Cat obsessively licking fur off rump?

[jwathas]

Hi everyone,

One of our younger cats, Ezra, who is almost 16 months old, has been compulsively licking his rump/very top side of his back legs on both sides for about the past month or so.  He has licked these areas so much that he is now missing a patch of fur on each side.  No, he definitely does not have fleas.  We have checked him as well as our other 4 cats and our dogs very thoroughly and we have absolutely no fleas anywhere.  All of our cats are strictly indoor cats and he is the only one of our cats who is doing this.  It seems like whenever he is awake, he is licking these areas.  If we see him doing it, we try to stop him.  We have even gone as far as spraying some of that bitter spray on these areas, but it doesn't seem to phase him at all and he still licks it!  Does anyone have any idea as to what might be causing him to do this?  Other than this, he is acting completely normally as far as eating, drinking, using the litter box, and tormenting his brothers.  I just finished giving him a bath in some soothing oatmeal shampoo in hopes that might help.  The shampoo also has a bit of ketoconazole in it in case it is something fungal/bacterial (which I doubt, but worth a try).  We're at a loss as to what could be making him do this! 

 

[LTS3]

Has your cat been to the vet for this? There may be a medical condition that is causing the excessive licking. Ask the vet to do blood work and to also test for food allergies / senstivity. Some cats with food allergies / sensitivities will lick at itchy spots on their bodies to the point where the skin gets raw and infected.

 

[jwathas]

I don't think it's food allergies.   He's been eating the same food since he was 8 weeks old (an all life stages turkey formula that all of our cats eat) and has never had any issues until now.  I'm very familiar with allergies since we have a Labrador with severe skin allergy issues that he takes medication for and I don't think this is what Ezra has.  He isn't scratching at all, just licking his bilateral hip areas.  Other than this, he is acting completely fine.  I wasn't sure if it could be something behavioral, almost like OCD, or something else.  If this shampoo that I washed him with today doesn't seem to help, we'll call our vet next week.