rabbitfluff Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Has anyone any ideas how to stop my cat over grooming? She's given herself a big bald patch just above her tail and half of her stomach is bald. We've recently moved house and it started a little before we left (while packing etc) so I assume it's stress related. She does seem quite settled now at the new place but yet she's carrying on and making the patches bigger and I'm a bit worried they'll get sore. To make it worse, it's a very undignified position she gets herself in to lick her belly. She looks like Jabba the Hutt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Over grooming is usually a stress response. My recommendation would be get a feliway plug in to relax her. If she's really stressed you can get her Xykliene (sp) from the vets to go on her food. Other than that, try distraction.... If you can see she's grooming a lot, get out a laser pointer or a string toy and distract her with play. What you don't want is it turning into a committed habit. Hope she settles soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluekarin Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Our rescue cat did that and had a huge bald patch on her back. It took some time and now she hardly does it. We did try a Feliway collar from the vets which I think helped. It does sound like she is stressed by the move. Cats are such area animals that a change is a huge thing to them. I remember when we moved with our long gone elderly cat and she was leaping all over the place, up trees etc. On the final day she jumped onto our folded up bed and wouldn't let go when we were trying to put her in the cat basket. I am sure with time your cat will settle and get more relaxed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 It sounds as if it's stress related, but have you definitely ruled out flea allergy or anything similar? Once an allergy starts, the cat can go on grooming and make the bald patches much larger. Feliway is good but I found Pet Remedy to be very effective as well, it's a similar system with plug-ins. The good news is that once she becomes less stressed the fur will grow back very quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyBean2605 Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Agreed, I had a cat with flea allergy dermatitis, she suddenly developed it and would give herself huge bald patches with all the cleaning. I had to bathe her with flea shampoo every now and again and it eventually calmed down. Did the people who lived in the house before have animals? They might have left a few little friends behind. I used Frontline on my other cats regularly as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Both of ours do this, they have bald tummies and inside back legs, we have put theirs down to getting too warm in front of the log burner, because they only do it in the winter. Ziggy had quite a few bald patches when we first got her mainly around her neck some were sores, she soon improved when she settled in, but is still an obsessive cleaner sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Tozi does this and will lick himself raw in patches if I don't catch him quickly enough . Blobbing him with flea stuff seems to stop him, though I have to wait till he's asleep and sneak up on him with it - otherwise he's off quicker than greased lightning! I also used Feliway plug-ins when I moved house twice in six months and it did seem to help them settle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitfluff Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 Thank you for the replies. I've ordered the Feliway diffuser to see if that helps her feel more settled and gets her out of the habit. We did take her to the vet when she first started doing it but he didn't find anything that might have been causing it, so gave her an antihistamine and flea injection just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
counturchickens Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 We had the same with our rescue cat and it turned out to be an allergy, after several months of trying feliway and pet rescue remedy. She was put on steroids which cleared it up, vet suggested it was flea bite allergy however she gets advocate flea treatment monthly on vets advice...but jury is still out as if am waiting to see if she gets the same issue at the same time of year again as I think it may be pollen or some such. She is fully furred at the minute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LottyJ1 Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 I also have an over groomer due to stress - our cats don't get on. The only thing that seems to work for Archie is Ovarid from the vet. However i haven't tries pet remedy so gonna order some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 I posted a while ago about my cat, which has something similar; there is no way he is stressed (he's the most laid back cat ever) but he is moulting like mad - usually a sign of a hot summer to come - and I think he's got into the habit, so I dotted a wee bit of menthol on his tum and he leaves it alone now. This always works on one of my dogs, who tends to mither wounds. Vaporub is fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
