Need helpful advice - territory and overgrooming problem

[rockmum]

Hi 

My friend's cat, a three year old neutered tom Biscuit is overgrooming, almost stripping his front legs bald at times, and is sometimes quite timid around other cats, although the next door cat doesn't seem to bother him that much.  

The vet has prescribed Calmex, but this doesn't seem to help enough to stop the overgrooming.

Do any forum members have any ideas about why he does it and what to do?  I would love to know what hints you can give me with ideas of how to train him to be less intimidated by other cats, and to feel more secure in his home.  His owner dotes on him, and the cat is otherwise a picture of health and usually eats well and is quite active.  He lives in a semi rural area in Gloucestershire, near the Forest of Dean, so the cat has access to wild forest and his own garden.  A LOT of cats come in the garden, some are semi feral un-neutered toms, who obviously intimidate other cats they meet. Biscuit toilets in the garden, but this is obviously not a strong enough territory  marker. What can we do?  Also does anybody know of any cheaper or natural alternatives to Felliway, which has helped a bit but is expensive.

 

[Ms. Freya]

Hi Rockmum,

  Is it possible to build him an outdoor enclosure? If he's getting stressed by seeing or smelling other cats in his territory, providing him with a space they can't get to might help. Also, several pet store have a "house brand" version of Feliway that is a bit cheaper. I haven't tried them, but you could give it a go.

Bumping this up so that someone in a similar situation might be able to see it and offer some advice.
 

 

[orientalslave]

Suspect all the other cats are the cause.  Cat-proofing the garden may help though you need to make sure they can't get in as well as he can't get out.  Plenty of info on it at the FAB:

http://www.fabcats.org/owners/fencing/

 

[rockmum]

Thanks for your comments.  I am surprised I only got two.  My friend is going to try an alternative brand of product similar to Felliway to see if that works.  It has very good product reviews so I'm hopeful.  It's such a shame to see a long haired cat with such a fine coat overgroom, especially as he is otherwise very healthy and pretty rambunctious when he's with his human friends.  Short of going out into the garden waving a big stick I guess there isn't much else we can do.  The fence building idea is not do-able unfortunately.  It would be prohibitively expensive and anti social to the human neighbours, who already have six foot high fences, which is pretty standard anyway.  He already has a little enclosure in the garden, it's called the shed.