Young tortie with over grooming issues, looking for advice!

I adopted Reeses, my lovely tortie DSH in July. Her owner had only had her for 4 months and had adopted her from a shelter which said she was a stray. He was also re-homing another cat and a dog because he was moving. When we first went to see her, my husband and I noticed she had no fur on her bum and base of her tail. Her lower belly hair was thin, but I assumed she'd been spayed recently. Otherwise she was friendly and playful, but would suddenly stop whatever she was doing to lick and chew the base of her tail. He said "the vet said it was fine, she just licks there too much." A week later we picked her up on a Friday, I noticed she had a little scab on her back. The following Monday I took her to the vet she had seen already with her previous owner. Over the weekend she'd pulled some tufts of hair out of her lower back area, leaving more scabs (I could certainly understand that she was stressed from the change, but besides the licking, she made herself right at home) . At that point infection was my biggest concern. They gave her antibiotic and steroid injections and treated her for fleas, and told me that licking in that area was usually attributed to flea allergy, even though there were no fleas on her. After a couple days of sleepiness, she resumed licking, but not as much chewing or pulling and her wounds began to heal. As her bum and back hair grew back in, she continued to lick her belly bald, and then legs and sides. And just as soon as her bum hair fully grew back, she started thinning it back out...

I'm not worried about cosmetic issues, I know as long as she doesn't wound herself, she's not in any danger, but it still gets me to watch her do this to herself. Otherwise, she is a terrific kitty, and shows no other signs of stress. No bathroom issues, no cowering or hiding, no violence. My husband and I devote time for play and affection. She has climbing and scratching furniture, puzzle toys.. natural wood litter with no scents or dust, I use plant-based cleaners in our apartment, feed her natural food... she is a seemingly happy lap cat who loves to play, and is insanely smart and chatty. Judging by her build and her features and personality, it appears she could have some Burmese type genes which I've learned can be more prone to compulsive behaviors...

Any advice is much appreciated! I just want to help my kitty if she is anxious or stressed, and I'm worried because we'll be moving in February and I'd hate to see this get any worse... Thank you!

I'm sorry no one has responded to your post yet.  I will admit up front that while I have had one overgroom like this; I still don't fully understand my cats situation.  It seems it's just a difficult situation to address. 

Have you considered blood work or food allergies?  A few years ago Noodles started overgrooming her lower belly between her back legs and then into her inner thighs.  After a few vet visits my vets and i came to the conclusion that it was behavioral.  We first tried steroid injections because I didn't want to medicate her since she is difficult to pill.  I noticed her grooming start in May/June of 2014.  That November she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and treating her heart became the priority.  Sometime in the few months after that; she stopped the over grooming!  Then she started again the next summer and it carried on for a while.  But she stopped again.  

I'm really baffled.  She has always been our resident grumpy cat.  I've had her since she was 11 weeks old and she is now 11 1/2.  We've always had to let her sniff our hands before we pet her and then she will let us know when she has had enough.  But she is also affectionate and will cuddle, purr and play and sprint around the house happily.  Both vets we work with regularly have been puzzled by her.  (She's currently glaring at me because she wants food.  )

We have tried a Feliway diffuser.  Unfortunately our house is open concept and I have small children; so I couldn't really get the coverage recommended for them. I'm also not a fan of leaving things like that plugged in when I'm not home.  (I am a stay-at-home mom, so I usually am, but still!)  I also tried a calming collar.  I thought it smelled great; but it was strong.  I could tell when she'd walked up to me because i'd smell her.  She started trying to groom the collar off; so I ended up just leaving them near where she liked to sleep.  We also tried calming treats.  Those seemed the most effective of the 3.  We started those sometime after her heart failure incident.  They can be found on Amazon or Chewy or other pet sites and they are worth trying; but not all cats like them and eventually Noodles got tired of them. They are rather big and on the dry side. I used to cut them up and toward the end I'd even try to smoosh soft treats to them to get her to eat it.  Eventually we gave up; but she's been doing well without them now.  A few times I have seen her lick her belly and I'll say "Hey! Don't do that!" and she gives me one of her looks.    

I'm not sure if any of that is very helpful.  It's really been a trial and error and no explanation situation.  I do try to watch her stress level; which can be a challenge with little kids around.  My oldest is big enough to help and to play with her, give food/treats and understand her body language cues.  (She actually just let DD pet her.  That's the hunger kicking in again; but that never used to happen.)  My younger child isn't mature enough yet.  We make sure both cats have places to go that they won't be bothered by the kids.  The cat tree is a favorite.  We also have gates up so if the kids are running around or just being loud; they are out of the kitchen/dining area (where the cat tree is and a few other favorite spots).  Sometimes I let them into my bedroom so they can sleep in the closet.  DH is allergic so they really aren't supposed to be in there; but if they stay off the bed it's been ok.  

