Dappy The Rescue Cat

[cathycat]

My rescue cat Eddie used to overgroom a lot when I first had him and went on a three month Zylkene course(off the internet as its cheaper)and his overgrooming stopped.Hes off it now but started overgrooming this week again as hes poorly.I will probably need to get more.Eddie also has food allergies and it took awhile to find a food which suited him.

I hope you can get a solution to Dappys problem and she is much more comfortable soon

[Hippykitty]

A friend of mine has a cat who used to do this. He was from a feral colony I rescued back at the old house; my friend adopted one of them. Her vet diagnosed stress and gave her some nasty-tasting cream to put on his tum. He absolutely hated having it put on because he realised that it would taste bad. But it worked. It broke the stress -> lick cycle and the fur grew back on his tum.

I don't know what the cream was, but maybe your vet would prescribe some?

[DappysMum58]

Ok so we've been on the Zyklene again for just over a week now. Grooming is still continuing but not too the extent of self harm.Will be trying a capsule every other day and slowly wean her off. Trying too keep her routine the same each day but its hard as I work varying shift patterns plus shes not always around when I'm ready too feed her! Building in more play time and plenty of cuddles and grooming. Slight problen with a ginger tom popping up on our fences every now and again but she soon makes a noise too let him know hes not wanted so think her confidence is growing. She seems very keen too go out our front door, were a bit relectant too do it as it goes right out into the street. Was thinking of putting her in the large cat carrier we have and having her out there with me when I clean the car tomorrow??? X

[mad_lilli]

I have an almost 15 year old lady who does this. What with her being old & skinny then bald, she's a sight sometimes!! She's had a battery of tests ( not a thing wrong!!!). But, it seems prevalent when the weather does its major change ( every 6 months) and I reckon she gets itchy when her coat is changing. It seems to happen at the same time as Marmalade (15 year old semi long hair) starts to chuck up more hairballs. 

[DappysMum58]

Hi, no there was no mention of cystitis when we saw the vet. She seemed too want to start with stress first. It's kinda hard too monitor her toilet visits as she goes outdoors aswell as using her litter tray. At a guess I would say maybe 3-4 times. I only have to scoop the tray every other day. She is on James Wellbeloved as I thought food allergies aswell.
I just want to get it sorted for her so she can be at ease and comfortable. Think I will suggest cystitis when we next visit the vet. Thank you.
Gill, I have changed her litter from gravel to paper as thought the dust might be the problem but no. She doesn't go on our work surfaces or in the bathroom so she wouldn't come into contact with any harse chemicals. If all tests come back negative I am thinking it may just be behavioural, she's done it for so long it's a hard habit too break, bit like biting your nails I suppose! X

[SamMewl]

Hi there I wonder has your vet suggested/ruled out cystitis (itself often stress related)? I only say that has over grooming of the tummy and inner hindlegs is often associated with cystitis. Does she often visit the litter tray?

Food allergies and overgrooming are also commonly associated. You could always try a hypo-allergenic diet (you can get this type of food from big pet shops or online at places like zooplus) just to see if it has an effect. if it does settle things then you can add other things one at a time. There are a lot of potential things that cats can be allergic too. Grain being a common one, but chicken, fish and other things can also trigger a response in some cats.

Don't worry to much about her being on zyclene for a while. Its a very natural compound (I believe it is the snooze bedtime drink  element of milk!) and will not give your cat side effects if she is on it for a while. You can probably get it cheaper online as you do not need a prescription to buy it.
good luck xx

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

very hard but so strange tthat both of them doing it.

have you thought outsede the box, like cleaning stuff you use, especially if you use anything on carpets, washing powder, sprays, plug ins, perfume etc etc? Washing up stuff on their dishes, I guess the list is endless.

Litter!

[Reets]

We also fairly recently given a home to a lovely rescue cat, named Lewis who had been through quite a lot before being rescued and coming to live with us and he started overgrooming and scratching lots of fur out so he was pretty bald around the ears and neck.  He had not done this in the rescue, so we put it down to a new environment and stress.  When it did not improve I did some research and found that some cats are allergic to chicken, which we had been giving him as a treat, so we stopped and now he seems much better, but I cannot be sure that its not giving him chicken that has helped really.  Our vet had also suggested oil of evening primose so I bought some of this and I put a drop on his food every other day or so, but he doesn't like it very much!   If you have gone back to the food Dappy was having before though and not introduced anything else then it cannot be that.

Its so difficult, I wish we could read their little minds and they could tell us their worries.

