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cat pulling out fur~

post #1 of 7
10/28/11 at 1:27pm
Thread Starter 
My foster cat, Marigold, is a hair puller. She did it in the shelter and she is doing it at my house...it comes and goes. I also switched her to grain free in case that was the issue but when she grooms she bites at herself and often yanks out tufts of fur.

I fear this is a long-standing, neurotic behavior. It seems to be worse when she is stressed out.

She is flea-free, has had a shot of Depo and as I said ... is on grain free. Also use Dr. Elsey's litter.

Feliway didn't really make a difference. I am going to try Bach's rescue remedy next. My old vet suggested oil of lavender in some kind of cat-safe diffuser.

Anyone else have any recommendations short of kitty prozac?
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post #2 of 7
10/28/11 at 3:11pm
My Austin used to be a hair puller. He did it when he was stressed or when new people came in the house. I put him on kitty anti anxiety pills and it worked well for him. Before the anxiety pills he would have bald legs because he would just sit there and pull tufts out at a time or over lick. Over time I learned what his stress triggers were and was able to start giving him meds when I knew something was coming that would stress him out ie: holidays with people over, repair men, vet visit and the such.
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post #3 of 7
10/28/11 at 9:10pm
Try the Bach's Rescue Remedy and harp music. (Google Harp of Hope). Both might help.

The lavendar I don't know... but I'm thinking it can't hurt.
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post #4 of 7
10/28/11 at 11:03pm
Hmm.. my cat Esme is a fur puller too. She did it at the shelter and ever since we have had her, but I never thought of addressing it mentally somehow. She just does it when she is grooming. I bought a Furminator though and it seems to reduce the amount she does it, but she still does it...... She doesn't have any bald spots or anything, I just assume she was just trying to tug out excess fur.
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post #5 of 7
10/29/11 at 5:11am
Cats can also be allergic to meats, particularly chicken and fish. I have a fur puller as well and for her it is a combination of food allergies and stress. She now eats prescription Royal Canin limited ingredient foods. As she has gotten older and has calmed down a bit, the stress related fur pulling has decreased. With Thanksgiving coming and me doing major cleaning and then a house full of people over, I expect to start finding tufts of fur around the house and a bald patch on her back though. The bald patches are now smaller than they used to be and the pulling is for a much shorter duration.
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post #6 of 7
10/29/11 at 5:55am
A cat I used to have licked and pulled her hair until she had patches with no hair. My vet put her on prozac as we thought it was nervous behavior. It worked great! She stopped the behavior and hair started growing in again. After 3 months we decided to try taking her off it to see what would happen. She did very well. No more excessive licking or hair pulling.
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post #7 of 7
10/29/11 at 8:06am
I just remembered, Otto has a kitty that does this. Whenever a cycle starts up, she puts her on elavil. It breaks the cycle, and she weans her off of it.

Talking to your vet about a medication to break the cycle might not be a bad idea.

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