I am having a very upsetting problem with my youngest cat all she seems to do is pull her fur out an

I never wanted a 3 cats but a bit over 2 years ago I took her in because the gang of cats she was a part of just beat her up all the time. She was so thin at the time you could see all her ribs. I started feeding her by keeping the others away but after a short time I grew very worried her and took her to the vet. Well after spending a few hundred bucks on her I turned her into a house cat.  She settled into my home OK after a few weeks my oldest cat has never been very nice to her but she hates cats and only likes humans and dogs. But my other cat has always been nice to her as she loves everyone and anything. Well I move to much bigger house of my from a very small apartment. She was very happy sitting in the large living room window sunning her self and spending time with the nice cat.  Well about six we eeks ago she started hiding all the time. I did not see her for days now she spends all her time under my bed sheets. At night she comes up to me and paw paws but she only leaves the bed to use her box and eat. Plus she has gotten thin er. I took her to the vet she has no files or anything. But she seems to be a mentally ill. I have tried hold her outside of the bedroom but if she hears any noise she gets so scared so pees and runs to the bed. Then gets under the covers. The vet had said to give her time and see if she comes out of this shell but I am worried about her. This is getting out of hand every 2 days I have to change sheets because of fur and scabs from her over grooming.   Has anyone have any ideas about what is wrong with her. She is a sweet kitty but I fear she has lost her mind.

stupidcats said:

I took her to the vet she has no files or anything.

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Sorry, what did you wrote here? Who is she, the cat or the vet, and what this no files means?

What examination did the vet?  A swift look over, or a thorough examination?  did the blood works??

Is the vet known as a good cat specialist?

If a vet isnt specialized on cats and dogs, they are often not especielly good if it is something more complicated.

OK, here my guess is it is something serious.  Some hormonal system breaking down or such, perhaps liver damage, and needing  correct medicines.. Something for a good vet, including tests.

So, unless this vet isnt known as cat knowleable, and did full works, I would suggest you try with another,  better vet.

In the meantime, you can surely try with a Feliway adapter.  It should make her feel a little safer, a little better....

Welcome to our Forums!

Good luck!     *vibes*

ps.  I shall ask a mod to move this tread to the Health Forum, as this is probably NOT any semiferal problem nor even behavior problem, but a serious health problem.

I'm sorry you're having a hard time. If the first vet visit didn't help I would go again or to another one. The pulling out of fur suggests anxiety. Medication could help if it's severe, but first i would try the Feliway diffuser. They are a lot cheaper on amazon.

Sometimes cats hide a lot when they don't feel well, or she is scared. Did you move to the new house recently?

Is she eating normal but still losing weight or has she stopped eating as much?

Sorry I meant fleas yes he did check for parasites. He also did blood work as well. I asked what test were done and was told he did all the necessary test but I was not happy with the answers. Because they did not go into any details.  I put this post her because she was a feral cat. I had a feral years ago who was a bit like this cat. The vet I use to go to is not in the area I now live but seemed to be better. This cat has always been afraid of her own shadow. The one thing is the vet I found seems to be a lot more costly. My old vet did a lot more for a lot less.  I need to find a better vet for my cats. I now live in Cape May and things are more costly here. We have a Petsmart here but I have not been happy with the vet care I have gotten past.
 

Yes I moved to Cape May but she had come out of hiding for a while but she has gone back into hiding but much more intense. I am spending a lot less time at home then I used to. She has always been the low cat on the totem pole. She has started chatting again so that is more like she acts when she is not hiding all the time.
 

Sorry  but just what is feliway I never heard of that. Just how do I use it. I never had a cat who acted like this one. She has gone into hiding before but only for a day or two never like this.

Feliway is a diffuser that you plug into an outlet. It is made for cats and mimics a mother cat's pheremones. It can help a cat feel safe and calm. I used it when there was a lots of noisy construction. It seemed to help. It is sold at petstores but is much cheaper online.You mentioned you aren't home as much, maybe she is still getting used to the new schedule and house.

Because of the weightloss, hiding and excessive grooming I would get another vet check or ask the first vet for all the details of her bloodwork. Try the feliway in the meantime. Good luck.

One of my cats was constantly pulling her hair out leaving only a Mohawk streak down her back where she could not reach. We tried all sorts of stuff from steroids to holistic crystals and nothing worked. The Vet finally had us try ChlorTabs, which is a human antihistamine. It worked. Of course, she slept alot but stopped pulling her hair our which made us think it was an allergy. We gave her a daily pill for years until I decided to stop to see what happened. Fortunately, she did not revert to her old habits and has been fine for the past 7 years. Whether it was an allergy or a nervous habit we don't know nor do we care at this point.

I ordered it from Amazon I feel so bad for her I think she has always been a wimpy cat but this is upsetting. I need to find a vet that has a good understanding of cats. This has made things harder because my brother always has his jack Russel  with him. So he has not come to see me because of this. My one cat loves dogs so I think it would be nice to get back to normal,

Believe it or not diet can have a lot to do with this. Try changing her food to grain free as grain allergies can make them do this! The pulling the hair and tearing at herself can lead to the scared behavior because she's so nervous. 

My guess is it's stress of some sort - possibly from the move, and/or your other cat.  She was used to going where she wanted, when she wanted, and now she can't.  Food might be part of it, it might be part of the overgrooming, but I feel there is something else going on.  You seem very sure it's 'mental illness' e.g. behavioural and most vets are not good at behavioural problems so maybe a behaviourist will be able to help?

As I understood from the post, she adapted well to the new house, enjoying etc...  And then, rather off suddenly, began to behave funny...

If I read this correctly, the change is something internal... Liver, bi-kidneys, that alike...

Otherwise I had myself a pal, a breeder, one of their  cats chewed up her fur. They went to vets, had full blood and allergic exams, nothing...

After a time they got theory it MAY had been something stress. They had two 6 years kids, but they were very kind to the cats, and wellbehaving. Also their other cats were friendly and well behaving.

They tried anyways to give her a new home with a lady living alone. Voilá! it turned in a couple of weeks...

It was apparently stress-related after all...

I have now started the Feliway she is coming out from under the sheets for very short periods.  I think one of the reasons she is always hiding is my oldest cat is picking on her.  But she has always been hard on the other cats.  I was thinking of finding one of them a new home. My oldest cat is in good health and would be very happy being the only one. I would feel bad about it.  I have had her since 04 when I was overseas. I just wish she would be nicer to other cats but since she was a street cat I guess that is just how she is.

Be careful because if she's being picked on that can lead to less eating and weight loss, also other health issues. That's not a good situation. 

It's possible the Feliway could help calm down the older cat too. I hope thats how it works out for you.

Well it seems to be working out OK at this point Tripod is a Little bit less mean. I am very happy that halfy is coming out from under the sheets for most of the day. Halfy is a lot less jumpy and is a lot more happy than she has been. A friend of mine banged on the door when I was holding her and she did not pee on me out of fear. But she did run under covers on the bed. Plus she came out as soon as my friend went home. She is still over grooming but is not as intense. Giving her a lot of lap time seems to go a long way as she is now always ready to be held now.