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Why is my cat losing fur, scooting, licking, and eating more?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | unspayed | 1 year and 6 months old | 9 lbs

Hi, my cat is getting patches of baldness. This first place of fur loss was around her tail but patches are now starting to appear between her shoulder blades and neck. She has also been scooting a lot and licking her bottom area. Her appetite seems to have increased also. I thought she may have worms but she is up to date with all worm and flea treatment. Could you give me some advice please?

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

Veterinarian, Veterinary Oncology Resident

Published on September 30th, 2017

Thanks for using PerCoach! This may be allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing her allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

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    Answered By Karly Macon, DVM, MS, CVA Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Poor Elsie! Hair loss or excessive grooming and scooting in cats is often a symptom of allergic skin disease. She sounds itchy to me. I recommend a prescription veterinary food allergy diet trial on something like Hills z/d for 8-10 weeks to see if this helps. Sometimes an allergy food diet trial works great and no further intervention is needed, but if this doesn’t work she may need to be on steroids or other allergy medication. Also, external parasites or other infectious skin disease needs to be ruled out. Increased hunger is a common symptom of hyperthyroidism in cats, so I recommend an exam and full bloodwork by your veterinarian for a diagnosis and proper treatment. Hope that helps!

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