Why is my cats fur still not growing?

Question

About a 2 months ago i noticed that my maine coon cat had scabs spreading around his body and was loosing his lovely fur. I took him to the vets and they said he had flea bites but i knew he didnt have fleas as i treat both the house and the cat. They gave him some antibiotics, the scabs have gone but his fur does not seem to be growing back very quickly. Is there anything to help his fur grow or to help with conditioning? Thankyou

My cat has been on the same food since he was young (he's four now) as every other food would not agree with his stomach so i am unable to change his diet.

I used frontline from the vets which kills both mites and fleas.

Answer 1

Cats fur seems to take a while to grow, I just got a kitten from a rescue centre where she had been neutered and they said her fur would grow back in 'a few months' so it will probably taken even longer for a long haired cat, espcially around a scarred area.

Possibly ring the vet and speak to one of the nurses, they will be able to tell you if theres any need to worry, but I'm sure theres not!

Answer 2

Why are you so sure they don't have fleas? Many flea treatments don't work i.e all the ones from pet stores.

Cat fur can take at least 8 weeks to grow back even on a short hair cat - it will be longer for a Maine Coon.

If you have further questions about your cat's treatment, please ring the vet who treated him

Chalice

Answer 3

It could bethat your cat has mites and not fleas! So you may need to get a powder for that if he is still scratching! Also cats hair tends to take a few months before it grows back and like humans in winter the hair growth is slower and in summer its quicker!

Answer 4

give it sometime n also try considering changing her diet too for a while...
make him happy..
my kitty used to have that problem too without fur around the neck ..she look funny...
but then we took her to the vet, get antibiotics, fungal cream and stop giving dry food for a while n gave her favorite wet food... and her coat begun to grow beautifully..

Answer 5

Watch your cat very closely for a couple of days to make sure that he is NOT scratching himself in these same places where he has lost his fur. Also, to make VERY sure that he does NOT have fleas on him, comb thru his fur--especially around the neck area and his belly. If there are no signs of fleas or eggs, but in the event you DO catch him scratching at himself, call your vet back. This may be caused by an allergic reaction to "something"---most often it is food-related (some of the perservatives, particularily in dry food) can cause this. Although, many other things can cause it too. Only your vet can do an allergy test to find out exactly what it is, or at least give him some type of medication (similar to Benedryl) to stop the itching. Do NOT give your cat even as much as a 1/2 of a human/childs Benedryl (or anything else you can buy over-the-counter), you could kill your kitty with ANYTHING that is not prescribed by your vet for CATS.

I also have a very long-haired cat (pure white Turkish Angora), and at least once a year, during the summer months, he goes to the groomer and gets all of his fur cut down to 1/2 inch, sanitary shave up the back, and his belly completely shaved. This will last, and grow out very slowly throughout summer and the fall/winter months up thru about June or July of the next year. So, YES--in that respect, a cats fur DOES grow back in rather slowly, and it's only been 2 months for your guy.

Now, with all of this being said--check him out good with the combing to make sure that there are NO fleas on him, and observe---to see if you can catch him scratching himself. If it turns out to be "NO" to both of these things, then you're going to have to make a vet appt. to get him back in there to be evaluated and treated. If there are rather large patches of bald spots, carefully look them over (do NOT touch these areas), but if you happen to see any round, pink/reddish-pink spots on his skin, he COULD have ringworm. NO--they are NOT really "worms" at all. Rather, this is a very contagious viral infection (again, DON'T touch any of these areas without using gloves--you CAN get it yourself and spread it all over your body, and also transfer it to any kids and/or anyone else who comes in contact with one of these areas), your vet will most likely give you an ointment to use on the spots, themselves + they also use prednisone (a steroid very commonly used to stop the itching of ringworm, exema, psorisis, and many other conditions). Finally, if there is absolutely NO SIGN of any fur starting to grow back (he should at least be a little "fuzzy" now), this will require your vet to diagnose this----you've got to know what the cause is BEFORE you can treat/cure it. If he is an indoor/outdoor kitty, he may be getting into something in the yard that he's allergic to (poison Ivy, Oak, Sumac, etc.), to food allergy, to anything as common (and over-looked) as laundry detergent, fabric softener, fabric softener sheets, the list goes on-and-on, up to and including the particular brand of kitty litter that you're using. So do the few checks I've listed above, and make notes of ANYTHING you detect for a couple of days, and then, you'll at least have more information for your vet to go on. Best of luck to you in working closely with your vet to help your kitty in getting his fur to grow back in.