Isobel is licking off her fur and making herself sore

[Sootyca]

My friend has this problem with her cat - he was tested for allergies and nothing came back so they said it was stress related. he has had to wear t-shirts and cones becuase he would overgroom.  Steroid injections were given and would help him for a while but not long enough. In the end it was found he was allergic to fleas (I think) and even though he was deflead it was still a problem. he is on some very expensive tablets which work for him.  Sadly it's too late for his fur but he doesn't overgroom any more.

[Angeladeedah]

This has been a really good question as I am currently having problems with my 8 year old Ollie overgrooming his tummy and he has a bald patch.  I've put it down to stress with him though as he lost his brother in March and then I got a new kitten in May, who I don't really think he likes a whole lot.   I've just recently started giving him Zylkene to see if it makes a difference as I can't afford to buy a Feliway plug-in for every room he frequents.

I really hope you find what is causing her to do this as it is stressful to watch, not knowing what to do to make it better.

[Guineapiggle]

Thanks everyone. We had already removed wheat and lactose from her diet. We will have to see if it could be something else that she is allergic to. We use felliway to try and calm her down as she does stress out easily but she is currently laid on the cat tree that I sprayed at lunch time and she is still licking herself.

[fluffybunny]

I've had a similar thing with one of my cats and the more I've dug, the more I've found out that there is usually an underlying medical condition causing the overgrooming.  Sometimes it can be stress, so if there are any particular stressors you are aware of, it could be that, but I think diet would be a good place to start. 

After about 2 years of thinking that Milly's was stress related due to a bullying neighbour's cat, she started getting worse and a blood test revealed elevated eosinophils.  Started hunting around my brain and realised that it had first happened when royal canin had changed their food from outdoor mature to a 7+ and 12+.  And the main ingredient in the 12+...wheat. 

Through a process of elimination and ending up on a raw food diet, we have worked out that all there years, the overgrooming was simply skin irritation due to dietary intolerance.  There doesn't seem to be one single trigger as she also reacts to some grain free foods such as james well beloved and orijens, and also the hypoallergenic food!  Diagnosis was 'confirmed' when I went away for a few days and oh forgot to defrost a new block of raw food, so had fed her some hypoallergenic biscuits.  When I came home, she had pulled all the fur off her hip again.  It only seems to take a few mouthfuls to trigger quite a severe reaction, and the itchiness lasts for weeks.  She also had Piriton for a while and it helped initially, until she became intolerant to one of the ingredients - probably either the maize starch and/or lactose, and the itchiness rose again.

I would advise trying a change of food to something raw, hypoallergenic or at least grain free and see if it makes a difference.  It might take several weeks.  I would also advise a blood test to check for raised eosinophil levels, which might give an indication of allergic response and maybe chat to your vet about antihistamine trial.  If it could be stress related, a feliway/valerian plug in might help. 

There are other drugs that can help but need to be used with caution, like steroids or we even discussed atopica at one point.  It would have solved it I'm sure but it would really only have been masking symptoms.  It's taken nearly a year of faffing with diet but for the first time in about 3 years Milly had full fur on her side.

[sheilarose]

One of my cats, Sam, came to me half bald when I rescued him from a home who reported him to be aggressive - (I also suspect he was treated violently as he has some flinching issues when he sees an open hand coming towards him). It turned out his bad behaviour was stress related and his stress was due to a grain intolerance. Once we got him off cereals (they fed him Iams) he stopped overgrooming and peeing inapproriately, his behaviour modified completely and he's now my best cuddle cat ever. It took a few months to get him right but he was worth the effort.

You may want to try a change of diet, then get a comfycollar to help her break the licking cycle. Good luck.

[hollycat]

Tigger used to do that on his belly. It can be a sign of stress It could also be a flea allergy as it was with Tigger.  A flea could have hopped on had a feed and hopped off again, the cat doesn't need to have fleas it only takes one bite. A trip to the vet would set your mind at ease.

[mad_lilli]

One of my old ladies does this too periodically. Might be worth looking into the Jackson Galaxy Spirit Essences? Lilli is ok at the minute, but if she starts again, that's what I'll be trying. I hope Isobel picks up soon.

[Guineapiggle]

Isobel is quite a nervous cat, she is nearly six and is obsessive about licking herself. It started when she was quite young and I posted on here about a patch on her side that she licked until it was raw. She had some fuciderm on it and it got better but she still has very short hair there. She stopped for a while but then she has started licking her tummy, she had a hormone jab and that stopped her for a bit but she had another one a year or two ago and it didn't really do much. I should have made a note of exactly what it was called that she had but I didn't and the two different jabs were given by different vet practices. We only really bother about taking her to a vet when she starts to get sore as it stresses her out and until she starts to make herself sore she isn't in any distress, although her constant licking is starting to damage my/her chair. She has had a bald tummy for several years now but now it is spreading to her legs and she is starting to get red, sore areas again. We want to take her back to the vet to get it looked at, is there any jab that any of you can suggest or any other way to stop her. I think a lot of it is just habit as she has been doing it for so long but I wish she would stop before she is completely hairless.