Why is my new kitten losing hair and has dry, ashy skin?

Question

I have a kitten I just brought home a week and a half ago and it is losing it's hair. He is about 2 months old and has thinking hair on his head chest and belly and there is a big spot on his side. The skin is ashy but there are no sores. I feed then canned food. The other kitten is around the same age and was a rescue but is doing just fine. Could the food or the cat litter be the cause? Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | unneutered | 1 month and 29 days old | 2 lbs

David Darvishian · Accepted Answer

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Oreo. Skin and hair coat problems can be caused by a variety of things including external parasites (fleas, ticks, mites, etc), nutritional problems including loss of nutrition/blood by intestinal parasites, other dietary issues, bacterial/fungal infections, among many others. I don't think the food is causing a problem unless you are not feeding kitten food and I have never heard of the litter causing a problem like this unless it is getting caked onto the hair and skin. They are definitely old enough to be dewormed and I would highly advise that. Deworming should start at 2 weeks of age and be done every 3 weeks for at least 3-4 times. If these areas of concern worsen and persist, I would highly advise you have your vet evaluate Oreo to try to figure out what is going on. It doesn't seem like it's something contagious but sometimes not all kittens are affected. Your vet can advise some tests if needed (skin scrape, skin cytology, fungal culture, woods lamp exam, etc) to try to determine what is going on. Once a diagnosis is made or suspected, a sound treatment plan can be put into action. Your vet can also advise you on a sound preventive health care plan including deworming, testing, vaccines, flea/tick control, etc. Good luck with Oreo.

Why is my new kitten losing hair and has dry, ashy skin?

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