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Why is my cat over-grooming, losing hair, and getting bald spots?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Persian | 6 years and 5 months old

My cat over grooms, has for a long time and had bald belly for some time, but now the bald area is expanding to her back legs and I'm seeing thin spots on her forelegs too. She eats a limited ingredient diet and i was using feline pine pellet litter for a while. We've been in the same apartment for almost 2 years and she's the only cat. What should I be doing for her?

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4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jenny, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on January 26th, 2018

If there is no medical reason such as fleas or food allergy and it is behavioral there is medication to help. She may notice another animal or cat outside that is new that is stressing her out and causing her to do this more, There may be a new neighbor with a dog that she smells passing by the door increasing her anxiety. You can start with feliway diffusers and sprays to help in side the apartment. You can also talk to your vet about anxiety medication to start her on to decrease this behavior.

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 6th, 2018

    There could be a couple of different reasons as to why Bella is overgrooming herself. She could be stressed, she could have fleas, allergies, mites, or a metabolic disorder such as hyperthyroidism. I would give her vet a call in the morning to make her an appointment. The vet can diagnose the cause of her overgrooming, and can treat her for it. Best of luck, I hope this helps!

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    Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on March 16th, 2019

    Overgrooming can be behavioral, but it is actually much more common to see overgrooming secondary to allergies or other dermatologic disease. I would recommend having Sansa examined by your veterinarian. They can discuss testing and a treatment plan that can help to rule out the medical causes of overgrooming. If you determine together that there does not seem to be an underlying medical cause antidepressants can sometimes help with psychogenic overgrooming.

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    Answered By Dr. Leigh, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on December 9th, 2016

    It could be stress, allergies, endocrine disease, over grooming (some cats are good a being closet over groomers), etc. The best thing would be to have her examined by your vet to try to determine the cause. Your vet can run bloodwork to look for abnormalities and rule out diseases, like thyroid disease. If your vet thinks she could have allergies than an antihistamine might help and if it could be related to stress than and anti-anxiety, like Prozac may help. Feliway spray or diffuser may help with stress, too.

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