People ask, “Why is my cat losing hair above his eyes?” The likely reason why your cat has thinning hair above his eyes is because of naturally occurring alopecia, which is not a health issue and fairly common. The thinning of hair often extends to the area between the eye and the ear flap (pinnae). To be frank, I’m not even sure that it is always alopecia which means a thinning of the hair. It seems to me that some cats are born with this thin covering of hair above the eyes and between the eyes and ears. There is another factor which makes the skin more visible in my opinion. The hair strands stick up more vertically which allows people to look down to the skin at the base of the hair strands.
However, it is important that cat owners assess thinning hair carefully because sometimes there may be a genuine health condition causing it e.g. ringworm but the skin will be damaged if it is ringworm. I’m just making the point that often there isn’t a health concern with this sort of thin hair. If in doubt talk to a veterinarian.
Bombay cat celebrity
It is interesting that, today, a rare Bombay purebred cat is featured on the Daily Mail website. His name is Cornelius Cornbread and he has had thin hair above his eyes and between the eyes and ears since he was kitten. It looks as if he has eyebrows which has made him a popular up and coming star on Instagram. People like the unusual. But this is actually quite usual.
The reason why the alopecia stands out so much more is because Bombay cats are bred to have a jet black shiny coat which in this instance contrasts sharply with his white skin. This produces the eyebrows for which he is famous. Cornelius is four-years-of-age and he lives in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. His human companion is Karen Mellette. She is a retired teacher.
No health issues
I think it’s quite commonplace for concerned cat guardians to be a little anxious about this form of feline alopecia. However, there is nothing to worry about from a health standpoint. These cats are not losing their hair generally because of a health problem. Some cats have naturally occurring thin hair cover at that particular part of their skin.
I wrote about this some time ago because a cat that I lived with at that time – also black cat, incidentally – had a similar condition. Clearly, the condition is more noticeable with black cats because of the contrast between the colour of the skin and fur.
