Cat loosing hair rapidly

Hello all, Asking about my mother in laws cat and possibly spreading something to our sugar gliders? We have a mother/daughter so she’s in our home where we also have our sugar gliders. She is an indoor, long hair cat that has been losing hair excessively for the past month or two. The cat is scared of everything so we don’t see her often (comes out at night or when it’s only my mother in law around), but yesterday morning I saw her for the first time in a bit and she has a straight line of just no hair on her back. Her skin doesn’t look scaly or irritated in any way, just hairless now. Any ideas what could’ve causing this (not looking for a diagnosis, just ideas)? The cat has been around as long as I can remember; we can’t catch her to get her to a vet 🙄 Any thoughts/ideas/opinions on what it could be or how to possibly treat at home? As I said poor cat is scared of everything, if we see her once a day it’s because she didn’t wake up when we got home, as soon she realizes your around she’s gone. Catching her to try to go to the vet would probably involve a full fire department cat rescue response in our basement 🤣 Also concerned because of our Sugar Gliders. The cat has never interacted with them, or is never in our bedroom area but want to be sure there’s nothing I should watch for that could transmit cat to glider from our feet/shoes. Thank you!

Hello!  One of the most common causes of hair loss in cats is fleas, which can have quite a dramatic effect. Other possibilities include fungal diseases / infections eg ringworm, mites, allergies, stress and even pain if overgrooming.  Cancers and hormonal diseases are possible.  It is definitely the right thing to go to your vet so that they can assess the situation in context.

I hear you that this is an indoor cat, but fleas can mysteriously penetrate houses with indoor animals only and, indeed, this can involve shoes.  One thing that can definitely transmit from a cat to a sugar glider is fear - cats are their natural predator, so please do be very careful of that.  When cats themselves are stressed, certain hair loss conditions such as ringworm may be more likely to take hold, but it sounds to me that in balance, if the disease is to be treated then it needs to be correctly identified.  Looking around for a cat-friendly clinic can help to make things easier for your cat.  Best of luck.