All cats shed, but some seem to lose hair more often. Cat hair loss, for any reason, is named alopecia.

No doubt your furniture and garments which are dotted with cat hair, particularly if you have several felines in your home. But one day you might notice that there there seems to be more hair than usual. What is going on? There are multiple reasons why cats lose hair. The key is to work out "why" the cat is losing hair, and proceed from there. In most cases, Alopecia can be treated effectively.

These are the typical reasons that explain why cats shed more than normal:

- Flea bites dermatitis, an allergic reaction to the bites
- Mites or other parasitic infections
- Ringworm
- Pustule formation
- Arthritis which causes the cat to lick joints due to discomfort which canresult in baldness
- Allergies which are inhaled (called atropy)
- Allergies that are triiggerd by a new diet, "lite" diets are a typical culprit
- Psychogenic alopecia "chewing, pulling fur due to psychological reasons
- Irritant and contact rash
- Bacterial infection
- Demodetic mange
- Erythema multiforme which is an extreme reaction to drugs/illnesses
- Folliculitis refers to infected areas at the base of the hair
- Granulomas refers to nodules of various sizes, often due to foreign bodies such glass or a blade of grass that gets lodged under the dermis
- Pregnancy and nursing
- Stress and surgery
- Thyroid diseases
- Injection site baldness
- Lice

A cat losing hair isn't unusual. What is abnormal is how much and how often, and for this you need to speak to a vet to rule out any underlying illnesses. This is a good idea, because if you assume your feline is losing hair because they're nervous, and it turns out to be ringworm, you have lost valuable treatment time, for you and your moggy, since you can catch ringworm from the moggy.

And how does the vet rule out what's causing your cat's alopecia? Often this is done using a selection of tests. Be ready to answer plenty of questions when you take your cat to the vet, as a they are going to need to grasp when you noticed the problem, what the moggy eats and if you have placed your cat on any medications, or if the cat has gotten into something lately.

The next step is generally to administer a trichogram, which involves taking a look at the hair roots under a microscope. This tells the vet if the baldness is because your cat or kitten is over grooming or pulling out the fur. In other words, the cat is causing the hair loss and not something else. To rule out ringworm, there is generally a fungal culture taken or a cat is examined with a woods lamp.

You may also try a protein and carbohydrate elimination approach. Many of the feline foods on the market may be balanced nutritionally, but contain components that will result in an allergic skin reaction in your cat. While humans sneeze as an allergic reaction, cats show allergy reactions on the skin, with the result contributing to alopecia.

If skin lesions are evenly placed on both sides or generalized, expect blood tests for hormone problems and Cushings illness, and also expect skin scrapings to test for the presence of parasites. While it is not easy to absolutely identify reasons why catssuffer from hair loss, consulting with a pet health professional is the 1st step to making sure the issue is resolved to the comfort of your cat.