My senior cat has ear fur loss. Is melatonin safe with her lymphoma?

Question

Female Siamese age 14 on transdermal prednisolone for GI lymphoma exhibits fur loss on ears. Vet suggests melatonin may stimulate regrowth. My concern is that it may also stimulate growth hormone and reactivite lymphoma. Your opinion? Would topical melatonin be a possibility? Pet's info: Cat | Siamese | Female | spayed | 14 years old | 9.3 lbs

Joy Fuhrman, DVM, MBA, CPA · Accepted Answer

Melatonin has been reported to stimulate hair growth in dogs, ferrets and mink. There are no reports of similar results in cats. While melatonin has been reported to increase platelet counts in dogs, there are no reports of increased white blood cells or reactivation of blood cancers. There is no transdermal formulation for melatonin although there is an implant for sustained release. One thought is if the hair loss is occurring at the same site as the prednisilone transdermal patch, you could consider an oral formulation of the steroid.

My senior cat has ear fur loss. Is melatonin safe with her lymphoma?

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