Over Grooming Cat - Please Help!?

[meg hartley]

Hi All,

I've got two lovely cats Ziggy and Zep. I adopted them both from a friend from work, who was moving abroad. When I adopted them, Ziggy had a cleaning problem. He told me that she hadn't always been like this (I've seen pictures of her fully haired) and that when they got a dog she didn't like it and started over grooming. He said he'd taken her to the vets and they said it was stress from the dog.

I've had both the cats now for around 10 months.

Ziggy is still over grooming. I've taken her to vets once and they said it could be an allergy to house dust or something outside, as she also goes outside. They gave her a steroid injection, this seemed to stop her cleaning a little bit for a few days, but didn't really stop much.

Poor thing is balled on her back two legs, bottom of her back, belly and a little bit of her tail. It isn't horribly bad, but you can see her skin. 

Few things about Ziggy (not sure if this may be linked or some other problem):

- She eats Aldi Cat Biscuits

- She goes outside for around an hour a day at different period

- Seems to over groom constantly

- Doesn't scratch herself

- Seems to have diarrhea a lot recently

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions? I could take her back to the vets but it will cost a lot of money to have blood tests etc which still might not give an outcome. I will take her though if I can't manage to work it out.

Thank you all in advanced!
 

Lots of love,

Meg, Ziggy & Zep

xx

 

[meowsonya]

By no means am I a vet but here are a few recommendations I'd try:

-Could be a diet thing: maybe put out different types of food (wet/dry) and see if Ziggy prefers one over the other. If you find that Ziggy only chooses to eat one brand, flavor, or form, keep her on that and hopefully it'll help with her diarrhea and anxiety. 

-Toys/catnip: find a distraction for her so she doesn't have to occupy herself with grooming 24/7!

-Brushing her multiple times/day and cutting off her matted hair: I had a persian ragdoll for 17 years who would get quite matted but when I took the extra time to really groom her properly, she seemed relieved and would be much happier with herself. I know it's tough if you're busy, but perhaps it could help give her peace of mind. Just be careful to not cut her skin when you cut out the matted tufts

 

[margd]

I'm wondering if Ziggy might have gotten "stuck" in stress mode. This happened to a cat of mine. Polly was abandoned by her family of 7 years to a kill shelter, where she started pulling her hair out. It took almost a year after I adopted her before she gradually stopped. It seemed to have become a habit.

At the time I didn't know about the calming agents available like Feliway and Composure but perhaps it is worth trying one of these products. Both are available on Amazon. Feliway is sold as a diffuser or a spray and is emitted into the air. Composure is sold as treats or a liquid and is ingested.

meowsonya is right that an allergy might be involved so this is definitely worth exploring.

It's hard to know if the diarrhea is related to Ziggy's over grooming. Since she does go outside, she might have picked up some worms. I would take her to the vet and have a fecal culture run to check for parasites.