Our 10-year-old male cat seems to be losing the fur on his ears. He has normal fur at the base of his ears and it gradually diminishes until the top third is bare skin. There doesn’t appear to be any signs of mites, fleas, ringworm, or any of the other common causes of hair loss, and he isn’t scratching at them or showing any signs of discomfort, so it doesn’t appear to be caused by infection. He is 100% an indoor cat, as are our other two cats.
Any ideas as to what might be causing it?
I don’t know, but a friend’s cat had a bald belly for half a year, and after that the fur grew back on its own.
Could he be getting old. Our dog started to lose his hair, by the time he was 15 he had bald batches behind his ears and on his tail.
Our vet said “He’s OLD…like old people lose their hair dogs too lose their hair when they get old.” There was nothing wrong with the dog. No fleas, no mange, he was just as happy and healthy as always, just the hair started to fall out.
10 years old doesn’t seem old for a cat, but maybe that breed?
This seems to be fairly common with Siamese and related breeds, but Chipie is your basic domestic shorthair.
It could be a fungus. Is there any scaliness or change to the skin there at all? Even if not, it could still be a fungus. And you and your family members could catch it, if it is. I’d take it to the vet, or at the very least try some otc antifungal cream on it for a couple of weeks to see if it helps.
There’s no scaliness - the skin seems perfectly normal. I’m inclined to think it’s not something like this because it’s not a random patch of hair missing, it’s a symmetrical pattern on the tips of both ears. Maybe it’s the feline equivalent of male pattern baldness? 
His ears often seem cold - this may be due to the lack of hair, but is there any temperature-sensitive condition that would result in hair loss? Something like the temperature sensitivity that causes Siamese pattern dark colouring on cooler areas?
There is such thing as genetic hair loss that usually begins on the head and ears; since he doesn’t seem to be bothered by it, this could be your answer. Thisarticle discusses other possibilities. A vet would be your best bet, but since he’s not bothered, you might want to take a couple of days to observe him to see if he’s grooming excessively, or otherwise indicating that something is wrong so that you have a full set of symptoms to mention to your vet.
