What the heck is up with this grooming biz?

So, as a lot of you know, I have a batty old CH cat named Taylor. Well, she has started over-grooming herself. Like right now she's been sitting next to me on the floor for over 15 minutes just grooming herself. She spends every free moment she has grooming! She's not losing any fur at this point, but she's really going at it like a nut. Here's the weird, gross thing: she gets so violent with grooming her face that she will rub her front legs against her face/eyes SO hard that I hear a squeaking noise (like bone against bone, it's cringe-worthy ). Then, after she's done that, I can tell that her eyes are irritated from her just doing that so hard. I have looked at her skin, looked at her face, legs, etc. and see absolutely nothing wrong. I've even gone so far as to look in her mouth (idk what I was looking for lol, but everything looked a-ok). So she has been inspected from top to bottom. She was just at the vet like a month ago, and she got a clean bill of health. She wasn't doing this then, otherwise I would have definitely told her about it. I've tried to distract her when she gets so violent with her grooming, but it rarely works. I don't bathe her, but I do brush her regularly. She is a DSH kitty. Honestly, I do not have the money to bring her back to the vet for this at this point. I just had to get all their shots done and their annual check-ups, plus started Pirate on a new course of medication so I don't know what to do at this point.

Could she just really be losing her mind? She's also sleeping ALL the time, more than I ever saw. I just attributed that to her old age, and that she's a cat . I'm afraid that she's gonna lick her legs raw and mess up her eyes. It pains me to even watch her do the thing with her paws and eyes. Squeaking bones against bones, UGH nauseating. Maybe I should call the vet and ask them what I should do? I'm really worried about her.

Taylor is still doing this... I don't konw what to do! Someone plz give me some guidance here

Has she been treated for fleas recently? My Lil Bit goes into constant grooming mode if she picks up one tiny little flea, since she's allergic to them. The only thing that stops it is her Advantage or Revolution.

Originally Posted by taterbug

Has she been treated for fleas recently? My Lil Bit goes into constant grooming mode if she picks up one tiny little flea, since she's allergic to them. The only thing that stops it is her Advantage or Revolution.

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She hasn't been treated for fleas recently, however she was just at the vet less than a month ago and they looked at her fur/skin all over her body and didn't see anything. I have also been checking her at least once a day and I don't see anything suspicious. And it is easy to see stuff in her fur- she's a black cat lol. And she doesn't really ITCH her whole body- it's more the eye-rubbing thing that really grosses me out and worries me.

Maybe you are worrying so much... or your cat might have an allergy that makes her scratch...

Just a thought have you changed your laundry powder , shampoo , soap ect ect ect they get allergies to just a though

the first thing that came to my mind was allergies too. Maybe it's itchy watery eyes.

I say not to worry until you see hair loss. Fiona grooms constantly and yet she doesn't bald ever. ReeRee can go at his face pretty spastically because he has the motor control issues. But he hasn't hurt himself yet so i don't concern myself. Just keep an eye out.

Personally, I'd take her back to the vet. In fact, I'd consider getting a second opinion. The sad fact is that not all vets catch everything. The other sad fact is that a cat's health can change in a month. Our Tuxie almost died because he'd "just" been to the vet and we didn't think anything could be wrong.

She may be sleeping a lot more due to a change in weather - but changes in behavior are often a sign that something may be wrong. The intense grooming combined with the longer sleeping would be a warning light to me.

Laurie

Originally Posted by fifi1puss

I say not to worry until you see hair loss. Fiona grooms constantly and yet she doesn't bald ever. ReeRee can go at his face pretty spastically because he has the motor control issues. But he hasn't hurt himself yet so i don't concern myself. Just keep an eye out.

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Maybe you're right, it could just be a motor control thing with her too since she's a CH kitty as well. And allergies do make sense- it is that time of the year. She has gotten a bit more active lately, and she's gone back to bugging the crap out of me constantly for attention, so it seems like she's back to her old self, just occasionally sleeps a LOT, but then again she's getting up in the years and all. Other than this, she's healthy as a horse (hate that saying). I probably am overreacting. Thinking about it, the eye rubbing is probably just being caused by her not being able to control her own strength (don't know how else to say it). Most of the time she doesn't know when to do something soft, or hard, like grooming, playing, etc. (hope that makes sense lol)

Originally Posted by LDG

Personally, I'd take her back to the vet. In fact, I'd consider getting a second opinion. The sad fact is that not all vets catch everything. The other sad fact is that a cat's health can change in a month. Our Tuxie almost died because he'd "just" been to the vet and we didn't think anything could be wrong.

