Thank you, mew, for your response! You brought up a lot of good points. I don't think they did any blood tests when he last went to the vet - I wasn't there though (boyfriend was) so I'm not 100% sure. I'll go along next time. I really appreciate your taking the time to share your knowledge, and I'll provide some responses in hopes that it'll be productive.
I'm not quite sure that the hair is coming out on its own. He does seem to be spending a little more time scratching and licking than usual. I just went and pulled on his hair a bit and although a few strands came out, it's not like it's coming out in clumps or anything. My boyfriend just said that he noticed the "striped" look on his forehead as early as late last fall, so I guess maybe this has been going on for some time now. It's a pretty gradual process.
It could be that the dietary changes weren't good for them. They are now on a steady diet of Nutro so we'll see how that goes. There hasn't been any improvement yet but I do know that cat hair tends to grow in pretty slowly, from when I've had cats shaved for surgery before. I tend to doubt that the food is a factor in this because when we first met Cassius he was a feral cat living under our house, so obviously did not have a regular diet - his coat was dull and nasty back then but he did have all his hair. As for the people food scraps, it's always been my understanding that the warnings against those mostly pertain to feeding them meat or fish as their main nutritional source, since they don't get complete nutrition from meat alone. What my cats get is a couple of bites of meat or fish as a treat when we have it for dinner. Reading the article you linked to, I don't think my cats are at much from what we have been giving them, since the article is talking about feeding fish, etc., as a staple food.
As for allergies, there has been nothing new introduced into the household but I know allergies can develop out of the blue as well. It seems like that might be pretty hard to track down!
I don't see stress as a factor. Not only have there not been any real changes, but Cassius is an extremely mellow cat. Since we took him in and he decided to live the domesticated life, pretty much he does as little as possible and acts like he's "retired." The other one, on the other hand, is very high-strung.
The cats are not litter mates - Heidi (the other one) came from the pound and Cassius came from under the house. Heidi was a stray too and has her own issues but is not a relative. However, we're not all that convinced that she actually has the same problem going on. Her hair loss is quite minor so far and doesn't seem to involve the same skin trouble. No flakiness, red patches, etc. However, they do both seem to have the same pattern of a layer of short hair left over. They are not so much going literally bald as they are going very short-haired, if that makes any sense. The fur that remains is rather dry and doesn't feel healthy.
Cassius has been on Revolution for the past month (that's what the vet gave him) and the problem doesn't seem to be getting any better.
We will be able to take Cassius back to the vet this coming week, so we'll see what happens then I guess. Thanks again for the input and let me know if what I've described brings any flashes of insight.
