my cat's hair loss

Hi everyone!

Wondering if anyone has had a similar experience to the following:

My bf was rubbing the back of my cat really vigorously in a back and forth motion (the cat seemed to really enjoy that) and the hair in the streak that he was rubbing came off. This freaked us out at first b/c it was fairly bald underneath. The cat has been acting completely normal since then, there has been no other hair loss (even with vigorous rubbing), and the hair is beginning to grow back in that rubbed area. Think we should worry? She looks healthy and we know it isn't ringworms as my other cat hasn't "caught" anything (and neither have we). From what I understand, she may have been excessively licking the area and my bf might have just accidentally targeted an area prone to hair loss.

Thoughts?

Have you applied flea/tick medicine on your cat recently. Advantage did that to our cat Blackie and our dog Austin. A few days after application the hair in that area fell out but grew back overtime. Now we just use a different brand for them.

It would be a good idea, just in case, to keep checking for ringworm, it usually shows up 10-14 days after infection.

It is possible it was just an over cleaned area where the fur has come out, keep an eye on the fur in that area and the skin surrounding it. Check to see that the skin is normal colour, not dry & flaking or red & bumpy.

Keep us updated

The cat has been acting completely normal since then, there has been no other hair loss (even with vigorous rubbing), and the hair is beginning to grow back in that rubbed area.

Sometimes, if there is previous inflammation to an area of skin, the hair can fall out in the area of inflammation. Sometimes in these situations, the area of inflammation will retain the hair until they are disturbed and then they will easily fall out. If the inflammation was transitory (such as bug bite, self limiting bacterial infection, etc...) the hair will regrow.

If the area is resolving and there are no other clinical signs or hair loss, then this may be a similar isolated event. Of course, it is always great to have your vet look at your cat. Also if there is ringworm, which could also be a possibility; be advised that this is contagious to people. Your veterinarian can perform some simple tests for this. Good luck. :pawprint: