Disease or shedding
The first shedding of a kitten begins no earlier than 6 months. And therefore, in very tiny fluffies, the owners do not notice any signs of hair loss. But in six months, here and there, you can meet the fur of your ward. And here, attention! Sometimes you don't lose as many hairs as you think. It all depends on what breed the cat is and the length of its fur.
Shedding
It cannot be said that a kitten loses hairs from its coat only 2 times a year. The kitten sheds hair all year round, even when it is completely healthy. Moreover, seasonal changes in the skin are quite normal. And it shouldn't cause any concern. At this time, it is worth taking the necessary measures :
- Brush more often than usual;
- Give an additional vitamin complex to the baby;
- Take care of the necessary diet, which will include natural products.
Of course, even if you do everything necessary, you cannot expect that the problem will disappear and the kitten’s hair will stop falling out. And yet, this will help both the owner and the pet survive an unpleasant period without damage to health.
Why are we talking about damage if it’s just molting? Even the fact that the baby constantly licks himself, and all the hair that falls out of the kitten ends up in his stomach, can lead to unpleasant consequences. Additional procedures, or even special treatment, will be required to keep the kitten healthy.
Disease
But diseases can also cause hair loss in a kitten. It’s even worth noting that the condition of a kitten’s fur and skin is often an indicator of its health.
What could be the causes of hair loss in kittens? Liver diseases, hyper- and hypovitaminosis, allergies, diseases transmitted to the baby from a cat, fungus and even viruses or the consequences of treating infections. To help a kitten, you need to find out the specific reason why its hair is coming out.
Sphynx cat
© shutterstock
It's probably no surprise that the first cat on our list is simply a hairless cat - no hair means no shedding! These cats are naturally mostly hairless, but have peach fuzz on their bodies, especially around the nose and ears. These cats are often mischievous, but very affectionate and loving. Keep in mind that these little guys still need a little TLC to keep their skin healthy.
What can you do when your kitten loses hair?
If the owners begin to notice that in the place where their kitten sleeps there is an accumulation of fur, and even tufts of it, they need to:
- schedule a visit to the veterinarian;
- observe the behavior of the kitten;
- reconsider the use of care products or the baby’s nutrition;
- carry out preventive procedures to rid the kitten of parasites: fleas, worms;
- check the condition of the skin, whether there are areas with pronounced diseases: peeling, redness.
Sometimes the reason why the fur falls out in clumps on the skin of the wound and on the kitten is because a comb with sharp teeth is used, which can scratch the skin. But it's better to know for sure. And the tests that the veterinarian will prescribe for the kitten will help with this.
Source
Hair loss in a kitten taken from the street
I don’t have the opportunity to go to the clinic yet. Please advise what can be done at home.
At home, you can use coffee grounds to tell your kitten’s disease. Kidding. It won't help. Most likely the kitten has a fungal disease, the treatment is specific, which can harm an animal with another disease. If we go from the most “scary”, then wash the kitten several times a week with NIZORAL shampoo, inject it in the withers 5 times every other day with the veterinary immunomodulator Roncoleukin 10 thousand units. per kg of weight, inject vet. GAMAVIT vitamins at the withers for 5 days by weight, treat the lesions with Fungin spray once a day, do not allow licking for at least 15 minutes, give 2 veterinary injections. vaccine Vakderm-F 1 ampoule for 1 injection. Inject into the muscle of the hind leg, after 10 days a second injection into the muscle of the other hind leg. Believe me, this treatment will cost you MORE money than testing for fungal diseases and may be useless if it is NOT a fungus.
Areaty alopecia
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There are many causes of hair loss - from poisoning to local or systemic infections. However, unfortunately, sometimes we don't know exactly why hair actually falls out. One of these diseases is alopecia areata, or alopecia areata.
What it is?
This is a chronic disease that affects the hair follicles and sometimes the nails. It appears in the form of rounded areas of non-scarring hair loss on the head, sometimes on the face (eyebrows, mustache, beard), as well as other areas of the skin.
What is the reason?
The reason is still unknown. There are theories of autoimmune damage to hair follicles, genetic determination of the disease and many others, but in fact we do not know why this appears and why it goes away.
What does it look like?
One fine day (or night) on the head (very rarely, primarily on other areas of the hairy skin), a lesion with fallen hair is discovered. As a rule, it does not hurt, does not itch, and sometimes there may be a slight burning sensation, which many patients at first (before the defect is discovered) do not attach importance to. Also (if “caught” at the initial stage) some patients may have slight redness of the skin. The skin on long-term lesions does not differ from normal skin.
Areas of hair loss are usually round, and there may be easily (with the slightest twitch) hair falling out and hair fragments along their edges. In severe forms of the disease, nails may be affected: dull color, thimble-shaped indentations, longitudinal striations, free edge in the form of wavy jagged edges.
How does it vary in severity?
There are local, subtotal, ophiasis, total and universal clinical forms.
- In the local form, one or more clearly defined round foci of alopecia are determined on the scalp.
- With the subtotal form, more than 30–40% of hair is missing from the scalp.
- With ophiasis, foci of alopecia cover the entire marginal zone of hair growth on the head, or the frontotemporal region, or only the back of the head.
- With the total form, there is a complete absence of hair on the scalp.
- With the universal form, there is no hair on the scalp, eyebrows, or eyelashes; on the body, vellus hair is partially or completely lost.
Alas, all forms of the disease can transform into one another.
Who to treat?
It is better to see a dermatovenerologist specializing in trichology. You cannot self-medicate; most treatment methods have significant side effects, and are even simply dangerous for general health.
How to diagnose?
Usually the diagnosis is not difficult. Typically, general tests, tests for fungi, and tests to rule out syphilis and common autoimmune diseases are performed.
Perhaps, to determine treatment tactics, a trichogram may be needed - a study of the hair roots along the edges of the lesion.
How dangerous is this? Currently, there is no convincing evidence of the connection between alopecia areata and any other specific diseases and/or pathologies. Caution should be exercised regarding autoimmune diseases.
What is the treatment?
Like all diseases whose etiology is unknown, and treatment is not always successful, the range of measures taken is quite wide, however, alas, the evidence base for many traditionally used remedies is absent or the evidence of their effectiveness is rather weak.
Glucocorticoid hormones are used systemically and locally (in the form of potent ointments and intradermal injections directly into the skin of the lesion), minoxidil, cytostatics, photochemotherapy (photosensitizers + irradiation are prescribed), local immunosuppressive therapy, tar preparations, various “folk” remedies (onion juice, tincture of capsicum pepper) and many others.
Unfortunately, analysts from the Cochrane Collaboration, comparing reports on the use of certain products, did not find evidence that at least something gives a lasting positive effect on alopecia areata.
What's the prognosis?
Fortunately, approximately 80% of patients with local forms of alopecia areata achieve remission after 12 months from the onset of the disease. Unfortunately, even these people may experience a recurrence of the disease.
Shedding in kittens
At what age do kittens start shedding? Do they need to be combed out? Is shedding as big a problem as everyone says it is? About this and much more in our article.
Little kittens practically do not shed, since instead of fur they have baby soft fluff. However, caring for a kitten's coat, and brushing in particular, must begin from an early age. And there are a number of reasons for this:
- It is much easier to train a small kitten to be groomed than an adult cat. Kittens love affection and love contact with their owner, so careful brushing will be a pleasant pastime for them. Thus, even as an adult, your pet will have a positive attitude towards combing, and grooming will not turn into a life-or-death struggle for him.
- Brushing kittens from an early age helps prepare them for their first molt. The first molting of kittens is the most intense and long-lasting, because the babies have to exchange baby fluff for adult, coarser fur. And the task of every responsible owner is to help the pet in this difficult task (and also protect their things from fur). During the molting period, the kitten must be combed thoroughly and regularly. This way you will contribute to the renewal of the coat and reduce the number of hairs remaining on your things. A kitten already familiar with brushing will endure the first moult much easier and calmer than its less experienced brother.
When does kittens start shedding? – It depends on the season, breed and individual characteristics of the pet, but the average age for the first moult is 5-8 months. Renewing your kitten's fur will require additional nutrients: vitamins, amino and omega-3 fatty acids. Start giving your baby a complex with fish oil and brewer's yeast (for example, Excel Brewer's Yeast) from the first days of shedding, and you will see that the new coat will grow healthy and beautiful, and the first shedding will go much faster.
- Brushing is a necessary procedure for furry pets, otherwise their beautiful fur will begin to gather in tangles.
- Brushing is not only grooming, but also a kind of massage that improves blood circulation, which is very useful for kittens.
Brushing, like other pleasant joint activities, helps to tune in to a wave of mutual understanding and trust, which is very important in building a relationship between an owner and his four-legged friend.
How to brush a kitten?
It is very important that the combing procedure itself is carried out gently and carefully. Do not scare the kitten with sudden movements, do not forget to praise him and talk to him. The baby should perceive combing as affection and reverent self-care; his associations with grooming should be extremely pleasant.
Features of non-shedding breeds
The shedding process is considered a physiological norm for most breeds of domestic cats. Therefore, they all lose their fur to one degree or another. Of course, those with short fur coats shed less fluff than their shaggy counterparts with a voluminous undercoat.
All low-shedding breeds have a number of features:
- absence of down or guard hair;
- presence of coarse or curly hair.
Thanks to this, such cats hardly shed, and are also less likely to cause allergies.
