Sudden licking, tail whipping, frantic running?

Hi all!

I have a 5 year old Siamese Tabby mix (Luno) with long hair. He has had almost no health problems (besides a kidney stone type issue a couple years ago). He never goes outside and we only have one other indoor-only cat (his biological sister). Today I noticed that he will just be sitting there one minute, then suddenly start aggressively licking himself, wildly whip his tail, and start running. ***?! My other cat does this, but we assumed it's because her hair gets matted and can be bothersome, but Luno has no mats. Has anyone else experienced this? Any advice? Thank you!

By the way, his hair is much longer than it is in that photo. He had gotten shaved a couple months prior to that photo!

There is an illness called hyperesthesia syndrome http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/health_information/HyperesthesiaSyndrome.cfm

There isn't a lot known about it.  There are some medications that can help so I would tell your vet about this.  

I had one kitty that had this (extreme degrees of OCD) cannot remember age but it's not permanent, changed diet lowered amount of stress in 

both our lives.

Some foods can cause these symptoms, I had one cat that did this same thing pretty regularly. She also became overstimulated pretty quick and could not be stroked very long without attacking. I would bet on hyperesthesia syndrome  I know it did get less frequent as she got older. I really think there are 'triggers' for it, she seemed to do it when she came in from outside, at first I thought she might have picked up a bug, etc. but nothing was ever found. It might be a form of allergy. 

Fleas can be uncomfortable, too. I know you said your cats are indoor but depending on where you live, etc., it is possible to bring fleas in from outside.

I just bring this up because it might be best to rule out smaller issues before jumping into figuring out if it's a bigger issue like hyperesthesia syndrome. Maybe try another haircut in order to inspect Luno's skin for possible fleas or other skin issues? Where does he lick himself?

Thanks to all who replied!

Now that I think of it, his food was the reason for his urinary tract issues a couple years ago. He hasn't had any problems with it lately, but we never switched foods because he doesn't really like anything else. I'm going to try to switch foods gradually and see if there's a difference. He hasn't been behaving strangely today, but just to be on the safe side I'd like to give new food a try. Any food brand suggestions would be great

Has anybody tried Blue Buffalo?

I would suggest a grain free canned food for most of his nutritional needs. I have tried Blue Buffalo in the past and my kitties didn't do well on it.  We feed Taste of the Wild Dry and Canidae and Natural Balance Pure wet.

babyluno said:

Has anybody tried Blue Buffalo?

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I would not touch that stuff in a 100 years. If you are only considering dry food Orijen  a very good cat food. It is not cheap and not everyone sells it another good brand is Nutrience  (but get the grain free one I think is it called Subzero)