[DappysMum58]

Dappy update! So as you know Dappy was given a 3 week course of Zyklene to help relive stress and to stop her overgrooming on her tummy. We finished the course on Sunday morning, sadly by Tuesday she was back grooming and making herself sore again. So after a phone call to the vet we are now back on Zyklene for a month this time. The vet has suggested that if there is improvement then to try a capsule every other day. I can't help but think there is something else going on. Has anybody else had a similiar experience? Any help would be wonderful as I'm tearing my hair out at the thought she's unhappy/uncomfortable.

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Dappy sounds lovely, bless her, in spite of her current difficulties.

It's always hard to second guess with rescue cats, as you have no idea what triggers (if any) may have set off stress related grooming in her old home, and therefore what it is you're working with now - stress related over grooming or indeed an allergy.

Might also be worth a check up visit to the vet, so that they can rule out anything like feline mange (and it doesnt sound like that's what she has, but it cant hurt to get it ruled out).  Having said that, if Dappy gets stressed by car travel or vet's visits, best to have a word with the vet first, before taking her on any unnecessary journey.

I hope you can get to the bottom of this, so that Dappy can be comfortable and entire in her wardrobe dept.   

[DappysMum58]

Thank's all. I'm quite happy for her too be indoors just wanted to know if its normal behavior. Were just coming up too the end of the first week on Zyklene so will see how she is after 3 weeks on it. How long do steroid injections normally last? I have a feeling the one she had may be wearing off as she had a good old grooming and nibbling session last night. Hoping the Feliway might help aswell. She does seem a bit less cuddly atm so something is obv up. 

[Liz]

I would recommend the comfy collar over the head trumpet they can still eat play and jump but can't get to the bald spots and they are an investment that is with you for a life time - we have 3 different sizes our one eyed wonder Billie jo wore hers for 6 weeks when her eye was removed

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

If Dappy doesnt want to go out that should not be a problem................let him be happy where he wants.

Two litter trays are needed.

Sorry cant help on allegies

[Stezzle]

My fudge has allergies and have bald patches when he flares up. We use a baby grow (cut the feet off) to stop him from making areas worse. It does sound more like stress but keep to the James Wellbeloved as it has a hypo-allergenic food. If you think its an allergy then only change one thing at a time so you can rule things out. Fudge currently has been in his cone for 4 months. Everytime we take it off he will go for his legs and lick them bald and sore. We are changing items one at a time. He loves going outside and became depressed because we cant let him out, so we got a cat lead and jacket and take him on walks. He loves it. Maybe get one and start around your garden until your Dappy gains confidence outside with you. Just some ideas. We are going the vets next week with Fudge to hopefully (all fingers and toes crossed) to get the cone finally off him for good.   

[DappysMum58]

  It's great to know there's hair at the end of the tunnel! I've got a Felliway spray on order too see if it work's before I go for a diffuser as I've heard not all cat's respond too it. I just hate too think she's stressed! She is the centre of attention, just want too make her happy. X

[Liz]

I sometimes get that with my new ferals and they get a steroid injection and an Advocate spot on and that usually cures the problem - I had one with no tummy hair and no leg hair but after a month things started to grow back

A Feliway plug in may help to or a Petremedy one both can be bought on line

Welcome to your new family Miss Dappy 

[DappysMum58]

Hi All,
I'm Dappy's mum and a bit of a newbie on here. Around 6 weeks ago me and my partner rescued Dappy from the RSPCA. She has settled in pretty well. A very cuddly girly with the loudest purr! We do have one ongoing issue though and that's her overgrooming.Before coming back to the RSPCA Dappy was kept as an indoor cat with other cats for 4 years. Due to the stress of the situation she began urinating around the house and overgrooming, hence her return to the RSPCA. When we collected Dappy the worker's there said they had not noticed any overgrooming. We brought her home and she was still paying particular attention too her tummy (which is now bald) but we just put it down to stress. Thinking that in a few weeks we would be able to let her out and that might help. Sadly not, she started higher up on her tummy, to the sides and the insides of her hind legs.  So last Tuesday I took her to the vet fearing mites or an allergy and she seemed too think it was down to stress. She gave Dappy a steroid injection and some Zylkene to have daily for 3 weeks. She seem's better but I am hoping too get some more ideas for when the injection and medication wear off! We changed her diet from James Wellbeloved to Whiskas because of the price but now I am thinking that there may be some sort of underlying food allergy so I'll be changing her back this week. I've also changed her cat litter. She was on clay gravel litter which was REALLY dusty so thought that might be causing a reaction so I have now got her on Bio-Catolet hoping that might help.
She also doesn't seem to want too go outside anymore. When we were keeping her in she was soo keen to go out, meowing at the door everytime we went out but now she's let out she doesn't seem as excited. Is that normal? Has the outside world not met upto her expectations and inside is better?
Any advice on either or these situations would be grate!
 
Dappys Mum