Ah, but Karen, what is stressful to a cat may not seem stressful to you. You said he just had a bout of URI - that's stressful to them. Being medicated is stressful. New cats coming in (or new dogs) is stressful. Going to the vet is stressful. Cats internalize their stress in ways that we humans don't always fully understand, and it comes out as overgrooming, hair loss, over-shedding, scratching, vomiting, etc., etc. So he probably has been feeling some stresses that you just hadn't thought of, when it comes down to it. I have three cats right now with this same balding on the legs and tail syndrome. One of them definitely grooms it off - I hear him making nibble-nibble-nibble yum-yum-yum noises and have to tell him to quit. I sprayed the Bandguard on him (actually, sprayed it on my hand then rubbled a little lightly over the spots he overgrooms) and it stops him for a week or two. The other two do not appear to groom, and you would probably say they weren't stressed, but one is in a cage and although he seems happy I think this is affecting him through the hair loss. The other one, Beau, is currently in my bathroom, with his sister - who is a very easily stressed cat, but oddly, has no hair loss. However, a couple of weeks ago I put a group of younger cats that had been with Beau into a another room. He was quite fond of one of them, Raffles, and although Raffles drove him crazy with play-fighting, I think he misses him. I didn't move him, too, as his sister, Cherokee, hates other cats, but I think she would be fine on her own so I may move Beau back in with the younger ones and see if his fur grows back.
Its very hard sometimes to figure out what it is that is stressing them, but I do feel that a lot of hair loss and scabby-skin problems are stress-related. Of course, in Baby C's case it could be food allergies or allergy to a supplement you're giving. Maybe you should withdraw a supplement at a time for a couple of weeks each to see if it makes any difference. I'd start with whatever you most recently added.
