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The litter tray

Cat licking himself bald...

7 replies

SuckingGin · 26/07/2014 05:13

I adopted an abandoned cat in early December 2013. He had belonged to arsehole tenants of mine who moved on and left the poor sod behind. He had been an indoor cat all his life (he is now 5) and was extremely unfit and overweight, tipping the scales at 22lb. Quite frankly, he looked as if he'd swallowed a bowling ball when I took him home with me.

He had a lot of bald scabby patches which he groomed excessively, and he was also extremely nervous and rushed to hide under my bed at any loud noise or sudden movement.

But by March this year he'd gained a lot of confidence and started prowling round like he owned our property and also became happy to use a cat flap and seems to like roaming around outside.

He has also lost a lot of weight, and he is currently down to a much healthier looking 16lb.

(I'm pretty sure he is at least part maine coon, as he is such a big fellow too, not just a fatty. So that weight isn't as bad as it first sounds!)

But despite his increased confidence, seeming affection for his new humans, and apparent happiness, his patchy fur problem has continued, and he is still very prone to over-grooming.

I had initially assumed it was simply a nervous habit. Then once it became clear that he wasn't frightened anymore, but was still licking, I figured that it was probably flea dermatitis - as my childhood cat would sometimes lick himself bald in a similar fashion if he was bitten by fleas. But after assiduously dosing him with program and frontline and generally doing my best to de-flea his environment, the problem has continued, and in all the times I have flea-combed him I have never found a single flea - or even flea dirt on him.

So now I am pondering other reasons for his apparent inability to let the fur on his arse grow properly!

I suppose it could just be compulsive licking on his part, but he genuinely seems like he is itchy when he licks, rather than licking for comfort or for the hell of it Confused

I've never had a cat like this before, can anyone shed a little light?

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GinGinGin · 26/07/2014 06:33

I had a cat like this - it was an allergy to fleas & I think the issue is that once the cat has been bitten, the licking starts and then it's a viscous circle as the licking irritates the skin & then the cat licks again to stop the irritation! Your cat needs some steroid jabs - possibly regularly (at least at first) and you will also need some pretty strong flea treatment (your vet will have some - very expensive- industrial strength stuff) with which to do your house. Then best to use frontline regularly. I don't think the issue will ever go away, but your cat will be much better with the above.

Good luck!

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mindingalongtime · 26/07/2014 07:29

It can be stress or anxiety related, one of ours did it a lot when his sons pre deceased him. Get some feliway diffusers, or anxiety drops to put in his water. The vet can also give you a supplement called zylkene to put on the food, it does work.

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SuckingGin · 26/07/2014 08:07

Thank you for the reply GinGinGin - you clearly have excellent taste in both boozy drinks and household pets if you are posting in the litter tray with that name Wink

Flea allergy was definitely my first thought once he'd been with us long enough to settle in and calm down and it became clear he wasn't simply licking himself out of terror - which was my initial thought.

But he is semi long-hair and absolutely loves me to brush and comb him, and even lies on his back with his legs in the air for a thoroughly good going over... but I have never found one single flea or even any flea dirt on him. Which really makes me really quite doubtful that his licky-baldy issues are flea-related.

I have also sprayed all our furniture with anti-flea stuff, hot-washed all the bedding and we have all wooden/tile floors throughout the house (so no carpets/rugs for fleas to get into) and the furry boy also had the six-monthly program injection in late February (when we started letting him out alone) and frontline every month, and capstar pills when I first met him, and a couple of times since in the warm weather. So he has been de-flea'd to buggery.

So I will be slightly surprised if it is fleas which are responsible for his itchies.

Thank you too mindingalongtime I guess felliway diffusers are worth a punt (haven't tried those) as I guess he has had a lot of upheaval in the last 8 months or so - being abandoned and then finding a new (and rather different) home, which gave him a lot more freedom.

Possibly he is struggling to cope with not being cooped up in a small house eating his head off, and is finding lighter meals and sunbathing in our veggie patch stressful. Who bloody knows what goes on in their furry cat heads eh?

So perhaps I should make a vet appointment to discuss his itchy issues anyway Perhaps a vet will be able to get to the bottom of it... as well as charging me a shitload of money I don't really have. Gah.

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LittlePink · 26/07/2014 08:10

My cat is going through this at the moment. I wrote a thread on it in the last few days. She had a blood test for allergies and we bought a feliway plug incase it was stress while we waited for the blood results. Anyway, her blood results have come back and she has loads of allergies to alsorts of things I would never have imagined. Shes allergic to a lot of the plants in the garden, the big willow tree in the garden, lots of different funghis, wool, different fibres in the house, dust mites, fleas and alsorts of things ive never heard of and have no idea what they are and some foods but mainly lamb. I was always told by different vets not to use frontline as fleas are resistant to it so the best is advocate and we use drontal drops for worming. She doesn't have any fleas or worms and never has. Or you can get advantage on prescription from the vet which is worm and flea combined drops.

So she needs to have special anti serum injections once a month which are tailored to her individual allergies and work out about 25 a month so not as bad as we initially feared. She needs to have a loading dose of weekly injections to begin with then 2 wkly until shes used to them then monthly for the rest of her life.

Its worth getting a blood test to see what his allergies are if any and get him treated accordingly. Our cat has loads of missing patches of fur all over her at the moment. So she needs to start the injections asap. Hope this helps.

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SuckingGin · 26/07/2014 10:43

Perhaps foolishly I never contemplated the cat having allergies. But that actually makes quite a lot of sense!

Maybe my beastly boy has got food allergies! That really does make so much sense! I think I am going to try him on a different type of cat food, as (now I am actually thinking about it) he tends to be better and less itchy when he has been eating a lot of his dry food (Spot's stew, which is a pretty healthy brand) rather than his wet food, (fancy feast) which I know is actually pretty junky (he tends to refuse 'healthy' wet food though, and I wanted to get more moisture into him in this hot climate and didn't pay enough attention to the details of his finickiness.)

So his gravy train is going to stop. And we will see how his diet does affect his health - and itchies!

If a change in diet doesn't sort him out then I will cart him off to the vet for tests though, as he is such a lovely sweet-natured boy I really do want to keep him happy and healthy no matter what.

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CrystalSkulls · 26/07/2014 15:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Fluffycloudland77 · 26/07/2014 20:31

The flea injection only stops the fleas breeding. It doesn't kill fleas and frontline is ineffective in many areas now.

The vet who posts on here says fleas are usually the main problem with sort of thing.

Try advocate instead.

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