# Sudden hairless belly?



## Domino (Dec 4, 2005)

So I noticed a while back that Frida was losing some hair over her belly, now her belly looks as if it had been shaved except of course it hasn't. What I find interesting is that she only lost the hair over her belly, the rest is just fine. Anyone know why this is or if it is normal? Thank you! :?


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Not normal, it indicates the cat is stressed in some way. It could be a food allergy, a flea allergy (my kitty who groomed his belly bald did so from fleas and I'd treat everyone with Frontline or Revolution) stress and/or over-grooming due to some external stimuli.
Check out the ingredient list of what you are feeding your kitty and/or check her for fleas. I think also, sometimes mosquitos can cause an allergic reaction, too. Has the home-life had any major changes or upheavals, new pets coming in, new people ... there are too many possible reasons to list. 
Best bet is to check:
1. Food Ingredients
2. Pest/Parasite Problems
3. Environment Stressors
After that, then we could try to brainstorm other causes...
Best of luck,
heidi =^..^=


_ps, I wanted to say something about our Toby. He would pull/groom the hair off his belly and I would treat for fleas, but I never *saw* any fleas. Either on him or any of the other cats. ...but he would improve after being treated with Revolution._


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## nanook (Jun 12, 2005)

It's usually allergies. I had a similar thing happen with my cat. Turned out he was licking the fur off and it was a food allergy.
I'd take a good looks at her diet. To start, I'd get her on an all wet food diet and look for foods without corn, wheat, glutens, soy fish or chicken or go straight to an allergy formula like Natural Balance duck and Pea.
I would also make sure you're using a non scented/additive, low dust litter.
And, of course, make sure she's completely flea free!
See how she does. If it doesn't improve in about 8 weeks or gets worse you'll need to do some deeper digging into the cause.


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## Domino (Dec 4, 2005)

Thank you for replying. Frida doesn't have any contact with other animals. We only have her and she's a 100% indoor cat. Has never seen the outside world except for her visits to the vet when she was young. She doesn't go to the vet now unless it is an emergency because she gets too stressed out and they have to put her to sleep for just a regular check up, so we were told the best was to only keep the vet visit for emergencies since she is so indoors and has no contact with animals. This is why I don't think she has fleas. How else could she catch them otherwise? I'm going to check though because she scratches an ear a lot.

As for her food I give her Hill's Science Diet hairball control, and tuna (water, not oil) but she has been on it for years now. What you said about stress though, it did kind of ring a bell because she is a cat that gets stressed out of everything and I mean _everything_. The smallest sound and she jumps. When someone she doesn't know is over she gets so **** stressed it even stresses me. Could that be it?

EDIT: Thank you too Victoria, am going to check her food ingredients as well. As for litter I use Scoop Away.


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## nanook (Jun 12, 2005)

> As for her food I give her Hill's Science Diet hairball control, and tuna (water, not oil) but she has been on it for years now.


This is a huge red flag for me. Allergies, by nature, pop up out of nowhere. SD is FULL of allergy triggers and, although most vets recommend it (that's whole other discussion) it's not a great food. By the way, mine was on it too when he had his episode. 8O 
As for fleas, sadly, even indoor cats get them. All that has to happen is someone bringing a hitchhiker on their shoe or what have you.
Cats who are stressed can start grooming excessively but, that behavior is less likely (although not impossible!) to happen overnight unless there was a trigger.
I would bet anything, you're dealing with a diet issue.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Ah, if she is a 'jumpy' kitty then I could certainly see how "little things" could stress her. You mentioned her scratching her ears and that could mean ear mites. If you treat her with a spot on product called "Revolution" it will kill the ear mites AND any fleas and some internal parasites, too. I think ear mites could cause her to have an allergic reaction and groom her belly bald. As for fleas and her not going outside...people still go in/out of the house and all it takes is for one flea to ride into the home on someone's clothing and if she is allergic to fleas, one bite will give her an allergic reaction. Revolution will resolve and treat any flea, ear mite and some internal parasite issues.


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## nanook (Jun 12, 2005)

My friend has a Brussles Griffon. She's almost a year old and adorable! But she has majorly itchy skin. I'd know what to suggest if she were a cat but, don't know how different it is for dogs. She's on Natural Balance "purple bag" I'm assuming that's the venison and sweet potato. Of course the vet has put her on pred.  
Any suggestions?


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