Help! Erratic twitching behaviour

Recently our cat Shelby has been experiencing some sort of discomfort or stress that we can't seem to get to the bottom of.
She is 3 years old and has always been very healthy. She seems to be a nervous wreck and is constantly twitching and biting at the base of her tail. The vet has checked her out twice and can't find anything wrong. She is now on flea medication to see if that is the problem but she's still doing it.
Any ideas?
Colleen

Hi Colleen and welcome to TCS.

What you're describing sounds very much like Feline Hyperesthesia. This article http://www.thecatsite.com/Cats/Cat_H...resthesia.html will most likely help you.

GET A 2ND OPIONION RIGHT NOW! If your vet doenst know something take your cat to another vet and see what they think. It could be a skin rash or allergy. You def want to get to the bottom of it and a second opinion certainly cannot hurt.

I would say a bad flea infestation. What did you use to treat for fleas? I would guess your cat has allergies to fleas, so they will drive your cat crazier than most with the itching.
I find advantage does the best job and fast.

She definitely doesn't have fleas so I know that I can rule that one out but the symptoms are the same. Thank you for your reply.
Colleen

A food allergy is a strong possibility. What does she eat normally?

I hope you soon find the problem with your cat.

She eats a very high quality dry food but I confess that her wet food is "Fancy Feast". She only has 1/4 of a tiny tin once in the morning and once at night. Her treats are a high end healthy kind from the Vet's office and some of the Whiska's Temptations that her "grandma" buys her.
Do you think that we need to take her off everything?
We are so scared that we'll lose her.............

There are usually other signs besides twitching and biting at the tail. I would look to the food as the source of her allergies first. Try her on a different type of food than what she is on now. It is generally the dry food that causes the allergies, so look for foods with more meat then grains- I would start there-

What do you use to flea treat her with? Where did you buy it. Does she wear a flea collar?

She's an indoor cat who gets to go outside about once a day in the summer on her harness and lead. We have her on "Science Diet Nature's Best with ocean fish" dry food. She also eats "Science Diet Oral Care" for her teeth.
Her flea medicationis from the Vet. Advantage for 4Kg and under. (She's a very small cat). Do you think that noise stress could cause these symptoms? There has been some construction nearby us.
C

I would definitely lean toward a food allergy, most likely to corn, which is the primary ingredient in Science Diet. Start her on a trial of corn free cat food (read labels to know what is in the food - you can find many corn free brands at high-end pet specialty stores). These foods are priced about the same as Science Diet but you get more for your money since the quality of ingredients is much better. Give it a month and see what happens. It won't hurt and might help a lot.

"Corn" is one of the main ingredients in her dry food and her commercial treats. Tomorrow I'm going to pick up some food (probably from the Vet) that doesn't have corn in it. Wish us luck.
Colleen