My cat is losing hair

by Jacci
(Clermont, FL)

Hi. I find a few small clumps of hair from my cat on my carpet once in awhile, but in the last couple of days I've been finding them everywhere. She does not have any bald spots from this. BUT she HAS had 2 bald spots for a few weeks now; one on each front paw the size of penny. They are not crusty or rough. There's just really short hair there, like she licked the hair off or something. I looked online and saw that a patch of hair missing could be ringworm, but if that was it wouldn't the patch be crusty? Could there be something in her saliva (maybe an underlying problem) that would make her hair fall out?

She is 9 or 10 years old (she was a stray so I don't know).

I appreciate your time,
Jacci

Answer by Kate
The clumps or hair could just be moulting if your cat is long haired my main coon cat would leave little clumpss of hair around at this time of year, generally they are made up of the long hairs on the coat and is nothing to worry about.
As for the two small patches on the paws well there could be several things, it could be over grooming caused by anxiety, or as you say it may be ring worm. Unfortunately only avet will be able to check for this. I don't think it would normally be scabby or crusty unless the cat was itching a lot there.
Watch to see if your cat over grooms in those areas or appears to be itchy in which case a trip to the vets could be in order.

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