Cat is Self-Mutilating, Close To Being Put Down

Hi All,

My sisters lovely cat Prince has a very severe and now potentially life threatening condition where he has a mad couple of seconds attacking himself, in a way that a cat would in a fight with a cat they don't like. I have researched this and its pretty clear to me that the cat has Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome.

He has always been a little wild, he would wonder off for days and even weeks on occasions without returning home, then reappear full of scratches and skinny where he probably hadn't eaten anything! My sister moved house shortly before christmas, and kept Prince and her other 2 cats in for about a month. When it came to finally letting them outside, all seemed fine with them happily returning home. But within a couple of days Prince didn't return. After putting signs up, my sister had a look around the neighbourhood of her old home, around 3 miles away, and low and behold Prince appeared! Came straight up to her and sat purring on my nieces lap the journey home, clearly happy to be reunited with his family. My sister then left him inside for several weeks when she noticed fur was coming out of his tail, within a few days this was a serious open wound. She took him to the vets when they decided he had to have his tail removed to the wound as it was so serious. When she got him home he seemed fine, but within a day or so he had got the e-collar off and ripped out his stitches. Back to the vets he went, they took off even more of his tail, he came back home and it all happened again. The vets recommended we leave him there for a few days, but unfortunately he still managed to get to the wound and pull out the stitches. They said leave him at home for a few days and give him a chance to leave it alone, he didn't! so back to the vets he went, they tidied it up and put an e-collar on him, but said its probably best he is put down as even if they take off the tiny bit of his tail thats left, he will probably start mutilating elsewhere. Back home for a few days he hadn't got the e-collar off but somehow was getting to the back of his legs, luckily not his tail, they were starting to get a little cut but not serious. But unfortunately yesterday he somehow got to his tail even with the e-collar on. Obviously upsetting for my sister, i think she is now swaying towards him having to be put down, which i totally understand, but i feel more could be done for him. He is being kept in a dog crate at the moment, no way for a cat to live i know, but considering that and the wound on his tail he is still so happy. He jumps straight on your lap purring away looking at you all loving as soon as you let him out. He still eats everything we give him. I just feel taking all this into account he isn't ready to be put down, not yet. I am trying to get my sister to take him to a different vet for a different opinion, his usual vet has never diagnosed FHS, and through reading online cats have a lot of success being prescribed Prozac or something similar as treatment for this. If we could stop him from getting to his tail then maybe (albeit long term) it will heal and he will be able to go outside and likely get over the FHS. Anyone have any suggestions that will work better than the e-collar to prevent him from getting to his tail? or anything you think off with Princes situation?

Thank you for reading, i appreciate that its long but it has been going on several weeks now and i think a lot of it is relevant to how we've ended up in this situation!

I'm sorry your cat is going through this. I don't have any experience with e-collars. But I do have experience with FHS.
Highly recommend seeing a cat specialist. Vets don't know what causes FHS; current thinking is it neurological in nature. Ritz had mild FHS symptoms--never self-mutilated. Does Prince's flank twitch? Runs up and down the hall trying to escape something?
Ritz was on Prozac for about three months. I don't know that it helped that much--or if her symptoms were a side effect of vaccinations or the dryness in the air (winter). But again, Ritz' symptoms weren't nearly as severe as yours. She has about one or two episodes a week, I just calmly say, it's okay honey, it's okay. Some cats like to be petted during an episode; Ritz does not.
There are stronger drugs than Prozac that can be used for FHS; a cat specialist would guide you in this.
Meanwhile, what is Prince eating? There is a theory that the symptoms are caused by food allergies; the less ingredients in a food, the better. Grain and additive free--as much as your pocketbook and life style permits.
There is a theory that stress plays a part in FHS; Ritz is a stressed out cat (in her DNA and because of her formative months). Use Feliway plug ins (works for some cats, doesn't for other: each cat is unique); play with the cat as much as possible.
Finally, here is an article about FHS. There are also several relatively current =4&type=all&advanced=1]threads about FHS.

Hi Ritz's owner, thank you for your quick reply.

He doesn't really run when he has an episode but there he is either in the dog crate when he has an episode on is on a lap.

I have tried some feliway spray for nearly a week, hasn't stopped the episodes but he seems very happy otherwise and that could be attributed to that. He also has been having Calmex from the vet which may have made a difference.

I had read that it could be because of his diet, and also due to stress. It could be either of those as he will feel stressed due to being kept indoors, and has been eating a lot more as he's indoors. He was eating felix but i got him some James Welbeloved food, and judging by the packaging that is far better for him!

Neuropathic pain management. An internist would have him on this from the beginning, with a ruptured abscess on the tail, an area with a cluster of nerves.  Tail amputation is similar to limb amputation, it feels very strange, very painful, and needs intense pain management. He sounds like a typical cat sensing too much from a tail amputation, not "mini seizures" at all.

Talk to your vet about the possibility of using gabapentin before euthanasia is considered, to exhaust all possible causes and treatment for his surgical site bothering him. After investing this much time, effort, and expense in his surgery, a little more spent on gabapentin is well worth trying.