Yet Another Cat Question - Overgrooming

[bluess]

Our male cat has suddenly started washing the inside of his leg over and over and over and over - to the point that he has washed off all of the regular fur. Only that downy subcoat remains.

He is an inside cat - we've checked for fleas and also for any irritation on the skin. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong in that area, and his behavior in other areas hasn't changed.

Any ideas on how to keep the dumb furball from unfurballing himself?

[LibraryLady]

Our male cat has suddenly started washing the inside of his leg over and over and over and over - to the point that he has washed off all of the regular fur. Only that downy subcoat remains.

He is an inside cat - we've checked for fleas and also for any irritation on the skin. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong in that area, and his behavior in other areas hasn't changed.

Any ideas on how to keep the dumb furball from unfurballing himself?

This is a medical condition with a long complicated name that I don't remember. It can be treated with drugs, I believe. Birds have a version of it, where they pluck their feathers. My niece's dog does this as well, but it turned out to be caused by a life threatening disease (we're waiting now to hear what the verdict is). :(

In other words, go to the vet--it could be serious.

http://cats.about.com/cs/behavioralissues/f/catlickednaked.htm

[bmillsap]

Our previous cat did this on his belly, it turned out it was an autoimmune disease, but in that case it did create a noticable pink pimple-like mark on his skin, the itching was making him constantly groom until the fur was gone.

[Katana]

I wonder if LL is referring to psychogenic alopecia (I'm not that good-I just looked it up). When we first brought Leo home from the shelter, he did the same thing in the same place. The vet told us that this a not-so-uncommon way that cats manifest stress. After Leo got used to us and his new home, he stopped, and the fur grew back.

Can you think of anything that has changed around the household that may have upset your kitty's well-being? Any new pets, kids? Are you around a lot less often for any reason?

I have read where some medications are used to calm kitties with this problem, but that wouldn't be the first step.

Since medical conditions are associated with this behavior, a trip to the vet might be warranted. Then again, perhaps our resident vet will chime in, and you would be wise to listen to him over me.

Best of luck.

[andyandy]

stop stroking your pussy?

*ahem* sorry :D

[RenaissanceBiker]

My experience has been that most cats don't have enough arrows in them.

/not a cat person

[bluess]

I wonder if LL is referring to psychogenic alopecia (I'm not that good-I just looked it up). When we first brought Leo home from the shelter, he did the same thing in the same place. The vet told us that this a not-so-uncommon way that cats manifest stress. After Leo got used to us and his new home, he stopped, and the fur grew back.

Can you think of anything that has changed around the household that may have upset your kitty's well-being? Any new pets, kids? Are you around a lot less often for any reason?

I have read where some medications are used to calm kitties with this problem, but that wouldn't be the first step.

Since medical conditions are associated with this behavior, a trip to the vet might be warranted. Then again, perhaps our resident vet will chime in, and you would be wise to listen to him over me.

Best of luck.

Thanks. Mr.Blue has been away from the house a lot - he used to work from home and has had a few months of dreadful office hours. Yukon is Mr.Blue's cat (or maybe Mr.Blue is Yukon's human), so that may be it. Nonetheless, to the vet we go. At least Yukon will go into the cat carrier without being doped on catnip, unlike Taboo.

stop stroking your pussy?

*ahem* sorry :D

Go to your corner, immediately. :p

[Katana]

Thanks. Mr.Blue has been away from the house a lot - he used to work from home and has had a few months of dreadful office hours. Yukon is Mr.Blue's cat (or maybe Mr.Blue is Yukon's human), so that may be it. Nonetheless, to the vet we go. At least Yukon will go into the cat carrier without being doped on catnip, unlike Taboo.

Very interesting. We had a cat when I was growing up who was very attached to my brother. When he left for college, she seemed fine except when she started urinating on his bed. That was an unpleasant adjustment period, let me tell you.

Has Yukon seen the vet yet? I was curious to hear how things went.

[Dogdoctor]

Is it symmetrical or not? (both legs or just the one) The most common cause of something like that would be an allergy. The most common allergy is to fleas. If you see an occasional flea anywhere on your cat it could be flea allergy or several other allergies (including food and inhaled allergies). There are a number of diseases which can cause alopecia in that area that used to lumped under the name feline endocrine alopecia. Now we look for specific cause and back into the symmetrical alopecia name if not able to find a cause. Needless to say there are many possible causes. Often skin and hair problems are difficult to diagnose with the cat sitting right in front of me. So that is as far as I will go with this unless you have specific questions.

[bruto]

Years ago I had a cat that did this, licking a specific spot constantly. It was diagnosed with some one of those forgettable names, except that I remember it included "granuloma." A frightful word if people have it, but not, apparently, if a cat does. It seemed uncertain whether the licking caused the spot or the spot the licking. The treatment was hormonal, and for the rest of his rather expensive life, he (neutered male) was on kitty birth control pills.

[Foster Zygote]

The vet told us that this a not-so-uncommon way that cats manifest stress.

Our friend's cat gave herself a Brazilian wax like that after their new baby arrived. She got over it after a while and now she follows the baby everywhere like he's her bestest buddy.