She may be sleeping a lot more due to a change in weather - but changes in behavior are often a sign that something may be wrong. The intense grooming combined with the longer sleeping would be a warning light to me.

Laurie

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Honestly, I can't afford to take her back to the vet for now. Normally I would, but with all my medical bills adding up right now, what with 3 major surgeries and weeks in the hospital within the past 3-4 months, it's just too much. I don't have that gut feeling that something's wrong anymore, and normally my gut feeling is somewhat right. I'm hoping it is. But if I do start to see any hair loss or anything else going downhill with her, I will definitely notify my vet. They are usually good with letting us make payments and stuff like that. But like I said, times are REAL tough right now in the "cat fund" department right now, and I really wish it weren't so. I do know that if I did go to my vet with all these symptoms, made the appt., they would run a battery of tests and find out just what is wrong at my asking. So I do have complete faith in my vet's abilities for now.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that over-grooming can be a sign of stress.

Have you changed anything in her environment lately? Have you noticed any of the other cats "picking" on her?

Perhaps all your cat needs is some privacy and a very calm environment. I've read about many Feliway success stories on here. You could try to buy that and put it in her favorite spot of the house, and give her something to hide in.


I was just reading that excessive/violent grooming of the face area could be a sign of ringworm. But I am sure that would be a noticable condition, especially if you say that you check every day.

Also, remember not to fuss over her when she is doing her grooming, it will only reinforce the behavior.

Originally Posted by Nekomania

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that over-grooming can be a sign of stress.

Have you changed anything in her environment lately? Have you noticed any of the other cats "picking" on her?

Perhaps all your cat needs is some privacy and a very calm environment. I've read about many Feliway success stories on here. You could try to buy that and put it in her favorite spot of the house, and give her something to hide in.


I was just reading that excessive/violent grooming of the face area could be a sign of ringworm.

But I am sure that would be a noticable condition, especially if you say that you check every day.

Also, remember not to fuss over her when she is doing her grooming, it will only reinforce the behavior.

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Her environment never changes, it's as calm an environment as any cat can have, beside being let alone in a home all day and night. It's only me in the house, I rarely ever have anyone come over, the only person that really comes over is my mother, who Taylor knows and loves. Taylor is very calm, she seems extremely relaxed in her environment here. For instance, right now she's sprawled out on "her" blanket on the floor, she looks extremely comfy and relaxed. And I've made sure to provide little spots for them to hide in, but they never hide. They'd all rather sleep out in the open, where people will step on them

And as for the other cats picking on her... that crossed my mind, but it just wouldn't fit. She is the alpha cat to the kittens (well, technically they aren't really "kittens" anymore, I just call her the old lady and them the babies lol). She puts them in their place ALL the time- they know to stay away from her, 'cuz she'll whack 'em upside the head in an instant! They even sometimes flinch when they have to walk past her. (I know she sounds mean, but she really isn't. The babies tend to overreact at the slightest thing, like real babies )

Is there any way of noticing ringworm from the outside? Anything I may notice in a thorough body-check? I don't know how she would've gotten it, but I guess anything's possible. I doubt it is, she is healthy as ever, but still. I'm worried now!

Don't be too alarmed!

:Sweat: I'm sorry if I frightened you. I should have also mentioned that ringworm is very contagious and I am sure that all of your cats would be exhibiting strange behavior.

If you'd like to know what it looks like anyways, here's a decent reference with some good pictures.

http://www.peteducation.com/article....1+2134&aid=223

Originally Posted by Nekomania

Don't be too alarmed!

:Sweat: I'm sorry if I frightened you. I should have also mentioned that ringworm is very contagious and I am sure that all of your cats would be exhibiting strange behavior.

If you'd like to know what it looks like anyways, here's a decent reference with some good pictures.

http://www.peteducation.com/article....1+2134&aid=223

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she definitely doesn't have any of those symptoms or sores or anything like that. Thank God! And if they all got it, I don't know what I would do! I can't stand to see my babies sick... Thank you for that link, it helped put me at ease.