pulling fur out

by Jackie
(Fort Wayne, IN)

My older neutered cat is becoming bald on his backend and the baldness is progressing alarmingly. i cannot tell if he is pulling all of the missing fur out but i have seen him pulling clumps out one after another.
He seems healthy, he is active, he doesn't seem to be losing weight.
He is a very smart cat and gets bored easily.
Also, just recently he and my other neutered male (who have been best of friends) have
started fighting, the other male will actually stalk him. I am wondering if this is because
he realizes something isn't right with "baldy".
Normally i would just consult a vet but this balding old guy is feisty and very hard to
handle when he chooses to be (which is any time he is not getting his way) so a trip to the
vet is traumatic for all involved (including the vet) to say the least.
i have checked and don't see sores or anything. the skin does not seem hot to the touch or
inflamed and he does not have fleas. All of my cats are spayed or neutered and are kept indoors except this one. He is allowed outside (daily in the summer) with supervison only.
Any insight you can provide would be appreciated as i am worried about my poor balding
boy. he really is a love, sings any time i'm in the area, loves kisses and head butts from "mom" pats my face lovingly when i sing and talk to him.
Oh yes, also, he is the worlds biggest beggar and does get a lot of bites of "people food".
I feed Science Diet foods and since i have 5 cats (3 in double digits and 2 much younger)
i feed food for both age ranges, one bag of food for the older cats then the next time i
buy the food made for the younger ones.
i am sorry for the long message but i thought you might need to know the particulars about my boy.
Thank you in advance for any help you can give me and my boy,
Jackie Johnston

RESPONSE:

Jackie, the first thing that came to mind with your cat's baldness was a similar situation with my cat Max. It's called alopecia. You can find all the details on this page: Cat Hair Loss.

It could also, possibly, be an allergy but the links to that page are at the bottom of the cat hair loss page.

Hope you can get this resolved so your little critter can feel comfortable. Best of luck to both of you.