Determined wound licking!

sulveks uncle

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(I would include a picture if I could but don't remember how....)

My Sisters cat Sulvek was nipped by one of our dogs back in November. He yanked out some hair and it was raw. It's on her back hip and we struggled to keep her from licking at it for months. Sprays, lotions, didn't matter, she'd lick it off. (Even the stuff thats suppose to keep her from licking!) We can't bandage it because of its awkward location. (We tried though...) and putting a tee-shirt or baby pants over her tail end results in her not able to use the litter box. (If she goes to the bathroom ANYWHERE in the house the dogs will start territory marking and asserting their dominance over her) but if we leave a 'bathroom hole' she'll wiggle around until she can lick the spot.

There is no apparent signs of infections, and this cat will lick until she leaves groove marks from her tongue and it's bleeding. The fur around the wound is noticeably short from the over grooming of the area.

We broke down and got a hard E-Collar, and within a week it looked SO much better. We have been putting a dab of Vitamin E on the wound as well to help with the healing process. She's had it almost a month now and another problem has recently came up. She's figured out how to lick the spot WITH the E-Collar on!

My sister is terrified of taking Sulvek to the vets. (She lost 2 rats to an infection they were suppose to be getting treatment for. So now she's a little more than leery of vets.) I've tried convincing her to at least go in and get it looked at but at this point I'm not even sure what a vet can do.

Any advice on my next step? I'm at a loss...
 

denice

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She really needs to take her cat in to have it looked at.  If it's some kind of obsessive-compulsive thing I would think that a week would've broken the habit.  I think it is bothering her and that is why she won't leave it alone.
 

Brian007

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I agree with Denice.  A vet might suggest a short term treatment with an anti-anxiety drug for OCD.

However, an at home method to try might be valerian, which is a herb that cats really like and is calming.  You can buy it in ready made "cat-calming" drops that you put on the back of the neck; you can also buy tasty valerian cat treats.  Also, Bach Flower Remedies for cats work for emotional driven behaviour problems.  Bach Flower Walnut is good for anxiety and crab apple is good for obsessive over cleaning (for a sense that one is unclean).  Also Bach Flower Rescue Remedy is very useful, but I'd look into the individual remedies too.  You can buy all these things easily from Amazon.

Keep the collar on as it will at least make it more difficult to reach.  And distract her when she starts licking by playing a wand game with her.

 
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