I was just rubbing my cat and noticed that he has a bald spot about the side of a silver dollar on his left side. It’s really weird - he hasn’t been scratching that area, and it doesn’t hurt him if I touch or press it. But he’s got this bald spot, and while I’ve noticed a little hair loss in that area, I hadn’t realized it was that bad. At first I thought that maybe it was an illusion - he’s a completely black cat and when his fur rubs against the grain, you can see the white skin underneath, so often if he’s sitting down it looks like he has little bald spots on his legs, but they smooth out when he moves, so you can tell it was just the way his fur was turned. Well, this one isn’t smoothing out - it’s a bald spot alright. I’m calling my vet, but does anybody know what the hell could be causing this? Food allergy, maybe??
Are you sure he’s not biting or scratching the area?
Biting seems to be the most common cause of bald spots on animals.
He hasn’t been scratching the area, at least not that I’ve seen. I called the vet and he thinks it might be ringworm, though he’s a little confused because my cat’s 4 and 1/2, but ringworm usually happens in kittens. Oh, well, either way he’s going in for a fungal culture tomorrow. That’ll be fun. Ewww. Yucky.
Unfortunately, this is the smarter cat. He knows to run when I’m trying to get him ready to go to the vet. I’ll be getting my exercise tomorrow. 
As for the Great Vet Capture, I’m a big fan of hiding the carrier in the bathroom, then getting the cat to follow me in there and trapping him. Sometimes he’ll even get in voluntarily, because he knows there’s no way out and nowhere to hide. (Oh, and block off the area behind the toilet before you start, it takes much longer than you think to get them out of there.) I haven’t tried this tactic with the kitten, but he’s got an appointment next week, so we’ll see how it goes. Odds are, he’ll be so intrigued by the big purple thing that he’ll walk right into it and I can just slam it shut behind him. Muahahahaha!
That’s an excellent idea! Both cats really like the bathroom.
I leave the carrier out in the basement, in the playroom, so it isn’t completely foreign and scary. It’s just always there.
The day before going to the vet’s, I bring it up and set it in the living room, with the door wide open and I put a towel in it. That’s intriguing enough for one or both of them to walk in and sniff around.
Of course, capturing the vet-bound cat and stuffing him in there is always fun. My vet is just a few minutes away, so I can hold off till nearly appointment-time. The trick is to grab their legs and shove him in head-first. Then slam and lock the carrier door.
Good luck! I hope Kitty is okay.
I do the same thing - leaving the carrier out all the time with the door open.
My two big cats tend to hang out in there quite often, so it’s not hard to persuade them to get in when it’s vet time.
But due to my male’s most recent experience (the big Snip), I don’t know if he’ll go within two feet of it ever again.
Well, if the bald patch was on his belly or the inside of his thighs, I’d say he was having some sort of allergic dermatitis. The side is an unusual spot for that, though. Still, he could be chewing or grooming himself bald there for a number of reasons.
I think my cat is broken. This afternoon, I was talking on the phone when I looked over to see my cat licking his paw. Since he got that baldspot (which turned out to be caused by over-exhuberant grooming), I’ve been paranoid about making sure he doesn’t have any lesions on him. Anyway, I walked over and looked at his paw, and it’s split open. I called the vet and they said I can use the same medication on his paw - Tresaderm - as I’m using on his bald spot. Poor defective kitty. He was so trusting when I put it on, but as soon as he realized what I’d done, he glared at me and took off running. If it’s not looking better day after tomorrow, I’m calling the vet back and taking him in. I might call again today anyway and ask if I should make an appointment - they told me to use the Tresaderm and see what happens, but I’m paranoid because I’m worried that he might have a claw growing back. He was declawed as a baby, but apparently not very well because he’s already got one claw that grew back, but that one didn’t hurt him, and this particular digit has gotten infected before. 