Cat Ear Hair Loss

It is disheartening and worrying to find hair loss in a furry pet like cat. Cat hair loss, also called alopecia areata, can be hereditary or acquired and has several causes. Though the cat loses hair all over the body, the face, neck, and ears are most prone to cat alopecia. Pet health info worth noting is that hair loss caused on the ear the most worrisome one and must be treated immediately. Allergens like some food products, pollen or dust mites, ear mites, fleas, chronic stress, and side effects of some medications cause alopecia areata in cats. General pet health care can prevent all these problems and the resultant hair loss.

Ear mites infesting a cat’s ears cause severe itching, redness, wax, foul odor and hair loss. Mites can be easily removed from the ears and a solution can be instilled into the ear canals. Similarly, the saliva left behind by the fleas after biting causes an itchy reaction in the ears. The cat scratches its ears against furniture or rough surfaces to find relief, in turn, losing hair. Fleas can be treated by insecticidal sprays or shampoos. Ringworms, actually an itchy fungal infection, also affect the cat’s ears. The mites that cause this infection survive in the hair follicles and nourish on dead cells and cause breakage of the hair at the skin level thereby leaving bald patches. Fungal infections often require the cat’s hair to be shaved off completely. Tablets and topical ointments are available to treat the infection. Mange is also a mite infestation that causes hair loss in the ears, and on the neck and face. Additionally, the skin gets covered by a yellowish crust. The treatment of mange includes applying lime sulfur once a week about six to eight times.

Apart from these infestations, food allergies also cause itching and subsequent hair loss, which is further worsened by chronic ear infections. It’s important to find out what is causing the allergy and avoid feeding the cat that food. Lastly, though in only a few cases, stress and boredom also cause hair loss in cats. The more stressed a cat is, the more it licks its fur and paws. This causes the hair to fall, and since ears have short hair, they fall off more easily. If all the factors causing stress are eliminated, the cat won’t suffer from hair loss. There are other problems like damage to the sebaceous glands or even cancer that cause hair loss on the ears too.