Overgrooming for a year - out of options?

[bluey]

Hi guys,

I'm getting a bit desperate and have tried many things here, hopefully someone can help. About a year ago, one of my female cats started overgrooming. She pulled out her hair around her nipples and the in-and outside of her hindlegs, creating huge obvious bold spots. I took her to the vet the second I noticed, who said it was stress in almost all cases. He gave me some anti-stress food, and told me I should play more often. I did this, bought a new kitty litter as well and let her go outside more often per his advice. Nothing really changed after a month or 2, so I went back.

He again said that it had to be stress and gave some more tips. Just to be sure, he gave her something for worms, fleas and ticks as well. I kept treating her with the anti-tick medicine but the rest was a one time shot. It didn't help either. About 3 months ago, her little sister died, making her the only cat I have left. Still no change in behaviour. She has up and down periods; sometimes there's huge red spots on the bald area, indicating I think that she's been biting on them too much. Sometimes the hair on her leg regrows and it seems like it's getting better, but the vaginal area remains bald and shortly after the legs follow again.

I've been to the vet 3 times now, and of those 3 times, all 3 he said stress although allergy came up once as well. I explained the story to another vet when I took her sister to it when she was sick and had to be put to rest (kidney failure at the age of 3), and he too said it was stress. That's 4 consults at $150 each, I really can't afford to keep doing it. It doesn't seem to itch or hurt as she allows me to touch it, but am I really destined to have a cat with bald spots there? It just feels so bad because I can't help but think she has a constant itch there.

What I've tried:
- 3 vet visits, 1 second opinion
- Change of food brand
- Change of food type (no more fish/no more meat)
- Change of dry food
- Reducing wet food
- Change of kitty litter
- Increased playing times
- Let her go outside more often
- Seal off rooms that have carpet in them (allergy-possibility)

What else can I possibly do? What is it that's stressing her so? My house isn't huge but she has plenty of space and goes outside constantly. She's very happy and always playful when outside, and is sleeping next to me all the time. She eats well and both her urine and poop looks healthy. I'm at a total loss here and am open to any advice. Anything I find on these forums or internet in general gives stress as the cause and all the things I tried as a solution.

Can anyone help my cat regrow her hair and make her stop overgrooming?

Thanks for any advice you can give..

- Bluey

 

[ldg]

Overgrooming can be caused by allergies (either environmental or food (or both)), IBS, or stress. According to my holistic vet, all of these are the result of an energy imbalance.

If you want to pursue the avenue of food allergies, cutting back on wet or cutting out meat is not the way to go. Using limited ingredient wet food is the best way, meaning no grains, no typical trigger ingredients like brewer's yeast or brewer's rice (though as a grain, if you're buying grain free, this wouldn't be an ingredient), and one source of protein. Best if it's something your cat really hasn't had before. These are often lamb or duck.

Have any of the vets prescribed steroids? Prednisolone? Prednisone? If it's allergy-based, steroids might help, and could be a quick indicator if you're on the right track.

We rescued an FIV+ kitty last year. That means that we already know his immune system is out of whack. He started overgrooming. His abdomen was bald, and he had bald spots on the insides of his front legs. We already have a lot of hepa filters in the house because of my allergies, but we dumped any chemicals we use for cleaning, and replaced our dish soap and laundry soap and fabric softener with dye-free, chemical-free, scent-free cleaners. We put him on a hypoallergenic diet. (Hill's Pet z/d, wet only).

This did not improve his condition. Being a rescue kitty, he had a lot of reasons to be stressed, never having lived inside before. Our cats are stricly indoor-only. He'd been treated for fleas and parasites.

So we searched to find a vet that was also trained in alternative medicine. We found one trained in Chinese Medicine in addition to being a traditional vet. Her interpretation of overgrooming is very different than traditional medicine. It is caused by an "energy" imbalance (simplified explanation). Our kitty was "too hot," thus ripping out his hair. Not that he had a fever - he didn't. But he had an "extreme spleen Qi deficiency," and an "extreme Yin deficiency." She prescribed an herbal medication. Within two weeks, it was quite clear it was helping. Within six months, ALL his fur had grown back, and he had a thick, beautiful, glossy coat. We did keep him on the grain free, all wet food diet.

There is another member on the site who has a kitty that goes through spells of licking the fur off her abdomen. Her vet treats it as a stress-based problem with a medication called elavil. The generic name for it is amytriptaline. It is an old anti-depressant used for humans. She gives this to her cat to ease her stress, and when she's OK again, she tapers her off the medication.

