Male five-year old neutered Blue russian gnawing his hair off.

Has been licking/gnawing any hair he can reach off for the last 3-4 months. Have been to numerous vets and none have solved the problem. Tried cortisone shots (worked temporarily), increasing the frequency of his Advantage dosing (have tried all 3 brands), neck "funnel", etc. Nothing worked. He always ends up going back to removing his hair.

Have decided the problem must be psychosomatic, but have no clue how to treat it. Should I give anti-depressants to my cat?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Am at my wits end with this.

Thanks,
Colby

Oh boy. I don't really have any expert advice on this, but I empathize, as my beloved Simba, a spayed female tuxedo Siamese, did it to distraction. Sometimes it is caused by military dermatitis (a weird name for allergic reaction to FLEA SALIVA! even if no fleas are present on your cat at the time!) and more often, by stress. Let's hope some of the experts here at TCS can shed some more light on the issue and actually get him some HELP!

Here are some threads describing a similar problem.

How to make him comfortable...
Allergies or nervous condition?
\t \t \t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Rescue Remedy\t\t\t
Is this a good pet shampoo?

He has always been a very nervous cat, however the hair-gnawing is fairly recent. A very mean, aggressive tomcat has moved into the neighborhood recently that my cat has had to fight several times. This is the kind of fight that causes my cat to make primal, extremely frightening sounds (like he's fighting to the death).

Could this be the cause?

Would like to trap the tomcat and take it to the shelter. How can I do this?

Please advise,
Colby

My RB male did the same thing - he lost half his fur on the sides. At the time (1980's) he was put on Ovaban, which is a female hormone. But they stopped using it cause it was found to cause cancers in males. Cassie was only about 4-5 yrs old when I lost him due to cancer. He had been on Ovaban for about a year.

It brought back his coat wonderfully (enough to easily Grand) but in the end it cost him is life.

I don't have any suggestions for you - sorry.

Consider a food allergy. It can cause a systemic itching. Try switching the food to something he hasn't had before. It is relative cheap to do, just the cost of the food. Though it may take 6 weeks to show improvement.

I don't think it's allergies - RB's are very nervous and sensitive cats (speaking from experience) and the least thing can set them off. I'm curious though why you keep letting your cat outside considering what he's had to deal with out there (the other cat)?

I agree with Larke, bring him in and get him away from what is causign him stress, especially with that kind of fighting. Many things could happen to him.

I have tried locking him inside. He's absolutely miserable. All he does is sit by the door and let out long, drawn out whines. He's been outside all his life. Why should he have to be punished because some tomcat is running around?

The tomcat is just being a tomcat. It really would be safer and better for your cat to keep it inside. It will live a longer, healthier life. Cats can be perfectly content to stay inside - have toys, scratching posts for him and he'll be fine.

Of course, you would have to be patient and consistent about not letting him out for awhile. Cats are pretty smart.

My hubby insists that Bijou should be allowed out and we almost lost him a couple months back. Bijou still meows at my hubby to let him out, but when hubby isn't home he doesn't make a sound because he knows I won't let him out.

My cat Easy, I found outside, I had a previous cat that was inside/outside that came up missing so I didnt want the same fate to happen to Easy. So what I did was as Yosemite said was be consistent and patient, distracting her when she cried to go out and now she never ever asks to go out. She is happy.

If he wasnt getting tormented outside, I wouldnt suggest it to you, but he is obviously under a lot of stress and with a tomcat the fights will only get nastier. He can get very sick, he can develop infections, many things can happen to him besides just being stressed.

Im only making this suggestion because under the circumstances, I think he would be a lot less stressed and safe.

Do you know who the tomcat belongs to?

Maybe you could get the vet to talk to your husband and help him see logic - if your cat has developed physical symptoms of stress because of a danger outside, it only makes sense for him to stay in.

The more consistent and predictable his environment is, the better.

Antidepressants are worth a try.