In the last week, the end of Stormy's tail has been losing fur. He licks his bottom constantly which is a result of his surgery so I think he's also licking his tail - we see it sometimes but it doesn't seem like he's licking it enough to lose so much fur. There's still fur on the top side of his tail - underneath there's a good 2-3" bare spot. It looks terrible!! I wonder if this is from the stress of his surgery? I mentioned it to the vet over the phone & she didn't say much, just questioned whether it looks injured or not. It doesn't. He started RC diet within the last week and seems fine on it. Is there anything we can do about it?
If the licking is stress related you could try feliway and/or rescue remedy.
Allthough I think your baby is pretty much the most relaxed raggie I have seen. The wound is probably stil healing and that can create an itch...
The trouble with his illness IMHO is that he is now fed a diet on low micronutrients to keep him from getting new bladder blockage. His metabolism must adjust now to the new food which can take a while.
Biotin is known to have a good influence on skin and hair condition, but I wouldn't supplement it now without asking the vet. I find it a bit strange that she didn't comment further on your question other than aksing if it looked injured.
Thanks for your insight - makes sense. I don't really think he's overly stressed - yes, some days, but he's right here in the middle of it! He doesn't go hide under a bed. Most of the time he sleeps in the midst of everything that's going on.
It just seems to be the way our vet is. If we take him in, she will be most helpful. Otherwise it seems she's careful to comment without seeing him. Fair enough.
I think Monika is probably right about the itching part - and I know their licking can remove the fur from the area. Lindsey just posted about Dexter's owie that he was licking and the fur was gone from around that area too. Hopefully this will be a short lived problem on Stormy's part - he's been through so much! I would think if he did go to the vet that she might give him a steroid shot that will help with the itching -- I know it helps with allergy type itching, but may not help with healing type itching.