biting and losing fur

Question
Hi
I have a calico who is  4 years old who is biting the back of her legs and other parts of her body and in those spots is losing her hair. She is strictly an indoor cat and always has been and doesnt come in contact with any outdoor animals, can you tell me why she is doing this. thanks

Answer
Hi Judy

You probably don't want to hear this, but it probably is fleas!  Usually you do not see fleas on your cat - they jump on and bite, then jump off again and live in the house, so they can be hard to detect but even one flea bite an drive a cat to scratch and bite themselves furiously. Fleas can get inside your house and affect your cat even though she doesn't go out.

I recommend treating your cat with Advantage, a safe topical product available at vets and online. You simply part the fur at the back of her head (where it's difficult for her to try and groom it off) and squirt the liquid onto her skin - trying to get it right down to the skin not on the fur. Advantage uses a hormone specific to insects to kill the adult fleas, and is very safe for your cat and all fleas should be dead in about 24 hours. You may need to re-apply every 6-8 weeks if you have a lot of fleas in your area, but generally they are worst in spring. Also if your cat has fleas she may have contracted tapeworms, which are carried by fleas. Watch for white bit around her anus that look like white rice, they show up within a month or so of first infection. If she has tapeworm you will see these white bits and your vet can give you a medication to eliminate them.

Never use over the counter flea sprays or treatments that you can buy in pet stores and grocery stores - many are toxic and can kill cats or give them brain damage. Also don't bother trying to bathe your cat it will only irritate her skin more and stress her out, and probably get you scratched!

If you have treated her for fleas recently and she is still scratching, she may have a food allergy. Most commercial foods contain artificial colors, grains, and other things cats are often allergic to.

Try feeding her just Wellness brand chicken cat food (canned food only http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness/). Because this food has no grain (which a lot of cats are allergic to) or artificial colors and flavors it may help alleviate the allergies. Another brand to try is Nature's Variety, they have a grain-free canned food that comes in rabbit and venison formulas in case your cat is allergic to chicken (rare). It will take several weeks on a new food to see any difference.



To help reduce the itching and grow her hair back, add a little bit of Salmon oil to her food each day (NOT cod liver oil - just fish body oil). Buy the salmon oil capsules for humans at a drug store or health food store and snip or pierce the capsule and squeeze onto food.



Here is some more info on cat nutrition you may find helpful:



http://www.catinfo.org



http://www.catnutrition.org/clienthandout.html