Fur Mowing in Cats: You are being redirected to updated information on this topic
Image courtesy of MarVistaVet
What is fur-mowing? In short, the cat is licking off all his hair. Often the belly is nearly as bald as if it were shaved. Sometimes a Mohawk of normal fur makes a stripe down the back, surrounded by bald spots on either side. Sometimes it is the lower back itself that is bald. Often the owner thinks the hair is falling out. Often the veterinarian wonders if the problem is really psychological. The good news is that most cats that mow do not have mental illness. The answer is almost always much simpler: cats lick off their hair because they itch and it is important not to launch into treatment with psychoactive drugs until causes of itching have been ruled out. For example, in a recent study of 21 cats referred to the University of Guelph Veterinary Teaching Hospital Behavior Service because of excessive hair licking, only two cats were ultimately believed to have a psychological reason for hair licking, and sixteen cats were found to have a true medical basis for itching, and three cats had both.
But let us go back to the beginning: the cat with a big bald spot.
How Do we Know the Cat's Hair is not Simply Falling Out?
Chewed off hair tip. Image courtesy of Dr. Carol Foil
A truly observant owner will actually see the cat licking the area, but cats, being private creatures, often do their licking when no one is watching. One might wonder why it is that the itchy dog creates moist, red, oozy, unpleasant-looking hot spots while the itchy cat cleanly licks away only the hair while leaving the skin itself not in the least bit scabbed, red, or even raw. This turns out again to be the feline nature: refined. Private and refined. In fact, sometimes the mowing cat will have some hot spots as well or a patch of scabs but often there is only a bald area with normal-looking skin exposed.
The truth is simple: there are only a few rare diseases that actually will lead a cat to lose hair in great patches but, if someone still remains skeptical, there is a test called a trichogram that will confirm the answer. A trichogram involves plucking a hair from the affected area. There are most likely at least a couple of hairs in the area but if there are not, hairs from the margin may do as well. Under the microscope, the end of the hair is flat from having been broken off. A hair shedding from the skin will have a tapered, natural end.
Hair with a normal tip. Image courtesy of Dr. Carol Foil