Is Your Cat Losing Hair On Back Legs? Then This Well-Searched Guide Is For You

Shedding and grooming are natural traits of cats, but if your cat is overdoing it. Then there are points of concern for you. Your cat might be losing hair on its back legs. You will see that your cat is doing excessive licking of particular areas such as belly or back legs-easy access areas for cats. Overdoing on the back legs can lead to patches and hair loss. 

There could be some serious underlying reasons for it. So please don’t take it too lightly, so is your cat losing hair on back legs and other body parts? Read our informative guide to know the good 6 reasons for it.

Why Is Your Cat Losing Hair On Back Legs? – Vet’s Views

It would be best if you took your feline for a proper checkup to relieve your fluffy friend from such discomfort. But to give you an idea of all the possible reasons, we have added a vet’s opinion for you. Dr. Callum Turner is an experienced veterinarian, comments on cats losing hair on back legs and other body parts. He says:

“Typically hair loss between the hind legs and belly is a sign of excessive grooming since they are the easiest areas for a cat to reach; excessive grooming may be due to behavioral issues, stress or another cause. You should try to place a cone on her for a week or so to see if there is any regrowth of hair in these areas. Other possible causes may be due to parasites, hormonal conditions, allergies among other causes.”

 What Could Be The Possible Reasons For It? – The Causes 

It is mostly the secondary reaction that alerts the feline owner to know its underlying primary reason. After collecting data from several vets and pet owners, we have narrowed down some of the common problems that could be the cause of your cat losing hair on back legs.

1. Over-grooming | Excessive Licking of Particular Patch

It is one of the main causes of cats losing hair. As explained by the vet, hind legs or back legs are more accessible areas for the cat. So whenever it feels overwhelmed, either positively or negatively, it licks these areas the most. Due to over licking, the cat might lose hair from that particular area. That is why it is also termed psychogenic alopecia. 

How to detect:

• Behavioral changes
• Cat seems stressed
• Cat eats less or stops eating

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2. Allergies | Sensitive to Several Stimuli 

Like humans, these cats are sensitive to several allergens. To give you a clear picture, we have listed a few of the most common allergens.

• Food Allergens: Chicken, meat, supplements, and other chemicals
• Environmental Allergens: Pollen, dust, fiber

How to detect:

• Red patch areas
• Dry skin
• Excessive itching
• Mild to severe swelling and irritation 

3. Microbial Infections | Primary Cause of Hair Loss

Like allergies, the other common reason for a cat losing hair on the back leg is your cat getting infected by microorganisms. These microbes affect differently and vary in terms of disease symptoms, and demand different treatment for each type of breed. Some common microbial infection includes:

1. Bacterial Infection: Bacterial pyoderma
2. Fungal Infection: Ringworms, Candidiasis 
3. Yeast Infection: Malassezia dermatitis

How to detect:

• Cyst underneath the skin
• Pustules formation
• Dead follicles result in hair loss

4. Constant Pain | Hormonal Changes

It mostly occurs in older cats and becomes the primary cause of hair loss. Young cats might also suffer from pain in joints or other various parts of the body. Your feline will lick that pain point quite often. It could be another reason for hair loss. Usually, the hormonal changes either occur due to age or lifestyle modification of your feline. 

Arthritis-joint pain is the main reason for your cat’s hind legs hair loss. It could occur when your cat is suffering from a weak bone problem, or it could be a secondary cause. The primary cause also includes hormone imbalance, such as improper thyroid release resulting in disturbed thyroid levels.

How to detect:

• Swollen joint
• Patchy skin

5. Problematic Parasites | Fleas, ticks, and mites

Some cats would take up loads of parasites, but some felines are so sensitive that they could not even bear a single one themselves. These parasites would become a nightmare for the cats and become allergic, irritated, and annoyed cats.

How to detect:

• Aggressive itching
• Dandruff
• Red dots with patch skin

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6. Rare Primary Causes | Severe Hair Loss

Feline also goes through severe diseases that can cause hair loss in the worst possible way. Although these diseases are very rare to occur in cats, you should know beforehand to handle them before it’s too late.

• Cancer- excessive cell growth
• Diabetes-imbalance hormone production
• Alopecia areata– auto-immune disease

How to detect:

These diseases are not easily detectable. You might see slight or no symptoms in some diseases. But if it’s symptomatic, you probably observe sudden weight loss with excessive hair loss.

Is Back Legs Hair Loss Curable?-The Treatment 

Yes. It is curable with proper care and professional advice. These are some recommendations that will help you control hair loss. Make sure to ask your vet to follow these instructions that will suggest you depending on your cat’s condition. 

• Observe the unusual scratching behavior of your cat instantly.
• Keep an eye on the constant mood changes and disturbed diet patterns.
• Try to figure out the stressors or causative agents of hair loss of your feline.
• If your cat is hypersensitive, then limit its outdoor visit for some time.
• Use mild or organic cleaning agents for the cats.
• If your cat has seasonal allergies, observe its pattern of baldness and identify the allergen.
• Observe other unusual symptoms for better detection of the root cause.

Are There Any Home Remedies For My Cat Losing Hair On Back Legs? 

Plenty of home remedies for your feline to control or prevent hair loss. But make sure to ask your vet before to avoid any impulsive reactions.

• Use the citric acid solution to spray all over your cat. You can use lime or orange peel to make this solution.
• Pyrethrum- a Chrysanthemum flower extract is also used as a strong insect repellent that is safe to use for cats.
• Catnip-a cleansing herb also used as an insecticide.

Be Patient! Your Cat Will Recover Soon 

Most of the cat owners leave medication thinking it’s not the right treatment or so. You have to be patient for successful results. As hair growth is a time taking process, it demands your consistent care, strict regime follow-up, and last but not least proper attention towards your feline. 

It is worth mentioning that some diseases might end up losing cat hair forever, but the treatment will assure your cat’s health and long life, which is more important for you.

Also, let us know your take on the cat losing hair from the back legs. If so? Then what was the first symptom you noticed?