat. Your vet can do a blood test to check for this. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This may be secondary infections due to allergies for example. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing her 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!

If you notice several pets affected, things like fleas, skin mites and ringworm become more suspicious. I recommend to check them/treat them for fleas. If they do not respond with 2 weeks or if they start getting worse, figure out a way to have them examined. You may look into financing through Care Credit or Scratch Pay. Lastly, you may call the local humane society to ask if they offer/know of any low cost solutions. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.