It does make most cats rather dopey for a few weeks. Some people do not like that side effect. We used it on one of our cats for a stress-related bladder problem (one of the side effects is that it causes cats to retain their urine, and often that helps them use the litter box again. It's used for children that wet their beds). She was very out of it for about three weeks, but then her body adjusted to the medication, and she became her normal happy self again. We kept her on it for 3-4 months, then weaned her off of it (it is not a medication you can just "stop," but have to taper it down).

Vibes for you and your baby girl!

 

[bastetservant]

Just want to add that I had a cat who overgroomimg very much as you describe your kitty doing. Eventually I figured out she was allergic to turkey. I eliminated all turkey from her diet, and she never did it again.

So food allergies can cause this.

Hope you can figure it out. Pour kitty!


Robin

 

[arlyn]

I agree it is probably allergy, but after a year, it is probably habitual as well.
So its likely that you'll need to do something to break the cycle of habit as well as address the cause.

I had an over groomer, breaking the habit for her was pretty easy as she tended to target her back, I simply dressed her in newborn undershirts to keep her from reaching her 'spots'.

Initially, she started over grooming in stress as she was a shelter cat and could not adjust to life in a cage. It turned to habit for her as she'd been doing it so long.

 

[stephanietx]

In addition to what Laurie posted above, I'd also suggest that you start using some Feliway diffusers in your home to help decrease the stress. Even if this is caused by allergies (which it sounds like to me), she's probably stressed from all the discomfort. The feliway will help soothe and calm her.

 

[nekochan]

What foods have you used?
Have the vets done any type of testing? One of the things my vet did when my cat Mr Grey was licking himself raw was do a skin scraping/culture, and she also tested him for ringworm.

Other things my vet and I tried for my cat, you could ask your vet about these:
-No grains
-No chicken or fish
-Douxo shampoo and Douxo calming gel
-Buspar (anti-anxiety medication, as we believed it had become a habit or could be stress-related)

I also have gotten something that covers up the areas where he tends to lick to prevent him from getting to them (pajamas, in his case.)
So far unfortunately the only thing that has worked well for Mr Grey is Depo Medrol shots (and the pajamas help some) but we are looking for some alternative as both my vet and I don't like to do steroids if possible... I might be trying Atopica for him next. In Mr Grey's case it is probably allergy related, and he has eosinophilic granuloma complex.

 

[ilovemia]

Originally Posted by Bluey

Hi guys,

I'm getting a bit desperate and have tried many things here, hopefully someone can help. About a year ago, one of my female cats started overgrooming. She pulled out her hair around her nipples and the in-and outside of her hindlegs, creating huge obvious bold spots. I took her to the vet the second I noticed, who said it was stress in almost all cases. He gave me some anti-stress food, and told me I should play more often. I did this, bought a new kitty litter as well and let her go outside more often per his advice. Nothing really changed after a month or 2, so I went back.

He again said that it had to be stress and gave some more tips. Just to be sure, he gave her something for worms, fleas and ticks as well. I kept treating her with the anti-tick medicine but the rest was a one time shot. It didn't help either. About 3 months ago, her little sister died, making her the only cat I have left. Still no change in behaviour. She has up and down periods; sometimes there's huge red spots on the bald area, indicating I think that she's been biting on them too much. Sometimes the hair on her leg regrows and it seems like it's getting better, but the vaginal area remains bald and shortly after the legs follow again.

I've been to the vet 3 times now, and of those 3 times, all 3 he said stress although allergy came up once as well. I explained the story to another vet when I took her sister to it when she was sick and had to be put to rest (kidney failure at the age of 3), and he too said it was stress. That's 4 consults at $150 each, I really can't afford to keep doing it. It doesn't seem to itch or hurt as she allows me to touch it, but am I really destined to have a cat with bald spots there? It just feels so bad because I can't help but think she has a constant itch there.

What I've tried:
- 3 vet visits, 1 second opinion
- Change of food brand
- Change of food type (no more fish/no more meat)
- Change of dry food
- Reducing wet food
- Change of kitty litter
- Increased playing times
- Let her go outside more often
- Seal off rooms that have carpet in them (allergy-possibility)

What else can I possibly do? What is it that's stressing her so? My house isn't huge but she has plenty of space and goes outside constantly. She's very happy and always playful when outside, and is sleeping next to me all the time. She eats well and both her urine and poop looks healthy. I'm at a total loss here and am open to any advice. Anything I find on these forums or internet in general gives stress as the cause and all the things I tried as a solution.

Can anyone help my cat regrow her hair and make her stop overgrooming?

Thanks for any advice you can give..

- Bluey

I had the same problem with my cat Autumn. I took her to the vet and he said he thought it was stress. He recomended a few things but when I took her back a couple weeks later (because it was worsening) he put her on prozac. It worked. After a couple months we stopped it and she never had a problem again.

