Obsessively Biting/chewing/licking The Tip Of The Tail

Hello to everyone,

I would like to ask your opinion on this sudden change of behavior from Frenzy (10 months old male).
Absolutely nothing has changed as of late for what concerns the environment, their life style, feeding times, play time (he gets a lot of interaction) and so on.
Yet in the last few days he started to chew on his tail without a break all day long unless I distract him with something else.

First thing I thought is that he was bored. But that's weird given the amount of interaction he gets and the fact that he only started to do it lately... there hasn't been a decrease in the time I dedicate to him at all.

I examined his tail closely, and can't see any wound, parasite (he's a strictly indoor only cat) or anything that could make me think this is a physical issue (he doesn't seem to be in pain and isn't bothered at all when I mess with the tip of his tail by touching it or squeezing it)

He licks it so much that it almost drops his saliva, it looks almost like a needle for how much he persistently licks it throughout the day.

I will definitely bring him to the vet on Monday if he doesn't stop during the week end (when I'll be able to keep an eye on him all the time without work in the way), but meanwhile I wanted to hear your opinions about if you think it's mostly a mental issue or a physical one.

I would have thought of the first if it wasn't for the fact that he insists on the tip only. The rest of the tail he leaves alone, and he hasn't got any part of his fur missing like it happens to stressed cats over-grooming themselves.

He does have the unfortunate habit of liking to chew/bite (especially electrical cables, I had to buy some sleeves to protect them).

Any ideas?

Thanks a lot!

It might be a pinched nerve that "tingles", making him feel like licking it will reduce that feeling. This isn't anything that you would see visibly. You touching it would not cause a reaction like a fracture would.

This is a symptom of feline hyperesthesia syndrome, but I don't think this is the case, as he doesn't show over sensitivity when you pet him.

Hi abyeb,

Thanks for the feedback.
Should you be right, how is this sort of thing handled for cats? Surely there's no way I can prevent him from doing what he is, and I can't see the nerve getting any better if it's not left alone.
I am at a loss and I'd like to be prepared before I bring him to the vet.

2 years later any update

Oliver licks his tail like he has ocd, I interupt him but ugghh what can I do...I been giving him omega 3 and 6 omegease for over a week now...

Often someone will join to ask about an issue then leave without giving an update. I think the same is true, a vet visit to rule out physical causes.

I have a cat that licks herself raw on her abdomen. I did find an 'Itch' cream fro cats at Tractor Supply, and tehn at Walmart too, that says it has 'bitter' added todiscourage licking. You might try it to discourage him. Just make sure it can be used on cats.

I'm only relaying what I've had friends experience with their cats. One person I know whose cat constantly licked the tip of the tail - he ended up having IBD. My other friend's cat licked her tummy til it was bald - she had a bladder infection. Sure, it may be an OCD thing but it may not be. Glad you are sensitive to what is going on and taking the kitty to the vet on Monday. I hope it's nothing.

Why would ibd cat lick its tail?

I'm not sure why the tail but it is the back-end of the cat and if they don't feel good, I'm sure there is a frustration there because they are not understanding why they don't feel good. If that makes sense.

I started giving him cbd oil 4 days ago and hes stopped going for his tail...knock on wood

Should this be a new thread instead of necro?

My cat Buddy cleans the end of his tail when he has bladder issues. I had kind of noticed before, but didn't pay attention to it, but this time i noticed. He is dealing w/ a UTI and crystals atm, and cleans just the tip. ()

It's doubly obvious with him because he really doesn't bathe at all, or very rarely.

So maybe it's a way to deal w/ pain? He wasn't doing it yesterday, but we had given him some nsaid from the vet yesterday and since he seemed to be more alert and as energetic as he is most of the time today, we didn't figure he needed it today.

I'll add an update if anything interesting happens.

I was not involved in this thread, but reading it I would guess, and I am not a vet so it is a guess, that at least one of the cats mentioned had feline hyperesthesia syndrome. In the case of your cat, unless I am misreading, he does not seem to have the obsessive unstoppable licking which seems to have no reason. Cats with FHS also appear to be in a disconnected state, often not recognizing their owners.

Your cat may be having referred pain. Maybe the bladder disturbance does cause a nerve to resonate in his tail. He may also be trying to deal with the discomfort by licking the tail which would be his way of dealing with pain.

Your vet is treating and advising you on the UTI and crystals?

Yeah, she gave him one of those 12-14 day antibiotic shots and we are doing the hill's c/d diet to see if it will get rid of the crystals. I don't normally fall for the hill's thing whatever, but the site that I use (that I can't find right now cuz no caffeine yet) says that she doesn't normally like hill's, but she uses c/d (tho she calls it s/d, which is what it used to be called apparently) for crystals. So I'm going with that diet for now to see if it will help.