Steven

[AmateurScientist]

I'm not a vet, just a life-long cat person. I'd go with a layman's educated guess that it's likely stress induced or a flea allergy. September is prime time for fleas.

I had a cat with a severe flea allergy, and he went nuts when he got them. Not only did he pull out his fur all over when he had them, but he ran all over and left little tiny droplets of blood everywhere. He was in misery. Treating the flea problem cured him of the abnormal behavior.

That same cat exhibited several other unusual behaviors when he was under stress, including the stress of being separated from me, his person.

AS

[bluess]

You are all so kind....

Its one leg. I've got a call into the vet to set an appointment. I can't find any signs of fleas, and the area that he is licking doesn't appear to be irritated.

I'll keep this thread posted.

Thank you all so much for your comments!

[Moochie]

Our male cat has suddenly started washing the inside of his leg over and over and over and over - to the point that he has washed off all of the regular fur. Only that downy subcoat remains.

He is an inside cat - we've checked for fleas and also for any irritation on the skin. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong in that area, and his behavior in other areas hasn't changed.

Any ideas on how to keep the dumb furball from unfurballing himself?

Hi.

We adopted the neighbors' male cat when he was about two. He'd taken to spending most of his time in our backyard after the neighbors acquired two dogs to complement the two cats they had.

This cat was a very nervous creature who was amost completely an outdoors cat. He'd never been to a vet and hadn't been desexed. We managed to right those wrongs after months spent gaining his trust and ever so slowly acclimatizing him to being indoors, the latter being something he vigorously resisted for a long time.

More or less from the time we first became acquainted with this cat he was an overgroomer. The vet diagnosed it as a response to stress, which proved an accurate assessment. The overgrooming occurred on his hind legs, belly, and around his tail, giving the appearance of tonsorial maltreatment.

We were never advised to treat this condition with medication. Instead, the cat responded favorably to many months of patiently applied resocialization.

In the ten or so years he's been with us, the overgrooming behavior has resurfaced a couple of times -- both shortlived, and both in response to fairly stressful situations.

From a very nervous tabby who was almost exclusively an outdoors cat, he's become a much more relaxed individual who spends most of his time indoors, especially nights.

Regards,

M.

[Badly Shaved Monkey]

Is it symmetrical or not? (both legs or just the one) The most common cause of something like that would be an allergy. The most common allergy is to fleas. If you see an occasional flea anywhere on your cat it could be flea allergy or several other allergies (including food and inhaled allergies). There are a number of diseases which can cause alopecia in that area that used to lumped under the name feline endocrine alopecia. Now we look for specific cause and back into the symmetrical alopecia name if not able to find a cause. Needless to say there are many possible causes. Often skin and hair problems are difficult to diagnose with the cat sitting right in front of me. So that is as far as I will go with this unless you have specific questions.

I would add that I do think that whatever the trigger that initiates the problem, these signs do seem to be more common in nevous stressed cats, so treatments are often a combination of symptomatic relief, dealing with underlying causes and behavioural management,

[Groovydoc]

I wonder if LL is referring to psychogenic alopecia (I'm not that good-I just looked it up). When we first brought Leo home from the shelter, he did the same thing in the same place. The vet told us that this a not-so-uncommon way that cats manifest stress. After Leo got used to us and his new home, he stopped, and the fur grew back.

Can you think of anything that has changed around the household that may have upset your kitty's well-being? Any new pets, kids? Are you around a lot less often for any reason?

I have read where some medications are used to calm kitties with this problem, but that wouldn't be the first step.

Since medical conditions are associated with this behavior, a trip to the vet might be warranted. Then again, perhaps our resident vet will chime in, and you would be wise to listen to him over me.

Best of luck.



The human form is called trichotillomania. I'm no vet, but antidepressants (like Prozac) can sometimes be helpful along with behavioural modification in people.

[bluess]

He has now started on the other leg, so if left alone he would probably resemble a bare-butt baboon. The vet sees him this Saturday. What's wierd is all his other behaviors are standard. Ah well.

[Outhere]

My Tonkinese cat used to furiously pull out tufts of his hair when prohibited from doing something he wanted to do--like claw the furniture or kill the parakeet.

After we moved him to California, he lost much of the hair on the inner side of his hind legs, which the vet diagnosed as feline endocrine alopecia. I asked what that meant and the vet said he had a lack of male hormones and gave him shots. I had to think fast when my balding boss asked with great concern if I'd found the cause of cat's hair loss.

[LibraryLady]

My Tonkinese cat used to furiously pull out tufts of his hair when prohibited from doing something he wanted to do--like claw the furniture or kill the parakeet.




:jaw-dropp

[bluess]

Update on the partially fur-bereft cat:

The vet thinks it may be an allergy of some sort that kicked this all off, especially as the cat's lip swelled up the day before the appointment. She gave him his distemper booster and a cortisone shot. After spending a day in kitty la-la land, the cat seems normal. We have to take him back in a month to confirm the size of the bald spots.

Thanks everyone for your comments.