 

[bluey]

There's some pretty good ideas in here guys, thanks a lot. I'm kind of annoyed that none of the vets came up with any of that. Neither of them wanted to test her either as they said it'd be pointless. She has been anti-wormed though.

I guess I'll try a few things by your suggestions. I'll start off with new limited ingredient food. Should be easy to find, usually the overly expensive ones. Putting the Feliway diffusers up can't hurt either. I'm a bit hesitant to put her on medicine like Prozac as it usually ends up treating the symptoms but not the actual problem if it's an allergy. Just to be sure, I also ordered a brand new kitty litter and am changing the brand of the stuff I put in there.

The chinese alternative medicine one is interesting but rather weird.. not easy to find someone specializing in this.

The annoying thing here is that it takes so long to see results because the hair grows back very slowly. It makes it hard to pinpoint what's causing improvement; if there is any.

After trying it all it's off to another vet if the problem persists I suppose. I will keep you posted, hopefully the itch will end

she'll be very happy I think!

Not a big fan of putting pajamas on her. It might prevent the biting but I fear thisll stress her out a lot. The foods I was giving her until now were kinda mixed. I switch up the dry food between chicken and salmon mainly, and her wet food is always a 12-pack multitaste, including everything from tunafish to duck to chicken mixed in with vegetables.

 

[ldg]

If you live in the U.S., you can search for a DVM trained in alternatives meds here: http://www.ahvma.org (The American Holistic Veterinary Medical Assocation). In looking at the abbreviations for the specialties, CM is chinese medicine, and AC as acupuncture.

Interestingly, allergies are a symptom of a malfunctioning immune system. So yes, if you remove the item(s) that trigger(s) the allergy, problem should be solved. With Chinese Medicine, it addresses the underlying problem (though does not necessary cure it), so exposure to the trigger is no longer a problem.

Weird, yes.

But weird to us in the West.

It's been in use by the Chinese for thousands of years.

 

[nekochan]

Originally Posted by Bluey

There's some pretty good ideas in here guys, thanks a lot. I'm kind of annoyed that none of the vets came up with any of that. Neither of them wanted to test her either as they said it'd be pointless. She has been anti-wormed though.

Ringworm is actually a fungus, not a worm so de-worming does not apply.

I would suggest trying a food without chicken or fish (or grain), that is the first thing my vet suggested for us and it did help somewhat. My cat is picky and often won't eat canned food, so I had to find a dry food, the only ones I could find with those qualifications were Natural Balance, Royal Canin hypoallergenic rabbit, Addiction Viva la Venison and Instinct has a new turkey food that has no chicken/fish. For canned food I mostly use Instinct rabbit, it's the only type of canned food with the right ingredients that he'll eat at all, and even with that one he often only licks up the juice. Of course he loves Wellness canned which he can't have because they all have chicken or fish!

 

[minka]

Originally Posted by Bluey

There's some pretty good ideas in here guys, thanks a lot. I'm kind of annoyed that none of the vets came up with any of that. Neither of them wanted to test her either as they said it'd be pointless. She has been anti-wormed though.

I guess I'll try a few things by your suggestions. I'll start off with new limited ingredient food. Should be easy to find, usually the overly expensive ones. Putting the Feliway diffusers up can't hurt either. I'm a bit hesitant to put her on medicine like Prozac as it usually ends up treating the symptoms but not the actual problem if it's an allergy. Just to be sure, I also ordered a brand new kitty litter and am changing the brand of the stuff I put in there.

If you order online, (either from petfooddirect.com or some other wholesale site), you should be able to find a LID diet that is not Too expensive. I wouldn't keep changing the litter however, it makes things too complicated. Either keep her on the litter she has now or change her to what you Originally had her using before all this started.

The chinese alternative medicine one is interesting but rather weird.. not easy to find someone specializing in this.

The annoying thing here is that it takes so long to see results because the hair grows back very slowly. It makes it hard to pinpoint what's causing improvement; if there is any.

For the changes in food, did you wait 90 days for results?

After trying it all it's off to another vet if the problem persists I suppose. I will keep you posted, hopefully the itch will end

she'll be very happy I think!

Not a big fan of putting pajamas on her. It might prevent the biting but I fear thisll stress her out a lot. The foods I was giving her until now were kinda mixed. I switch up the dry food between chicken and salmon mainly, and her wet food is always a 12-pack multitaste, including everything from tunafish to duck to chicken mixed in with vegetables.

If nothing else, pick ONE food and stick with it. You have to eliminate ingredients one at a time to figure out what's causing the problem. If you are switching foods all the time, it's impossible to know what's causing it.

