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My cat has severe hair loss, skin lesions, and tremors. What's wrong?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Male | neutered | 5 years and 1 month old | 12 lbs

Hi, I would like to know what's wrong with my cat. We've taken him to several vets but his condition seems to be getting worse. His hair is falling, has severe skin lesions, slight twitching/tremors. He has lesions under his belly as well. He has had episodes of fungal (ring worm) infections prior to this, however this seems to be the worst he's ever had. How do we treat this or move forward now with this? Tq

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

Veterinarian, Veterinary Oncology Resident

Published on February 16th, 2018

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his 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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