Siamese Sheddin

Question
We have a female Siamese cat who seems to shed excessively.  We have tried a few different foods, and also comb her regularly, but nothing seems to help. She is about 6 years of age and has been spayed.  She seems to be very healthy overall.  We also have an older, orange male tabby, and he does not have the shedding problem.  They eat the same diet.  We would appreciate any suggestions.  Thanks, Dennis

Answer
Shedding varies from cat to cat and breed to breed. Siamese are shedders. I grew up with a few so I know that they shed a lot. Every client I have known with Siamese complained about them shedding.

Shedding has a lot to do with age, environment (indoor cat vs outdoor or both), and most importantly diet.

The cliche that we are what we eat really holds true for pets and it reflects more quickly in the condition of their coats and skin.
Poor quality food, cheap food, food that doesn't have a fixed formulation so that is changes from batch to batch, all exert their influences on your pet. If you cat is getting bad food, their hair coats and skin won't be as healthy and will shed out more.

If your cat is indoors all of the time, it can affect the shedding cycle as well. All animals shed out a coat in fall for winter and one in spring for summer. But indoor only cats shed year round because their bodies can't tell the difference between summer, winter, spring or fall.

If you feed a higher quality food, such as Science Diet, then you will see a LOT less shedding going on. Shedding isn't just bad for your furniture either. It can cause a lot of problems with hairballs for cats.

My recommendation would be to put her on Science Diet Indoor cat if she is totally indoors, or the Adult formula until her coat was shed out and starts to look healthy again. Once she reaches 7 or 8 then I would slowly start her on the Senior diet. My cat is 10 and has been on Sensitive Skin formula for years because she breaks out on her back. She is inside/outside so her shedding is very minimal.

I would get a good brush made just for cats as well and brush her about 3 times a week. That will help her shed out her coat in preparation for winter. There is a brush/comb called a furminator that works really well in pulling out the undercoat and thus speeding up the process of shedding out the old coat.
Most pet stores carry them.

Another thing you might consider if the food doesn't help is have the vet give her a good look over including some blood work. There could be an underlying cause with hormones or an allergy issue that she is having that is making her shed excessively.

I hope that helps some.