 

[bluey]

Originally Posted by Nekochan

Ringworm is actually a fungus, not a worm so de-worming does not apply.

In that case, just to be sure, I'll make another appointment with the vet for this friday and have her find out.

For the changes in food, did you wait 90 days for results?

I didn't.. 90 days is a long time. That's kind of my issue, waiting 3 months to see results seems like forever. I'll stick to 1 type of food for the next 90 days and go to the vet to eliminate an infection. The Royal Canin food is extremely expensive, I've had the anti-allergy one before from the vet and actually did try that for 90 days, but that was the dry food only. So dry food is eliminated, wet food isnt.

If you live in the U.S., you can search for a DVM trained in alternatives meds here: http://www.ahvma.org (The American Holistic Veterinary Medical Assocation). In looking at the abbreviations for the specialties, CM is chinese medicine, and AC as acupuncture.

I live in Europe I'm afraid, but I can ask if the vet knows anything about the chinese medicine, can't hurt!

Off to the vet again

I really hope I can put an end to this for her sake.

 

[ldg]

Well I did find this: http://www.bahvs.com/ British Association of Homeopathic Veterinary surgeons

 

[bluey]

Small update. I didn't take her to the vet yet as a change in diet seems to suggest improvement. She was a tad overweight so I thought I'd put her on something else. I figured if it was allergy, it'd be either some fish or some meat, so I took her off fish completely. Additionally, I reduced her wet food intake drastically and only give her 1 portion of wet food a day (plenty of dry + water though). I also bought the more expensive but higher quality food both dry and wet. The red spots are disappearing and she doesn't appear to be biting. The hair isn't really regrowing yet, but considering how bald she is there it may just take some time.

On the down side, she's suddenly having coughing fits, where she starts coughing for about 10-15 seconds 2 or 3 times a day. Not quite sure what's going on there, might just be the increased dryness of her food. I'm running around playing with her more to help the diet, but reducing wet food intake is pretty important in it too. At least that's what the vet told me last time. He actually suggested taking her off of wet food entirely, but I don't want to do that as she's so happy when she gets it

 

[sharky]

?s why the vet thinks less wet food = better control over coughing issues?... It seems a bit odd to me ... DOes the vet think the coughing is hairballs?

Yes fish is often a protein allergy but most grains seem to cause issues in cats more than say chicken

 

[bluey]

Originally Posted by sharky

?s why the vet thinks less wet food = better control over coughing issues?... It seems a bit odd to me ... DOes the vet think the coughing is hairballs?

Yes fish is often a protein allergy but most grains seem to cause issues in cats more than say chicken

No those are 2 seperate things, she wasn't coughing before, I never saw the vet about that. The vet simply suggested I put her on a diet of dry food only, so I did, and after that she has started coughing occasionally. I'll assume it's normal for now, very short episodes, just more frequent then I'm used to in cats.

 

[catlover11]

Hi,

One of my cats has the same problem. My vet said it may be behavioral, and gave me anti-anxiety meds, which take about a month to get into their system. Well it's been 6 weeks, and he still is fur-mowing as they call it. My vet said the next step would be to test for Irritable bowel syndrome which the Ultrasound costs from $275 - $300 dollars depending. There is also a blood test they can do for about $104, she said. Now I'm not rich by any means, so she said we can try to treat for Irritable bowel syndrome with steroids and see if that helps. Have yet to get them ,that was just today. Another vet I had gone to suggested it may be impacted anal glands. You can google this to find out more info on it, but it could be the reason she's fur-mowing.

 

[catlover11]

Thank you for what you do! I too, help rescue cats    

 You are awesome human beings.

 

[dappysmum58]

Hi all
I'm new here but came across this forum after searching for a solution too the same problem Bluey is having. 3 weeks ago we rescued a 5 year old female dsh. She had been returned to the rescue centre after being kept as a house cat for four years which caused her to urinate around the house and overgroom her belly.
She seems happy enough here with us, she plays with us, enjoys cuddles and sleeping on the bed with us at night. Shes eating and going too the toilet fine but is still fixated on grooming her belly and it now appears she has started on her hind legs. We let her outside for the first time today which she seemed too really enjoy.
I was just wondering how long I should leave it until I seek veterinary treatment? I'm thinking that maybe shes had a lot too deal with over the last few weeks, new home, new people and being outside properly for the first time in 4 years so maybe stress but how long should I wait?
Thank you x

 

[jcat]

to TCS! IMO, you should take her to a vet asap, as the problem has already worsened since you brought her home. It could be stress, but it could also be food-related, an environmental allergy, etc..