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Old February 28th, 2013, 11:25 PM
Ookami-ChanXP Ookami-ChanXP is offline
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Exclamation Old Cat Losing Hair? And Psychotic Mama Cat

Okay, so I have had my cat Luna for nearly 10-11 years and she has, within the last 4 years, lost most of the fur on the backs of her legs and her stomach. Within that time, however, we moved to a new house, brought a dog in and were forced to have him put down (he had bitten my father), brought in another cat, and had four kittens born from the newer cat and two of them got to stay. Even through all this, Luna is extremely relaxed-acting and gets along fine with all three of the other cats. We also had her checked out by a vet (for worms, but they did a few other tests), and they didn't mention anything about her fur loss being a bad thing. Could this just be stress caused by all the changes happening in the last few years? Maybe over-obsessive grooming?

--------------

Now, onto mama cat Baby. When her kittens Tigger and Sky and their two brothers were born, she was a wonderful mother. Always by their side, always looking out for them; one of them couldn't even mewl without her being there to check on them.
Now that the kittens are older (roughly between 6 and 8 months), she has turned into a royal snot. The kittens used to be the ones instigating, but now they can't even approach Baby without her yowling at or hissing at them. The other day, all Sky (her black and grey tabby son) did was walk over to her, purring and such, when she hissed at him. I don't know what the problem is. We think that it's all just based on the fact that the kittens are still trying to nurse (mostly on our older cat because she lets them do whatever), but they haven't tried to do a thing to Baby in a long while. I'd really like to know what's wrong with her and if it's anything that can easily be fixed.

Thank you for your time!
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Old March 1st, 2013, 09:19 AM
Jim Hall Jim Hall is offline
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We also had her checked out by a vet (for worms, but they did a few other tests), and they didn't mention anything about her fur loss being a bad thing.

stress, diet allergies are probably the first things to look at especially with changes in environment

as far as baby in her mind they are grown up and should get a life already!
mama meow ,an out side cat i assumed used to swat at her litter as soon as she introduced them to me and the food
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  #3  
Old March 1st, 2013, 09:44 AM
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Winston Winston is offline
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I would have Mama cat checked again and let the vet know about her behaviour and hair loss.

Can you give Mama cat some breathing room? any space where she can have some quiet time away from the rambuncious kids?
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Old March 1st, 2013, 12:01 PM
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I agree - a vet visit would be best for the hair thing.

Spaying and Neutering is also recommended to avoid these issues in the future and to keep the pet population down.
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  #5  
Old March 1st, 2013, 12:35 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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What does Luna eat? While stress may indeed be playing a role (or it may be an OCD behaviour leftover from a previously stressful period), diet can also be a significant factor in skin-related issues. You could certainly ask the vet about what might be going on but it doesn't sound like he's been particularly helpful in the past. Most conventional vets also tend to just throw various medications (ie antibiotics and/or steroids) at the symptoms without really trying to figure out the cause. Consulting with a holistic vet might be a better option.

In the meantime, you could try a Feliway diffuser or 2 to see if that helps with any anxiety issues. Make sure she gets lots of playtime and has an engaging environment (like some cat trees and window perches so she can watch the birds outside, etc.) so that she isn't over-grooming because of boredom. Changing her diet to a quality meat-based wet food (if she isn't already eating one) would be my other recommendation.

As for Baby, has she been spayed? Are Tigger and Sky neutered?
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Old March 2nd, 2013, 08:03 PM
Ookami-ChanXP Ookami-ChanXP is offline
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As far as Luna and her eating habits, she mostly eats dry food, but she prefers to eat wet food and treats. We did have her looked at about the fur problem and the vet said there didn't seem to be anything terribly wrong with her, though they did suggest the Feliway. When it comes to playtime, she has no drive to do anything at all. The vet suggested that she should get more exercise and lose a few pounds because she is slightly overweight, but being over 10 years old she lays around a lot, and when the kittens try to play with her at all she kinda shrugs them off. I've tried to get her to play with strings and cat toys like she used to but she just ignores them We give her plenty of attention and she never seems to be anything but a happy old cat.

As for the other issue, Baby is spayed, but we haven't gotten Tigger or Sky neutered yet. They aren't showing any signs of aggression or trying to mate with our two females (both spayed), so we haven't done it yet, especially since we are very short on money at the moment. The two kittens do seem to want to nurse a lot still, even though they are older and happily eating solid food. Even though they are still trying to nurse on both older cats, they don't have to do anything but walk up to Baby and it seems like she's trying to attack them
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Old March 2nd, 2013, 08:05 PM
Ookami-ChanXP Ookami-ChanXP is offline
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Actually, we had a period where we kept her constantly in a room away from the kittens so she could relax, but when we let her interact with them again, nothing changed.

P.S. Mama cat isn't the one having the fur loss problems. It's all my 11 year old cat
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Old March 2nd, 2013, 10:33 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ookami-ChanXP View Post
As far as Luna and her eating habits, she mostly eats dry food, but she prefers to eat wet food and treats.
What brand/flavour of dry?

If she prefers wet food, I'd suggest switching her to that. Best if it's a good quality wet food with little to no grains and no by-products (Wellness, Nature's Variety, Weruva, Precise, ZiwiPeak, are some decent brands). It will probably help her lose weight as well since you'll be feeding her scheduled meals. Once she loses some weight, she may want to play more!

It would also be better for your boys to eat wet food instead of dry since kibble is the number one cause of lower urinary tract disease and life-threatening blockages.

Here is a good website that discusses what cats should be eating: http://www.catinfo.org/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ookami-ChanXP View Post
As for the other issue, Baby is spayed, but we haven't gotten Tigger or Sky neutered yet.
I really think it will help their relationship if Tigger and Sky were neutered. There may be some low-cost spay/neuter options in your area if you do some digging. I know here in Calgary, there's a program called SNAP that helps subsidize speuters for people that can't afford the full cost.
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Old March 5th, 2013, 06:11 AM
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You said the kittens are now 6-8 months old? Although mama cats usually wean their kittens long before the 6 month stage, up to that point they are usually still teaching them to hunt and partially hunting for them. If your cats were feral and on their own, this is the point that mama decides they know enough to feed themselves and chases the babies away to go make their own lives.
6 months is the time my cat decided her kitten was now grown up enough to go and started a campaign to make him leave that included growling, hisssing, and swatting him so hard you could hear the thunk from across the room. She mostly desisted once he completely stopped trying to nurse and gave up bugging her to play with him, but still reserves the right to box his ears if he does anything she considers wrong. (Like looking at her funny, sitting in the spot she wants,washing her ears,etc.)
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  #10  
Old March 5th, 2013, 09:30 PM
Ookami-ChanXP Ookami-ChanXP is offline
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Sadly, we can't afford to give them wet food as their main meal. We've never had any problems with dry food before and I don't think I'd be able to convince my family to spend extra money switching from dry Meow-Mix to wet. We usually only give the wet food as a treat once a day.

And the vet we go to isn't the cheapest or the priciest, but we really have no other choice but to go to them since all of our cats have anxiety about leaving the house and there aren't any other places nearby that we know of.
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Old March 6th, 2013, 01:19 PM
Jim Hall Jim Hall is offline
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an inexpensive way to feed them a little better dry food Usally the extra price is negated by the fact you have to feed them less hair loss may be a food allergy esp if they have been eating the same thing all thier lives
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