chickencam Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 My beautiful tabby Ziggy has been over cleaning and pulling out her fur since the cold spell before Christmas. It did start to grow back until the frosty weather recently. She has a completely bald tummy, also the inside of her back legs under her front paws and a couple of thin patches elsewhere. Has anyone else had experience of this? She has always been a compulsive licker, and when we got her back in the summer of 2007 she and her sister had spent 6 weeks in an outdoor pen at a Cats Protection foster home. She came to us then with bald patches around her neck, some of which were red raw. They took a few months to heal completely and she has been fine since until now. I think that is a habit that has come from being bored indoors during the cold weather. She hasn't broken any skin and has no sign of fleas or rashes. She is such a pretty cat and it seems such a shame, any ideas on how to break the habit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gertie Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 A friends cat has this problem. I believe it started with the male cat bullying her, then they moved house. Vet thought it might be a food allergy. I think my friend felt it was stress, said she tried bachs flower remedy, feliway and a collar to stop the licking. The boy cat has calmed down and she is settled but still licks the fur off! She cannot break her of the habit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moochoo Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 My cat has had this problem on and off for the 15 years we've had her. We've tried everything to help. Allergy testing was all clear. Felliway plug ins saw no improvement. Anti depressants made her more depressed. Change of food made no difference. The only thing that has improved her is having 2 dogs! In the last 2 years she's been just fine. I put this down to her having her own eco-system in our bay window. Her food and water is on the window sill , her bed is in the bay and so is her litter box. She's always been a bit bi polar. Months of being happy, fussy and outgoing followed by depression, contant sleeping and total withdrawal. Don't know if any of that helps but you're not alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 Thanks for that. She is a bit neurotic in other ways too, she trys to bury her food and spends the evening looking out at the dark and looking worried unless we close all of the curtains. She is however very friendly and affectionate, and loves nothing better than sitting on a warm knee having her shoulders massaged She took longer to trust us all than her sister did, she was very much ED's cat at first, which is strange because she is totally neurotic too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Feliway usually does the trick if you have ruled out a flea allergy. There is also a new plug in diffuser that contains essential oils that has received good feedback for obsessive groomers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted February 4, 2011 Author Share Posted February 4, 2011 Thankyou, I will look into those things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
