We had a four year old neutered male DSH that started licking his tail until it bled. I would definitely say take the kitty to the vet for a checkup. We thought Tigger might have had fleas, but no such luck....
This habit continued until the last six inches of his tail were hairless, bleeding, and scabby. My mother was so worried about the stress levels he was experiencing stressing his heart, so she brought him BACK to the vet and he went on Prozac for a year.
Now, I know this is going to sound extreme (and your case is significantly different with the leg fixation), but the vet finally told my mother that she should consider having his tail amputated - that Tigger may have been fixated on his tail as a way to reduce the stress he was feeling (the cause of which we could never determine).
Strangely enough, after much consideration and crying on my mother's and my behalf, we had his tail amputated.
The transformation was amazing! All of a sudden, Tigger was the happy, boisterous adolescent he was supposed to be! Granted, he died suddenly in his sleep when he was 9 (his heart had almost doubled in size because of the constant stress he was feeling), but for those last five years, he was MUCH happier with his little bobtail than he ever was with his real tail!
I basically told this entire story to you to encourage you to bring the cat to the vet. While it's most likely fleas (never a good thing to hear hoofbeats and think zebras instead of horses), but it's always possible that there's something else going on :)