Excessive grooming/licking

Hi everyone, Sash has been licking at his back a lot for about the last 6 months now. We originally thought it was from fleas but they have since cleared up and there has been no evidence of fleas on him or in the house since around May. This is pretty much when all this started.

He doesn't scratch a lot, mainly just licks constantly and it's always directed at his back, although sometimes he bites at his paws. It's like he's reaching around to lick his back area. Does anyone know what type of allergy this could be? He was on a short course of Prednisone back in May and it did help the licking, but I do not want to use this long term.

He's always had allergies, which were just sniffling and sneezing, etc.. never this constant licking though. It's like he just can't stop licking, except when he's sleeping of course and even then sometimes he wakes up to lick! It's almost like it's a nervous type licking, but he's by no means a nervous cat. He's such a relaxed boy, no stress or changes in his routine. He acts completely fine, except he's always hungry which is nothing unusual for him, but not losing any weight or anything. Bloodwork was done last time in May.

This is driving me crazy, I would love to hear from anyone that knows what might be causing this, or any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Have his litterbox habits changed? ie, going to the box more, straining, only peeing a little at a time?

I only ask because what you're describing sounds similar to what Leo was doing before he started peeing outside the litterbox, and I found out he had struvite crystals in his bladder. He actually just had a recurrence, and is in the hospital again with cystitis.

The "frantic" or "frenetic" cleaning of his back was the first sign with him though; it then led to excessive cleaning of his genitals and then the inappropriate urinating.

I hope this is not the case, and that it is some type of allergy, b/c the bladder issues are really frustrating! If his litterbox habits have changed, take him to see the vet quickly- a blockage in a male cat can become fatal quickly, due to the narrow shape of their urethera (sp?), which causes their bladder to fill and their kidneys to stop processing toxins out of their bloodstream.

Good luck!