OK so my senior cat has allergies and asthma. He is on Depo every 6 weeks for that so he is not really itching. He is flea treated. He is on a hypoallergenic diet. He's not actually itching. He had a full mouth extraction in January due to severe stomatitis and recovered well from that but needed gabapentin for an extra month for lingering pain. As soon as that seemed to subside, this issue started...Like April 1st on the dot. It began with keeping me up at night listening to him licking and chewing himself. His white fur was brown, stained with saliva, and I knew we had a problem when he had ripped all the fur from his armpits. Unlike when before we diagnosed the allergies, he is not licking his back or belly. It's his back legs/ paws, front paws, legs, armpits and whatever he can reach of his chest.
I put him in pajamas and he ripped through them with the two upper and one lower canine he has left after the dental surgery. I had to put gorilla tape on the pajamas to reinforce them (those aren't cheap when you have to replace them weekly).
When he started licking, it was time for his 6 week Depo shot, so I thought that was the issue. A week later, he was biting and licking himself even worse. The vet put him on 5mg of prozac daily, and just increased it to 10mg yesterday since it seems to have no effect except making him sleepy for a few hours. The vet thinks this is psychological and possibly related to the dental surgery.
The cat does not have a stressful life or household. He was a former feral, indoor three years now, gets along fine with his two housemate cats. They have their own places in the house, no litterbox issues. I work from home so there is no separation anxiety.
While his body is mostly covered with the new, expensive, Chewy rehab pajamas, he is still managing to lick his paws until they are raw and wet. I've tried putting Ivory soap, dawn dish soap, bitter apple spray and even hot mexican chili powder on them and all he does is lick it off. I am at my wits end. I have seen a lot of stuff owning cats with special needs and all kind of problems but I can't handle this self mutilation stuff. Wearing the pajamas is stressing him out and me watching him and catching him licking.
Has anyone had any success in stopping this issue? He's always been an itchy cat because of allergies but it was 100% under control with the Depo. It seems like ever since the dental surgery this has hit a new level and I don't know what to do, but I'm seriously at my wit's end.
I put him in pajamas and he ripped through them with the two upper and one lower canine he has left after the dental surgery. I had to put gorilla tape on the pajamas to reinforce them (those aren't cheap when you have to replace them weekly).
When he started licking, it was time for his 6 week Depo shot, so I thought that was the issue. A week later, he was biting and licking himself even worse. The vet put him on 5mg of prozac daily, and just increased it to 10mg yesterday since it seems to have no effect except making him sleepy for a few hours. The vet thinks this is psychological and possibly related to the dental surgery.
The cat does not have a stressful life or household. He was a former feral, indoor three years now, gets along fine with his two housemate cats. They have their own places in the house, no litterbox issues. I work from home so there is no separation anxiety.
While his body is mostly covered with the new, expensive, Chewy rehab pajamas, he is still managing to lick his paws until they are raw and wet. I've tried putting Ivory soap, dawn dish soap, bitter apple spray and even hot mexican chili powder on them and all he does is lick it off. I am at my wits end. I have seen a lot of stuff owning cats with special needs and all kind of problems but I can't handle this self mutilation stuff. Wearing the pajamas is stressing him out and me watching him and catching him licking.
Has anyone had any success in stopping this issue? He's always been an itchy cat because of allergies but it was 100% under control with the Depo. It seems like ever since the dental surgery this has hit a new level and I don't know what to do, but I'm seriously at my wit's end.
