Body Suit For Excessive Licking?

[mizzely]

Has anyone used a body suit for a cat with excessive licking? We are trying so many things to figure out why Jasmine is still licking her stomach and inner legs. She will be growing back one day and then bald the next with no trigger that I have yet been able to pinpoint. I was considering putting a body suit on her to see if it is behavioral at this point because this all seems to stem back to when she had fleas last spring. Just need to bounce the idea off others.



As a background, we are still progressing through the elimination diet, and she is on prednisolone and zyrtec right now.

 

[mokapi]

My cat has been "excessively licking" since 2012 and has never stopped. I've spoken with so many vets, and just keep hearing the same thing: medicate him for anxiety, or deal with it, since he acts perfectly normal otherwise.

If the baldness is distinctly patterned, and not random, I've been led to believe (over the past 5 years of my perpetually half-naked cat) that it's a behavioral problem. I have never identified a trigger, other than myself. Forgive me for over-anthropomorphizing, but if my cat becomes sullen, he will start to lick. If I ignore him, he will start to lick. If I reprimand him for, say, clawing at brand-new speakers, he will lick. It's completely stress-related, for us. I tried an elimination diet, and I'm half-convinced that just worsened his already sensitive stomach.

No "body suit" or barrier would prevent him from licking, and, if anything, it just stressed him out more. We don't know what goes on in our cats' brains, but animals very clearly can and do exhibit OCD, PTSD, etc. etc., and if the fleas from last spring were very bad, he could very well have fallen into a grooming obsession that he's unable to get out of.

Because Mrowmrow's licking never breaks the skin, never chafes, etc., I stopped spending money on vet bills and diffuser refills that weren't working. Sometimes (like right now) he'll let the fur grow back a little bit, but I'm sure that he'll be bald in all his usual spots by next week.

Is your cat otherwise eating, playing, purring, etc. normally?

 

[mokapi]

Here's a good pic of Mrowmrow to show off his "fashion sense", which is the only way I can discuss his grooming habits after dealing with it for this long. He does not like to wear pants at all, but will keep a thin strip of fur down the top of his tail, as well as back socks. He wears front socks as well, but prefers a short-sleeve crop top (his belly is also bare).

 

[mizzely]

Yes otherwise she is perfectly fine. We were battling a lot of throwing up and weight loss at one point, but that is completely resolved after removing all chicken protein from her diet.

The fleas were not bad, but they lasted a few months and she is really sensitive to the bites. Both my cats are indoor cats but they got brought in by my mom's dog (who was visiting, no outdoor animals live here.) She has since been on a preventative (which we switched around also to see if THAT was the culprit) to make sure we don't have a repeat.

She has a defined pattern also that sometimes extends onto her chest and sides, but mostly it's on her stomach and inner back legs. She doesn't have wounds, but she does lick her nipples raw sometimes.

The ONLY thing that makes me think she is reacting to something is that when she gets the steroid shot, symptoms disappear for a couple months. That has happened 3 times now, so it would be odd if it was coincidence, but it's possible. I also wonder if it's something environmental, but I haven't changed anything (detergent, etc). Maybe I need new cat litter?

We haven't tried any anxiety meds yet because she's almost 16 and has always been this super easy going cat :/

Realistically, it seems to negatively affect me more than her, and she always has been a fastidious groomer, so it's possible that the combination of that natural inclination plus the fleas just sort of created this issue and it's just part of her now.

 

[foxxycat]

Has there been changes to soaps/perfume or other chemicals? Sometimes it's the corn in their food-sometimes chicken. sometimes fish... I know my shampoo company changed the formula=just wondering if this could be something to think about? I don't use fabric softner on their blankets anymore. just trying to think out loud.

 

[mokapi]

What kind of food is she eating? Have you checked if either of those medications can cause skin irritation or behavioral problems?

 

[mizzely]

Has there been changes to soaps/perfume or other chemicals? Sometimes it's the corn in their food-sometimes chicken. sometimes fish... I know my shampoo company changed the formula=just wondering if this could be something to think about? I don't use fabric softner on their blankets anymore. just trying to think out loud.

She's not had chicken in months, and corn or other grains in probably 7 years. We've not changed any chemicals; I have birds in the home and use as little of "real" cleaners as possible. I use vinegar and original blue dawn dish soap whenever possible. For detergent we only use Free and Clear because I am allergic to many of the scents, and haven't used dryer sheets or fabric softener in probably 10 years. I don't really bathe my cats either.

What kind of food is she eating? Have you checked if either of those medications can cause skin irritation or behavioral problems?

Right now she is on ZiwiPeak Venison and Fish. She was on Canidae Pure Sea canned food, zero chicken and grains, and seemed to be doing okay on that but then started flaring up again. She only has a week or two more of the ZP left and then we are removing all fish too as a possible issue.

Those medications are what she is on in response to this.

 

[MeganLLB]

Poor kitties, just don't know what to do with them. Mine started licking and biting her back. She threw up a few hairballs, but seems to have stopped. I moved her from my mom's house into my house, and then changed her food, so I think that stressed her out. But she seems more comfortable now and no more hairballs.

She was ripping fur off her back, like pulling it out with her teeth.

That's interesting that the steroid shot seemed to help.