licking belly until sore

HI, I'm new to the site, and I was hoping somebody could help me. My cat, Cherise, is ten years old. She has had past allergy problems, but seems to have grown out of them. What she is doing now is somewhat new. She did it once many years ago because she was stressed but we took her to the vet and he gave her a cortisone shot and she quit doing it and when the stress went away(home improvement job in her "area") she didn't start again. She doesn't seem to have any stress at all lately but she has started licking her belly to the point of leaving dry red areas on it that look sore. We took her to the vet and he gave her a cortisone shot and she quit licking, now it's been about two weeks and she started up again. Does anybody have any ideas what would cause her to do this, or what we can do about it? I'm making another appointment tommorow to get her back to the vet. Thanks so much for your help-

Lyndsy

hmmm, could be several things but no one knows better than your vet. good thing you are taking the kitty to the vet tomorrow, please update us!

It's possible she has developed a new food allergy. You might ask your vet about that. Is she eating and urinating normally? Sometimes, urinary tract infections or bladder inflammation will cause pain and the cat will lick the area.

Hi Lyndsy,

have you gotten a new animal? had a baby? new person or another animal in the house? new home? anything that would be new to her territory at all?

This has happened on occasion to my older cat. she is an 18 yr old tabby. From my experience it was as you first noted, a reaction to stress. She first did this when my wife and I got married and I brought my cat into her domain. over time she stopped. (what a nightmare that was with the twin peeing ticked off puddies lol)
next she did it when we had major renovations to our house. similar to your experience. and last time she did it was when we were adopted by our last two kittens.
each time, she would ball up and groom her belly until it was raw and devoid of hair. i mean bald belly, not spots entirely bald on her tummy. She would be deligent about licking her belly. it would be red, pink and swollen. her poor little nips would bleed.
what cured this for us, was that she got extra attention and distracted with her favorite things by us. We would always take the time to "speak" to her in that kiddish voice we all use to talk to our cats, play with her, take her outside supervised etc . only when she was confident enough with the changes around her would she stop for good.

If there is nothing new invading her territory, I would definately see a vet. As cloudshade mentioned above

It's possible she has developed a new food allergy. You might ask your vet about that. Is she eating and urinating normally? Sometimes, urinary tract infections or bladder inflammation will cause pain and the cat will lick the area.

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You mean she looks a little like this?:

It is similiar to that, except in smaller areas, and it does seem to be around her nipples. She has not licked away all of the hair yet, though. She has an appointment tomorrow morning to see the vet. The only thing that has been stressful at all for her is my husband started working second shift, and I'm working a late day shift or early second...noon to eights and two to ten's. She used to spend every night sitting on my husbands lap while he watched t.v. before I came home. He would sit for hours and just hold her, and now that I'm the one that's home earlier, I just don't spend that much time sitting. I'm always cleaning or doing laundry, etc. Something that doesn't involve just sitting. I think she's a little stressed about not getting the quality time in the evenings..maybe. We started these new shifts in January and she didn't start licking until August, so maybe it's something else?? We don't have children and she's our only pet, so she gets a tremendous amount of attention. Maybe she just misses the one on one with my DH. He is her favorite. Will see what the vet has to say tomorrow.

I poked around on her little tummy just now to see if anything was sensitive and it didn't seem to be, so I don't think anything is sore down there. I appreciate your advice. Thanks so much-
Lyndsy

Keep us posted on how the trip to the vet goes. I had an older cat once that did that too. Sometimes for older kitties even the smallest things can cause stress.

With Red Cat, shown in photo in post 5, he started licking and had a bare spot no larger than a quarter about a month before my husband died a couple of years ago. But he really started licking and the damage became much worse after my husband's death. He wasn't attached to my husband at all, but he did see him as his doorman, letting him in and out of the house whenever Red Cat meowed. Other than that, he only said good morning to my husband by walking to his side of the bed and permitting him to stroke his back with one single stroke occasionally. So, though my vet suggested that Red Cat may have really got started on this habit as comfort while mourning, I think it more likely, if it is purely a psychological problem, that it was a result of changes in my routine after my husband was gone. And the change in routine might be what is upsetting Cherise, too.

RC was about seven years old when all this started. Although the vet did all kinds of tests, I still think there is a possibility that there might be something physical involved. Because there will be times I'll be petting Red Cat in bed and he'll be purring away when suddenly he almost jumps and starts to lick his belly. It is like he had a sudden severe itch or bite or pain. He has many allergies, to food and "environmental" which cause itching and scratching of his ears, runny nose and eyes. I've had him on Hill's Z/D for a couple of years now, which helps the food allergies (scratching ears), but it didn't help the licking his belly one bit. I've lately been giving him an antihistamine for the sneezing, runny eyes and nose, but he is so nervous, a real fighter at over 15 pounds and so difficult to pill, that I often decide it just isn't worth the battle. The vet did prescribe a spray for me to put on his sore belly. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what it is as the label is totally covered with the prescription information, but it was supposed to be for dogs not cats. He said it would be safe for cats, though. It does keep it from getting quite so inflamed. If it reaches the point where you can't solve the problem and want to know what I use, PM me and I'll call the vet's office and find out.

Twofatcats,

Thank-you so much for your help, and everybody else that has offered support and advice. It's really something how stressed our little ones can get over a change in routine, etc. I am going to start making an effort to put aside a hour or so everynight to hold Cherise on my lap. Whatever it takes to make her happy. Maybe I can get her into a new routine. . Will let you know what happens tommorow.
Thanks again,
Lyndsy

May I suggest you ask your vet about diabetes?

Well, DH took Cherise to the vet today. I'm the one that usually takes her, so it upset her that he took her. It's like she expects different things from us. I'm always the one she goes to for food, the one who gives her baths and takes her to the vet, and DH is the one who will hold her for hours on his lap and clean the litterbox. She doesn't accept him doing something for her that I should be doing..weird??
Anyway...she wouldn't let the vet take a close look at her tummy, so he can't be sure exactly what it is. He gave her some antibiotics and some flea medicine in case it's flea bites on her belly. Pretty certain that isn't what it is...she has NEVER had fleas. He said he wants to wait until we have a couple of frosts so he can rule out outdoor allergy problems. Plus he gave her another cortisone shot. I'll give that a couple weeks and if she isn't better I'll take her back myself. This is not something I want her to make a habit of. Seems like the sooner you figure out what the problem is and stop it, the better. Thanks for all your help!
Lyndsy
P.S. will mention the diabetes to him next time...is licking her belly like this a syptom of that?

It isn't so much the licking, but it is the sores that do not heal. My old Pete did that, he licked himself raw. We tried everything and then finally a test for diabetes was done, but by that time, his kidneys were failing. I just mentioned it because it looked so much like what old Pete had on his belly, only his was ALL over his belly. It was mind wrenching to deal with.

Originally Posted by KittenKiya

It isn't so much the licking, but it is the sores that do not heal. My old Pete did that, he licked himself raw. We tried everything and then finally a test for diabetes was done, but by that time, his kidneys were failing. I just mentioned it because it looked so much like what old Pete had on his belly, only his was ALL over his belly. It was mind wrenching to deal with.

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If you are referring to the photo of Red Cat, the vet did complete (I think) blood tests a year ago, and I'm assuming that would have included blood sugar tests, but I don't know. Red Cat has never exhibited a tendency to drink excessive amounts of water, which would be a symptom of diabetes. In fact, there have been times I have tried to get him to drink MORE water. He almost died due to a urinary blockage at one time and drinking adequate amounts of water can help prevent that.