Over-grooming - stress or allergy?

[She's a witch]

I'd like to hear from people with experience with both causes of over-grooming in cats, stress related and allergies. Is there any difference how cats with these conditions behave? Is there more scratching or more licking with allergies? Thank you!

 

[Jem]

I've only ever had experience with stress over grooming. And it was all licking, she had no fur left on her belly and sores. She did scratch her left ear a lot, but it was dirty, so now I have a solution to help keep it clean for her, and it's all good. Why only one ear? I have no idea...
We were told by the shelter it was probably allergies but nothing helped as we tried different food trials. So when we went to the vet she suspected stress and advised us to get the prescription food (I know I know...bad ingredients...) But we figured a few months of food was better than medication. And within 2-3 weeks of being on the vet food (Royal Canine Calm), she started to heal and in a few months her fur grew back. We don't have her on that food anymore, but if it is stress, the food worked for us as she continued to settle in our home.

I know you wanted experience with both for comparison, but like I said, when it came to stress (at least for us) it was licking only.

 

[She's a witch]

thank you Jem , this is helpful. Did she have a prolonged grooming sessions mainly or did she have instances when she was doing something and she would start licking out of the blue? My boy very often walks through the room and suddenly stops to lick his paws, it looks like a clear response to actual itching to me rather than comforting behavior. Did you notice something like this with your girl?

 

[Jem]

She would randomly lick her paws and other parts, but not in an abnormal way, just in a "cats like to be clean" and "my fur is messed up" kind of way (after little box, after a petting session, a normal itch...etc and of course normal grooming of the rest of her body when at rest, after eating.
For her, her stress grooming was prolonged, and focused mainly on her belly. Never did it seem like she had an itch to squash, it was never done in a quick fashion. When we were home and noticed it we would intervene by giving her lots of love to distract her. But considering the extent of the "damage" I suspect she did it at night and when we were not home. her baldness was the ENTIRE belly, so about a 6 inch long by 4 inch oval, with random dime(ish) size sores.
One thing to add, as she slowly stopped grooming her belly, she did take up to licking/grooming other things like the couch, our pillows, and blankets, but that too has subsided. I will sometimes see a wet spot on the couch or my pillow from her licking it, but it's a rare occurrence now.

I do know someone who's dog would lick their paws till they were raw due to stress, and that too was a prolonged sessions while at rest not just stop, lick feverishly and continue on.

 

[Jem]

One other thing. One of my other cats, will often stop and lick his paws, tail, lower back in a quick way. It looks like he just suddenly had an itch, but we know it's not. It's hard to write out what he's like when this happens but it's almost like a mild case of hyperesthesia. He's a very well adjusted cat though so we're not worried, if we keep him occupied and play with him regularly, he doesn't seem to get his "episodes" as much.
When he has his episodes, he's like.
Jump off the couch...lick lick, then play statue, run 4 feet...lick lick, then play statue. Look around like something's going to get him, ready to pounce, then see an imaginary bug on the floor, try to eat it (nothing's there). Trill as he runs a few more feet...lick lick...then meow loud a few times, and eventually find something real to play with or do (play with his siblings, look out the window, play with a toy or us) and it's over.

 

[MissClouseau]

Probably not all kinds of stress are the same but Hima and some street cats also lick their lips before they groom themselves when it's stress. Or when they are overdrooling. Right on that though, they overgroom themselves because of overdrooling too. Like when it happens to Hima when she gets a gingivitis flare-up you can't see her drooling out of her mouth. Instead she (over)grooms herself with that saliva.

My brother's cat itches like crazy when he gets allergic. With stress there is some taking break from scratching. With allergies it's almost constant scratching.