I hope you can figure out something for your new kitty soon.  I know it's hard to see them like that. It looks so uncomfortable. 

Thank you for your input lol! While her over groom has never really fully ceased since we got her, it has just seemed worse in the last 3 weeks or so. It has also been a stressful time in our human lives as well, and she is a very emotionally involved cat, so I know I play some role in this. But it has been seeming more itchy and less compulsive. So I am continuing the monthly flea treatments and started her on a limited ingredient diet to try to cover more of the bases. As well getting a hold of my own stress and anxiety lol! We'll be going to the vet in January for rabies and fvrcp, I was just hoping in the meantime to get some insight from other cat people who might have gone through this, I know the internet won't provide me with a concrete answer, I just hope to find a way to comfort her when she's chewing her leg like a drumstick This week I think she has been improving, we'll see.

When we adopted Abby almost 12 years ago, it looked like part of her back had been shaved and was growing in -


You can almost see a spot that looks more irritated closer to her tail.

I just took this one -



In the past past twelve years we've have had everything to a fully grown in back to bloody and irritated. The bloody and irritated days are past us thankfully and now, it's an occasional patch of thinner hair like it is now. The vet warned us when we adopted her that it was most likely something that we would battle her whole life. Thankfully the battle is easier these days. For Abby I think it is a combo of stress and allergies. She was on a limited ingredient diet for a long time and I've slowly been adding some meats back in. I think her triggers are chicken (which is in everything!), tuna and beef. When we go away on vacation we also saw we are going to come back to a car with a bald back, and some times we do. We'll find little tufts around the house. Thanksgiving is also an over-grooming time for her. I host and end up moving furniture around, etc.. She doesn't get as stressed about it as she did when she was younger though.

I wish there was a magic answer for all this, but there's not. It's going to take some trial and error.

Good luck and please do let us know how you make out.

I hope you do figure something out soon.  And please let us know how it goes!  You never know what might help someone else with this! 

Over-grooming is more often than not a food allergy, as food allergies often should up in pets in skin issues first. I'd encourage you to put her on a limited ingredients wet food diet, or ideally move her to homecooked or raw. My Bengal was aggressively licking the back of all her paws. When i moved her off kibble and onto 100% wet food it went away. She's my only cat that wont eat raw. 

I will certainly share our experience when we get to the bottom of this. I started giving her Natural Balance with duck as the only protein. Are there any brands you guys would recommend?

A couple pictures of her baldy-ness:

missmimz said:

 
Over-grooming is more often than not a food allergy, as food allergies often should up in pets in skin issues first. I'd encourage you to put her on a limited ingredients wet food diet, or ideally move her to homecooked or raw. My Bengal was aggressively licking the back of all her paws. When i moved her off kibble and onto 100% wet food it went away. She's my only cat that wont eat raw. 

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I think we ought to be very careful when recommending a change of diet, especially when a raw diet is concerned. Raw can be dangerous for some cats and without knowing more about the cat's overall health condition, so the word "ideally" in conjunction with that suggestion kinda bothers me. I'm not saying it will be necessarily bad for that cat, only that it's something that needs to be carefully considered in consultation with that cat's vet. Especially since she has a heart condition and possibly other age-related issues. The added pathogen load of raw food can literally put her life at risk.

Anne said:

I think we ought to be very careful when recommending a change of diet, especially when a raw diet is concerned. Raw can be dangerous for some cats and without knowing more about the cat's overall health condition, so the word "ideally" in conjunction with that suggestion kinda bothers me. I'm not saying it will be necessarily bad for that cat, only that it's something that needs to be carefully considered in consultation with that cat's vet. Especially since she has a heart condition and possibly other age-related issues. The added pathogen load of raw food can literally put her life at risk.

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There's no mention of this cat being old or having a heart condition. In fact the post is titled "young torture."

missmimz said:

There's no mention of this cat being old or having a heart condition. In fact the post is titled "young torture."

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Sorry, must have confused her with @MoochNNoodles  cat! Still, always best to add a warning before recommending raw to anyone. It can be dangerous both for immunocompromised cat (which could be any older cat) and to any immunocompromised humans sharing the same household. Not everyone is aware of those risks and they are very real. Real enough for the AVMA to  be against feeding raw. Please take a minute to read this thread. Thanks!