Bald spots on head - diabetes related or not?

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ErikAndHarvey

ErikAndHarvey

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My cat Harvey (age 12) was diagnosed with diabetes on 1/6. From that day he has been on Vetsulin (currently 3.5 units twice a day) and eating Hills m/d low carb dry food. On 2/6, a dime-sized bald spot appeared on his head so I took him to the vet immediately. The vet did a cursory inspection and said there wasn't any obvious cause and that it was likely the result of a bump or scratch and likely not something to be concerned about.

Today, on 2/9, I noticed that the bald spot had gotten considerably larger. In both the original appearance and today's enlargement, the change occurred entirely within a day, as I noticed nothing during the morning feedings.

Here are a few photos of the bald spot. Please forgive the excessive lighting. The red circle is the area of the bald spot when it first appeared. Harvey has had the thin hair between his eyes and ears since I adopted him four years ago.

http://i.imgur.com/W3ZDIfA.png

The bald spot is not scaly, patchy, calloused, or flaky. There are no signs of injury to the location.

Is this sort of thing symptomatic of diabetes or is it likely unrelated?
 
Did the vet do a scraping for ringworm or other causes?
What is the rate of growth?
Is it flat, or raised?
(I'm not a vet. I have had a cat with mast cell tumors, another with food allergies)
Some diabetics have horrible dandruff and general fur loss. It isn't general focal.
 
The vet did not do any scraping. He held a blacklight up to it to check for a particular fungal infection, but otherwise just did a visual inspection.

By "flat" do you mean "normal?" The bald spot does not seem to be raised at all. The skin beneath does not seem to be affected in any way and isn't any flatter than his head normally is.
 
The size of the bald spot has not grown gradually, but in bursts. On Thursday afternoon there was no bald spot, but the original spot (circled in red in the photos) was there Thursday night. This morning the spot was still the original size, but this evening it had expanded to what you can see in the photos.
 
Hmm. I had noticed shortly before his diagnosis, Dweezil seemed to have more "sparse" fur than usual, but this could have been my imagination.

I wonder if Diabetic cats are more prone to some forms of "baldness" for some reason...
 
The photos do not give a good picture of the spot.
What color is the spot? red like inflamed or normal skin pink color?
Could it be due to scratching?
How is that ear? Sometime a cat can scratch that area hen the ear itches.
 
Thanks, everyone, for the responses so far.

Here are some better photos of the bald spot, now that I'm not relying on my camera's flash: http://i.imgur.com/I7ZRUdO.png

The spot is normal pink skin color. Harvey's ear has been crumpled like that from the day I adopted him and neither the shelter nor any of the vets I've visited know the cause. It does not seem to cause him any discomfort, though.

I can't rule out scratching, but he doesn't seem to be itching at the area excessively from what I've seen.
 
Is it possible to be fleas? I went through something similar with Hidey a couple months ago. He is strictly indoors, didnt see any fleas and about 2 weeks after his spot getting bigger and bigger, and a few scabs appearing I seen one run across the bald area. Hidey has never had a reaction to fleas in the past until his diagnosis of diabetes. The vet told me because of his age and the diabetes, he is more susceptible to things like allergic reactions.
 
Were you ever able to get a diagnosis for Harvey? We discovered a bald spot on our cats neck tonight and are FREAKING out because it happened during the day today. Any input or encouraging words greatly appreciated.
 
Billy is black and has had a bit of sparseness on his head before- it looked the same. It grew back a few weeks later and I never learned what caused it. He never itched or had other symptoms. Just some hair loss on the head.
 
Oh I hope it is just a thing and not a THING. My poor Flynn already deals with a propensity to urinary infections and diabetes. Thank ou for your response. Best wishes!
 
and by the way, when I say hair loss I mean complete baldness... no hair on a big spot just a little smaller than a ping pong ball. It looked crazy. Then just grew back. That was last year.
 
Flynn currently has a spot about the size of a squashed ping pong ball but I can see a spot just above it that seems thin. Poor guy. We are going to take him to the vet very soon. My biggest fear upon doing some research is hyper thyroid issues. Well that's not true...I am very imaginative and can come up with all sorts of things to worry about....but I feel pretty sure it isn't ringworm or a skin irritation of any kind. There isn't any redness. Just boom! Bald spot. Poor kitty.
 
Harvey's left outer ear looks abnormal. Does the inner ear look OK? I have had cats where the bold spt was caused by scratching even though I never saw them scratch.
 
Thanks to all for your helpful comments and good thoughts. It is certainly nice to find a group of cat lovers who are so helpful and supportive. I will certainly post any updates I get.
 
Well we have returned from the vet. We have a crew coming today to put a French drain in our basement so we had to divide and conquer. I loaded my husband up with every tidbit of stuff I had and sent him off. He returned far quicker than I expected (oh for the ability to clone myself sometimes) with the cat and a tub f medicated wipes. Our vet didn't really know what it was. He gave Flynn some flea and tick meds goop. The medicated wipes twice a day for dermatitis and said that he was too healthy and maintaining his weight too well for it to be thyroid issues. If we don't see some sort of resolution, even if that resolution is that it doesn't get any worse, then I, the Grand Inquistor, will return with our Flynn to the vet and continue the chase. But for now he is home and unhappy that people are in our basement with jackhammers. As am I. I will be sure to post any updates. Thanks to all who provided info and words of support! I have attached a picture of Flynn cuz he is just so handsome!
 

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An update for Flynn. Hip hip hooray! It certainly appears that his hair is going to grow back. I don't know if the medicated wipes the vet gave us did the job or it just resolved itself. Either way Flynn is back being a big sexy boy with no bald spots. Thanks to all who offered information and good kitty thoughts! Happy Holidays!
 
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