Hi again, Thanks for all the private replies to my message. I really appreciate them even though I can't answer them all. The next digest hasn't arrived yet, but I thought I'd go ahead and share that I examined him more thoroughly in the daylight today. The belly hair loss wasn't visually confirmed until after I noticed I was feeling more skin than usual, so today in the light I blew on his fur to part it and both felt areas and looked at them. It does appear that there is some relative thinning around the base of the back near the tail. It is subtle, but it is there. So after boning up on relevant subjects, we'll be off to the vet - or two. As playful as he's been the past few days, I'd say he is likely as good as any 6yo surgical candidate... if that is what they want to do. Not happy. [Posted in FML 5728]