Cat rubbing his nose raw

[absolutchaos]

Have a Bengal who has been fixed. He definitely has issues, however. We've learned to live with his constant spraying (keeping him outside as much as possible; he never sprayed before he was fixed!!!). He loves being outside.

For the past half-a-year or so, he has been getting overly aggresive in rubbing his nose against things when he is outside. Pretty sure he's marking his territory, but his now his nose is constantly bleeding and raw. Tried putting a cone around his neck to give his nose time to heal. He managed to find a way to continue to rub his nose. He now has a larger cone around his neck, but he's still somehow finding a way around it to continue rubbing.

His environment is the same as it has been since he was a kitten. The vet tried a few drugs to help minimize the spraying a few years back, but not only did they not help the spraying, but the drugs turned our poor cat into a zombie, so we decided to leave him off the drugs. His diet hasn't changed either.


Anybody have any ideas?

At wit's end.

 

[strange_wings]

Have you checked to see if it could be allergy related? You mention he likes being outside - what about mosquitoes? I'd imagine you'd have plenty of them.

I took in a cat over a year ago that was allergic to bug bites, including mosquitoes, and one of the things she'd do was rub her face (and nose) against things because those bites itched. She'd open up sores from it. Because her main reaction was to things like mosquitoes and chiggers, instead of fleas, the only solution is that she can't be outside.

 

[absolutchaos]

He has always been a nose-rubber, even when he was kept indoors all the time in his youth. If you pet him, he frantically starts rubbing his nose against whatever surface is nearby, even as he purrs up a storm. He has been this way ever since he was a kitten. I'm inclined to consider this more likely a behavioral issue based on this fact. I wonder if he's stressed or neurotic or obsessive-compulsive.

We've tried to keep him inside primarily, to see if that would help, but then the house gets doused with his constant spraying. I've had several male cats over my lifetime, including a tomcat (admittedly none of the others were Bengals), and I've never seen a cat spray so much in my life. He's like a sprinkler. When we take him on walks, he predictably sprays all over the place (but basically always the same locations), which makes sense since there are many free-roaming cats in the neighborhood. I've never seen a more territorial cat in my life. Seeing a cat outside through the window (or even hearing one) will set him off, and the next thing we know, he has sprayed in the house. He's so enthusiastic in his spraying that his whole hindquarters almost leave the ground from the force of his vibrations as he marks his territory.

I've thought about the allergy aspect. However, he has been an outdoor kitty for a while, and the nose-rubbing to this extent is a relatively recent phenomenon.

Has anyone else experienced a cat developing allergies as an adult that the cat didn't have as a kitten? I know that can happen in humans...

As you pointed out, he DOES live in a tropical environment. Even indoors, the house is built to be open air since there's no a/c. Perhaps it IS mosquitos. I'll definitely bring it up to the vet next time.

 

[strange_wings]

Yes, adult cats can develop allergies. It takes exposure, sometimes years of it, for the body to suddenly say "No more! I don't like this!"

My Siri still loves to rub her face on things though she's long healed now. Some cats do enjoy that and it's also part of scent marking. But the average cat doesn't like to scent mark so much that they break open their skin - that's not normal.

Do talk about it with the vet soon. Any open sore, especially with him rubbing his nose on things, can become infected. He also risks some scaring if it gets too bad. Also discuss if there could be anything else going on with his nose/sinuses that could make him rub this much trying to get relief.