Excessive Grooming/Hair Loss

I have two inside cats that I have to keep seperated because the brother acted agressively against his sister.  I switch them out in a large dog crate.  The male has off and on licked and scratched and caused sores several times but seems to get better.  My female never went through that but started the first of winter last year.  She scratches and licks constantly and is causing sores all over her.  My husband thinks it's because they put in the cage.  I was doing the cage thing way before she started scratching.  She has licked pretty much all of her hair off from the middle of her back to her rump.  I have found a couple of fleas on her but the vet has given her shots of antibiotics and for ezema.  It's helps for a very short time, but she goes right back to licking and scratching.  Both cats also puke everywhere almost daily.  It's really getting on my nerves and wish that I could keep them from scratching.  Any help would be appreciated.  

I am by no means an expert but have you considered a change in diet or maybe it's allergy related?  I don't know where you live but could it also be environmental?  I know some parts of the country, including where I live, experience very cold winters and the air is dry.  Therefore, I need to add humidity to the air circulation.  If you've weeded out all of these possibilities you may want to consider seeing a veterinary dermatologist.  

Hi @kimmiekat67  Welcome to TCS.

Cats do sometimes over-groom themselves if they are suffering from stress, but it's usually their belly and inner thighs that get hit. Licking the back and rump is usually a sign of either a flea allergy or food intolerance.

First thing I would do is take one of the cats to the vet for a skin scrapping. That way they can rule out fleas, mites, scabies or any of the other nasties. Some cats are just really sensitive to fleas. Even one bite can set them off, so you need to use an on-spot flea medication every 30 days. Ask your vet about a good one, don't risk the cheaper OTC medications as they can cause even worse allergies.

As your cats are also throwing up I think they may be having a reaction to something in their food. What are they being fed?

Dry food tends to cause allergies because they contain more corn, soy and wheat than canned food does. However, cats can also react badly to sea-food, beef, lamb and chicken.

Finding out exactly what is causing the problem can take time. I suggest you look at the ingredients in their food and start with the common ingredient that is present in the largest %. Look for an alternative food that doesn't contain this ingredient and try this food for a few weeks to see if it makes a difference.

Here is an article of food allergies/intolerance.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2141&aid=142

If you think your cats are stressed out you could try Feliway to help calm them down.

http://www.feliway.com/us/Feliway/FELIWAY-Diffuser

Let us know if any of this helps.

Thank you!  I will read what you included in your post and go from there.