Could thin fur starting at the ears and going to the eyes be the result of food allergies? My cats weren’t fond of the Wellness that I was feeding them (they sniffed and walked away and ate it only when REALLY hungry), so I switched them to Go!, which was recommended because it’s grain-free. Well, Istra couldn’t really tolerate it–she started developing very soft stool. So . . . when I finally realized what was going on and went to switch again, the fancy pet store was closed and I was stuck with PetCo . . . so I ended up with Nutro Natural Choice. I realize that it’s not the best food (corn gluten in the first four ingredients), but it relieved Istra’s tummy problems. They’ve been on the Nutro for five days now and her poops are WAY better.
But I noticed that her fur is a bit thin on her face. This is not something brand new–it definitely was there a couple of weeks ago when a photographer friend took pictures of the babies (and when they were eating the Go! food and I hadn’t made the connection between the food and Istra’s tummy issues). You can see it really well in this picture:
http://picasaweb.google.com/heidi.haas/IstraAndMarzipan#5313539405277770258
The skin is not broken or red. It doesn’t seem to be itchy to her–she’s not scratching it. Her ears look fine (no evidence of mites). She does have a little bit of acne under her chin, which I just noticed. But I wonder if it could be an allergic reaction to the Go! food, which caused her stomach upset. Honestly, it’s not like she’s bald on her face, but the fur just seems a bit thinner in that area than it used to be.
Her spa visit is coming up next week, and I want to make sure she’s perfectly healthy when she goes in. Has anyone ever seen something like this?