Cat Biting Bottom Of Back

[lauren87]

Hi,
This is quite a lengthy post, my 6 year old cat Pandora has been biting the bottom of her back near the base of her tail since around the 20th December last year.
She has been wormed and flead and her anal glands expressed incase this was what was causing it. And her diet hasn't changed.

Now I am worried it may be nerve damage or something. hopefully someone can shed some light on it.

On October 20th last year Pandora was hit by a car. She had to stay in the vets for a week, she had no use of her bladder so she had to get it manually expressed, her tail was broken near the base, her kidney levels were very low as was her blood count, she had some internal hemorrhaging and she had to be fed through a syringe cause she was refusing to eat.

Finally about 2 weeks before Christmas her blood count and kidney levels were normal enough for her tail to be amputated. It was around 6/7 days after the operation she started biting at her back, at first I thought she was just trying to get at her stitches (she had a cone on) but her stump healed fine and shes still biting her back.

The vet done a blood test, her kidneys were slightly elevated and her urine test came back with a small amount of protein in it but the vet said its nothing to be cconcerned about. Shes due another blood test.

Pandora is slowly being weaned of her steroids at the moment shes getting 0.5mg every 4 days.

Does anyone have any ideas on why she is biting herself so much? She had bitten it raw that she had to wear the cone again and they gave her an antibiotic injection.

It seems when she is finally on the mend something else crops up

 

[abyeb]

A lot of times, self-destructive behaviors like this can be triggered by stress. Vet visits are very stressful for cats, so I think that could be a likely cause of this. Have you tried a Feliway diffuser yet? Feliway mimics feline pheromones, which helps cats to relax. This article: Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats gives a lot of terrific pointers about how to lower a cat’s anxiety level.

 

[duckpond]

I am sorry that she is having these problems! is the vet sure she is not in pain? from the old injury? I know you hear about phantom pain when people loose an arm or leg, i would if a cat could after loosing their tail? I don't know, that thought just popes in my mind. real pain from the old injury, or phantom pain? And as abyeb said, Stress could definitely cause problems. Good luck with getting her well again!

 

[Lindzee2018]

It sounds like it could be phantom tail syndrome which could be causing Feline Hyperesthesia.
Im not a vet, its something I would definitely rule out with them though.
I know there is calming bites treats you can give to kitties that have chamomile or something of the sort in them, maybe something like that would work?

I'm sorry your kitty is going through this. =/

 

[lauren87]

Thanks for the replies
When shes stressed she will either hide or stick to me like glue, she hasnt been doing either, shes eating, drinking, using her litter and playing. When she is attacking her back its very easy to distract her. Theres no skin rippling prior to an attack, the only time her skin ripples is when i stroke her lower back.
Pandora seems to be worse with her back at night and early in the morning for some reason. Im going to phone the vet tomorrow and get her booked in for an appointment.