# Cat losing hair in neck



## Catloverbearsden (Aug 20, 2013)

Hi There,

I noticed tonight that both my cats have a bald spot around their necks where their collars are. Has anyone else had this problem? I have taken the collars off but will the fur grow back?

I also changed the collars recently to safety collars, it is possible that they are allergic to the new collars?

I have uploaded a photograph and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks


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## Catloverbearsden (Aug 20, 2013)

Picture of old and new collars for info


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Hi 
Is the hair loss a recent thing? It looks like they lost the fur a while ago. I don't use collars on my cats but years ago we used to on our old moggies and their fur never grew back properly 
If there is no irritation I doubt it's a reaction to the new collars. Unless you feel they are essential I wouldn't bother with them, or at the very least leave them off for a few weeks and see what happens 
Em


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## Iheartcats (Aug 25, 2011)

Is it a flea collar? I remember years and years ago we put flea collars on our old cats Buster and Amber and they went totally bald round their necks and the fur never grew back  I just put it down to them having some sort of reaction to the collar and I have never used one since.


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## Catloverbearsden (Aug 20, 2013)

Not a flea collar, they are new personalised collars that I got from Kitty Collars.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

It doesn't look like a flea collar in the photo though, just an ordinary nylon safety collar. I agree IHC, I have heard of flea collars causing permanent fur loss around the neck.

OP, whether the collar was to blame or whether it was a coincidence I would leave the collars off now permanently to give the fur a chance to grow back, if it is going to. Sadly it may not, but I would strongly recommend adding Yumega Drops (balanced omega 3 and 6) to their food.

Yumega is brilliant at improving the coat and encouraging fur to grow where there are bald patches. You need to use it every day for several months.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yumega-Supp...id=1382558692&sr=8-1&keywords=yumega+for+cats


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Catloverbearsden said:


> Not a flea collar, they are new personalised collars that I got from Kitty Collars.


A friend of mine had a bad experience with those collars. They caused a lot of itching and scratching on her cats' necks, tho not bald patches as far as I know. 
She abandoned the collars and the itchiness went away.

Her cats now wear these personalised collars:

Shop | Daintypaws

She says the velvet ones are very soft on the skin.

If your cats fur grows back maybe consider the velvet ones, if you really want collars on them


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## Catloverbearsden (Aug 20, 2013)

Both cats eat Hills Cd due to urinary problems in the past, will the Yumega cause any problems with that?


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## Catloverbearsden (Aug 20, 2013)

It's definately a new hair loss, I would always take their collars off every so often and even though there would be a collar ring - i.e. you could tell a collar had been on there was definately fur there.

This seems to have happened just after I put on their flea treatment (frontline) but to do this I took the collars off, applied the treatment and left the collars off until the next day.

Could this have been the reason?


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## lostbear (May 29, 2013)

Catloverbearsden said:


> Hi There,
> 
> I noticed tonight that both my cats have a bald spot around their necks where their collars are. Has anyone else had this problem? I have taken the collars off but will the fur grow back?
> 
> ...


This happened to one of my cats many years ago. I assumed that her collar was too tight (she was pretty obese, I'm afraid, and got a new, larger, slacker one. However the hair never grew back, and she always had a strip of bare skin for the rest of her life. Sorry

On the good side, it didn't seem to bother her at all.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Catloverbearsden said:


> Both cats eat Hills Cd due to urinary problems in the past, will the Yumega cause any problems with that?


Isn't Hills CD a dry food? If so, then no you cannot add Yumega drops to it, as they need to be mixed in well with wet food.

I would never feed a cat with a history of urinary problems dry food though! It is the worst thing for them. They need a wet food diet and plenty of extra fluids.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Catloverbearsden said:


> > This seems to have happened just after I put on their flea treatment (frontline) but to do this I took the collars off, applied the treatment and left the collars off until the next day.
> >
> > Could this have been the reason?
> 
> ...


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## Catloverbearsden (Aug 20, 2013)

Hills cd is both wet and dry food, my male cat eats the wet but the only problem is that my female cat will not touch the wet only the dry. I have tried everything to get her to eat the wet but she absolutely refuses,

I read about the drops though that you can put them on their fur and they will lick off?


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

I wouldn't fancy the idea of putting them on their fur as they are very greasy and the dose is 4 drops per kg of weight. So my cat who weighs 4 kg gets 
16 drops of Yumega a day. Even divided into 2 doses that would be 8 drops a time, and it would make such a mess of their fur, particularly if they didn't wash it all off straight away. 

If you're leaving dry food down all the time for your female cat she will always refuse wet food. Snacking on dry food spoils the appetite and the cat never gets really hungry for a meal, so feels she can afford to be picky. 

Moving her onto the wet food needs the same method as any diet change. 
It has to be done very gradually. Only feed her at set meal times, say 3 meals a day, (brekkie, tea and supper)/ Put a little less than usual dry food on her plate next to a little wet food. Gradually reduce the dry food each day and increase the wet. Sooner or later I promise you she will eat some of the wet as she will be hungry. Put a few dry kibble on top of the wet to help her along. Aim to get to a point where you are just putting 4 or 5 pieces of dry kibble only on top of her wet food each meal, and not giving her dry food any other times.


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## Catloverbearsden (Aug 20, 2013)

Will try that suggestion as I would really like her to eat wet, how do I deal with it though if she absolutely refuses as I don't want her to starve.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

She won't starve because you will keep giving her the dry food alongside a bit of wet then you gradually reduce the dry *only* when she starts eating the wet.

Start off with slightly less of the dry than you usually give her, and put a little tasty wet food beside it. Perhaps try something like sardines in tomato sauce. Those can only be fed occasionally as a treat as they contain salt. But to start her off you could try.

Give her half an hour to eat everything on her plate, and if she hasn't by then, take the plate up and cover it. If she is hungry later on offer the wet food again. If she continues to refuse it over the next couple of hours then throw it away. She is only likely to try when it is fresh.

You'll waste quite a lot of food during this change-over period, and is the reason why you only put a little on her plate (with the dry). Once she starts eating wet of course you can add more and so on.

It may take weeks for her to come round to the idea of wet, and you'll need to experiment with various different makes. But persevere. 

EDIT: have you ever tried her with raw? There are companies who supply a balanced raw mince for cats, with the right amounts of meat, offal and bone, plus added taurine.


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