Alopecia on ears and around eyes

[TulipRoxy]

My cat Alaska seems to be losing hair on his ears and a bit around his eyes. I have only noticed in the last week or so.
He has no itching, redness, scaliness, and the ear doesnt to bother him.

I'm stumped. Could this be a nutritional deficency? endocrine disorder, ear mites?

I couldn't get a good pic of his eye but I got one of his ears. Picture 1 is now and picture 3 is a couple months ago so you can see the difference. Sorry the pics are so big and blurry!

[Dr Lee]

How old is Alaska? Any history of problems? illnesses? Otherwise doing well?

It is hard to see but the second picture (with the finesse bottle) might be a 'normal' finding. The hair between the ears and eyes grows in a direction that 'appears' like hair loss in black cats. But then again... just hard to say with the pic.

The first pic, it appears that Alaska has hair thinning on the dorsal (top) portion of both ears. If it were ear mites, then the hair loss would be secondary to heaving itching and scratching and would be combined with 'coffee grounds' like exudate in the ear canals. If it is hair thinning/loss with no itching and everything else 'normal' then it is possible to be metabolic or endocrine disorders or a primary dermatologic disorder. Blood work will evaluate for the first set of issues and then skin scraping, dtm culture and then dermatologist referral to look for such things like primary alopecia, etc...

Hope that helps.

[TulipRoxy]

Thanks Dr. Lee

Alaska is 1 1/2 years old. I have had him since he was a kitten and he has always been very healthy. I noticed a slight thinning around his eyes as well as his ears.

The second picture was his ears a few months ago when they were normal.

Is this something I should be really concerned with? Should I take him to the vet right away or should I wait and see if it spreads or clears up on its own?

[TulipRoxy]

Since nothing has really changed in a month with Alaska's problem, I decided to take him into the vet today just for my peace of mind.

He doesnt seem bothered by the hair loss at all, but still, its not normal and I'd like to get to the bottom of it.

I'll let you know what ( if anything) comes of it.

[rainbow]

Good luck ....I hope it is something easily treatable.

[TulipRoxy]

So the vet said that it was nothing to worry too much about. She examined him and did a test for ringworm which was negative. I asked about running blood for a possible hormonal problem but she didnt think that was neccessary as he is a young cat and she said he looks like he's in great shape otherwise. She want me to bring him back for a skin scraping if the alopecia gets worse or starts to look scabby.

So thats good to hear. The vet said she probably wouldnt have noticed that degree of hair loss and joked that I was an obsessive cat person...lol

Guess that kinda fits