Sensitivity to touch - anyone experienced this.

The cat I'm babysitting because her owner is homeless is having yet another symptom that I'm not sure if it's abnormal or just something some cats experience. She seems to be sensitive to being touched on the back half of her body. I noticed about a week ago that when I scratched her rump, right before her tail, she would stretch out her neck and chatter her teeth a few times. At first I thought she just thought it was uncomfortable to be scratched in that area but since then I've noticed that she reacts to even minor touch on the back half of her back. Even petting will make her tense up and stretch her neck out and she twitches some when I just lay a hand on her at times. If I pet her against the direction her fur grows she gets clearly uncomfortable. She loves to be scratched around her head and neck and don't seem to mind touch around her shoulder area.

Her owner told me that a couple of years ago all of his cats got fleas and it effected Ooguly the worst. His attempts to treat it with OTC products failed and Ooguly lost most of her fur on her back half and had a number of sores. He eventually treated them with Frontline but I suspect that they had the flea problem for quite a while. Since then her fur has grown back but it's not like it used to be. It's short, thin and coarse. I noticed that her fur was different right away when they came.

I wonder if the problems she had with the fleas two years ago could possibly have caused nerve damage that is now causing the sensitivity to touch and the stretching of the neck and chattering of teeth which seems like an involuntary behavior. What do you guys think? Has anyone else had a cat that is sensitive to touch in this way?

The cats' owner had a sixth cat that was put down a couple of years ago due to feline leukemia so of course my fear is that could be what is plaguing Ooguly. However, her symptoms don't sound like those of FeLV and the owners says that most of the cats have been tested. He's pretty sure that Ooguly was tested but he's lost the paperwork and don't remember for sure, he says.

(Ooguly is going to go in for blood work hopefully today or tomorrow if I can get her owner to bring her. If I can't I'm just taking her myself. I want to avoid stepping on his toes as much as possible as I don't want to come across as pushy or taking over his cats which is why I haven't taken her yet. She will get vet care though so please don't think she's not being cared for.)

Any ideas?

Thank you for caring for this cat while the owner gets things back in order.

I have a cat who does not like to be petted beyond the halfway point of her back.  She acts like it is pulling her hair and will shrug my had off.  She does like her head petted, and that is all I attempt.  There is nothing wrong with her, she just does not like it.

I am curious to know if there's something wrong or if this cat just doesn't like to be petted in this spot too.

I do think there is something wrong with her. Her reaction is beyond what I've seen from cats not liking to be petted. The second you lay a hand on her she'll stretch her neck out and start the teeth chattering. It's not a voluntary behavior. She doesn't just shy away from being petted in that area like one of my other cats do. It almost seems like a reflex. It's odd. I've never seen anything like it.
 

It sounds like nerve damage to me and hopefully your vet can help with a more direct diagnosis, and perhaps some treatment if needed.  It doesn't sound like pain, more like altered sensation. However, I don't think it's paresthesia because I had that, still have it to a small degree, in my face and it doesn't make me twitch, it makes me want to press painfully hard on the area to stop the sensation and be quite savage in removing whatever set it off - a stray hair for instance. So, I think your cat would bolt away fast or turn on you and try to bite their back.

I fostered a cat with nerve pain and he used to literally climb the wall when it hit him and wail horribly.  Gabapentin worked for him.