The hair on my cat's nose is disappearing?!

[jackattack]

OK, long story short. I just moved into my own apartment and took my cat from my dad's house with me. The move is a little stressful on him; he's a shy and skittish cat as is, and has barely eaten or had anything to drink. He's still affectionate and playful with me but he's not eating well. Anyway, just within a few hours today, the hair on his nose receded. I'm not sure if this could be stress-related or because a cat back at my dad's who was allowed outside may have gotten him sick. Here are the pictures. They are only 4 hours apart. The thing on his nose I think was food.

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• jackattack
• Jul 18, 2015

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• jackattack
• Jul 18, 2015

Thank you!!! (And if need be, I will bring him to the vet, but he refuses to go in a carrier and can only be transported if you're holding him in the car. I don't know what to do when I have to bring him inside the vet where there are several other animals that would scare him.)

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

@jackattack -- hi and welcome to TCS!

i'm so sorry your boy is having this receding hair/hair loss on his nose. he sure is a good looking boy! may i ask your boy's name?

for the stress from moving -- i'd set a routine for meals, play time, sleep time, etc for your boy. cats do very well with routines, because they know what to expect at specific times. every time i've moved with my cats, i've made sure to unpack everything within 3 days. once that's done, i set up the routine for them. if your apartment is fairly large, as in living room/kitchen/bedroom/bath, you might consider setting up the bedroom as his 'safe room' (with food, water, litter box away from the food/water, cat toys, cat bed/cat tree). this would give your boy time to get used to just the one room and the idea of a new home and area first, before exploring the rest of your new apartment. spend time with him in the safe room/bedroom each day and sleep in there every night, reassure and comfort him. when your boy seems to want to start exploring a little of the rest of your apartment, let him do that but leave the safe room/bedroom door open for him -- should he start feeling overwhelmed and wish to return to his most comfortable space/safe room. if you go out during the day/evenings, you might consider leaving some soft music playing or the tv on low. there may very well be new sounds for your boy to get used to, unfamiliar sounds. leaving the music or tv on low can help drown out some of the sounds of people in other apartments. apartments in either apartment buildings or houses converted to a series of apartments are very different than living in a house. this will take some time to get used to for many cats. i started using feliway diffusers for my two cats while we lived in apartments. feliway is a synthetic version of the 'happy' pheremones that cats have in their cheek areas, which they leave on furniture and such when they rub their cheeks on them. feliway isn't inexpensive and it does take up to 60 days to start seeing positive results, but i started noticing some positive results with my two cats in about a week.

as for eating and drinking water -- it's very important that your boy eat enough. with cats, there's the very real risk of them developing fatty liver disease (hepatic lipidosis) from either not eating enough or not eating at all in as little as 2-3 days. fatty liver disease is very serious and can be fatal if not treated, and it tends to be a long uphill climb for the cat to regain their health. how long has it been since you and your boy have moved, since your boy started not eating enough and not drinking enough water? you could try tempting him with some tuna water (from a can of tuna for people) and some of the flaked tuna, many cats love stage 1 meat (chicken, turkey, beef, or ham) in gravy baby food in the little jars -- gerber or beechnut brands. you want the stage 1 that only has the meat, water, and some have a bit of cornstarch in them -- they're smooth, pureed. cat treats can be tried too. right now, it's trying to encourage your boy to want to eat. then after he's eating the treat type foods, you start offering more of his regular food, and gradually decreasing the treat type foods.

i'd start doing the above things, and you might consider a vet check -- to look at your boy's nose. while the hair loss on his nose may very well be stress related, only a vet will be able to diagnose and treat it. while there with the vet, i'd also discuss your boy's lack of appetite.

okay, your boy does not 'do' cat carriers. you could try a cat harness and leash. i think you're right to be concerned about carrying your boy to the vet's, because if a cat gets scared and/or startled they can bolt/struggle loose and run out of fear. while most cats take some time to become used to wearing a cat harness, in this case you'd only be using it to keep your boy safe/secure while transporting him to the vet's and back. you might consider investing in a cat harness and leash, whether you end up taking your boy to the vet's this time or sometime in the future.

i'd also discuss with the vet's when you make an appointment, now or in the future, that your boy doesn't do well with other animals in a waiting room. i'd ask if you could 'check in' when you get to the vet's while leaving your boy in the car (with someone), and when they have an exam room available for you and your boy to wait for the vet in, then you bring him in to the vet's and straight into the exam room. i'm going to be setting up something similar for my boy, jaspurr, for our future vet appointments. my boy gets so stressed at the vet's waiting in the exam room for the vet, that he starts breathing very rapidly and even coughing. so i'll be setting it up that i check in at the vet's, then wait to bring jaspurr into an exam room until the vet is getting ready to come in to see us.