Pulling hair from tail- stress or something else?

[alm86]

Hey everyone! I'll try to make this as short and to the point as I can. I have 4 cats - Marley (male, 3 years old), Levi (male, 2), Ava (female, 1), and Penny (female, 1). For a little over the past month, Ava has been licking and pulling hair out from her tail.

We first noticed a small bald patch underneath her top coat of hair when she was at the vet getting her vaccines. We didn't think much of it then. Over the next 2 weeks I saw her start to actually pull chunks of hair out while grooming. So we took her back to the vet.

They did a cytology of the balding area and said she had a minor bacterial infection, gave her a steroid shot and a Convenia (antibiotic) injection. The symptoms disappeared until about 2 weeks later. Took her back, and the vet said her skin looked good but put her on an oral antibiotic and antihistamine because I was thinking it may be allergy related. A few days into those medicines and she became lethargic and lost her appetite so we stopped. The vet didn't have any other suggestion other than psychogenic alopecia.

So I researched more and thought maybe it was her anal glands as she would also scoot her bottom across the floor every now and then. So they expressed them and said they were pretty full. Still no change in the hair pulling. Took her to a different vet who did a complete blood panel on her and everything came back normal. They expressed her anal glands again, saying one produced a pasty substance instead of the usual liquid it should. He also thinks psychogenic alopecia.

So she's been on 5mg of buspirone once a day for 5 days for stress. I know it takes awhile to see any improvement, but I'm just not convinced 100% that it's stress.

Here's a few reasons why it might be stress:
- she gets "picked on" by Ava and Levi. They each like to play too rough with her. She used to reciprocate the play with Penny, but not anymore. She's always hated when Levi has tried to play with her and will hiss, growl, and swat. Now she does the same with Penny. She doesn't mind Marley probably because he's never messed with her like they have.
- she has distanced herself from the others, and seems fearful that Levi may pounce on her. He basically stalks her, pounces, and bites her. I don't think he's being aggressive, I think he just plays entirely too rough

Why I think there is a physical reason to the hair pulling:
- she scoots from time to time
- the other cats try to smell her tail a lot, as if they sense something is wrong with it

So this was entirely too long! I'm sorry! Just looking to see if anyone has experienced something like this, or has any suggestions. I don't know if I should separate her when we're not home but I'm worried that will cause more stress. I'm so worried! Her little tail is looking worse and worse. My cats mean the entire world to me! I'm worried we're treating her for the wrong thing thank you for reading!

Allison

 

[Ms. Freya]

Poor Ava!
It does often take awhile for medication to work, but my first instinct is to agree that it may be worth separating her from the others for a bit. If she's stressed or not well, keeping an eye on them will likely stress her more, so if you can give her a private space until she's back to 100% that may help.

 

[alm86]

Thank you for responding! I'm worried that will stress her more, but I guess I need to try. I just can't shake the feeling that there is a physical reason she's doing this. The fact that her anal glands filled back up within a week of being expressed, and now I think they're bothering her again because she has started scooting again, and it's been a week since the second expression. I'm debating whether to take her to the vet today or not, because that stresses her out too. I'm just so worried there's something physical that the vet is overlooking

 

[aislinn]

She sounds like she's stressed, and I agree that she needs to be separated from the others. It will give her some piece and security. The poor thing must spend her days stressing about whether Levi will attack her or not. Hopefully in time the medication will calm her, but I do believe her behavior is due entirely to the stress she's constantly under.

 

[alm86]

I took her back to the vet today because of the scooting, thinking her anal glands needed to be expressed again. The vet expressed them but barely got anything out. He looked at the skin where she's pulling the hair and said it looked a little irritated compared to last week when he saw it. And because I'm still worried there's something physical going on he took hair samples from the area and is testing them for a possible fungal infection. Won't know the results for probably a week. In the meantime we now have a topical medication to put on the skin - Tresaderm. When we got home she licked almost constantly for the first few hours, probably from the vet messing with that area so much. But she's calmed down some now. I'm going to have her sleep in the room with me at night, and keep her separated from the others when we're not here.

Hate that I caused her more discomfort today, but I'm just so worried it's more than stress. So at least now we're treating her physically and mentally since I'm continuing with the buspirone. Thank you for responding to me! Hope she handles being isolated from the others well. Just don't want her to be stressed from having free run of the house to not, except when we're here

 

[aislinn]

I think she will be happier with the isolation, quite honestly. She will feel safer there, and will probably get some much needed rest without interruption.

 

[alm86]

Well last night went pretty well. I had her in the bedroom with me, but Penny wouldn't stop crying to be let in so I gave in and let just her in. I heard Ava hiss once, and swat at her a different time but that was all I heard and I'm a light sleeper. And Penny doesn't bother Ava as much as Levi does when he gets excited and wants to play. Still saw her licking her tail this morning, and I'm waiting on my husband to get home so we can put the drops on her tail which I'm sure will make her lick more. Hope these drops don't make things worse by drawing more attention to her tail. Everyone has had free run of the house for a few hours now and haven't seen/heard anything. Ava and
Levi found some ants (great) in the kitchen, and were hanging out together watching them lol. So they do get along, just not when Levi wants to play

 

[aislinn]

It sounds like things are a bit calmer, but keep a close eye on them. I definitely think the licking is stress-related. Perhaps you could try putting some Bach Rescue Remedy for pets only in her water. That's a natural calming remedy. It may help somewhat.

 

[alm86]

Well after putting the Tresaderm on her tail twice on Saturday we had to stop the medicine. It was making her lick twice as bad so I called the vet this morning and he said to definitely stop the medicine if it's making her lick more, and they also let me know nothing has started growing yet in the hair culture but we still have about a week to go before we can completely rule out a fungal infection. So she may not even need this medicine at all.

Knock on wood, but I didn't see her lick at all Sunday or this morning when I was getting ready for work. She's still getting her buspirone once a day, and I've been separating her from the others at night (except for Penny, she just HAS to be let in the middle of the night, but she goes right to sleep I think).

This morning I put Levi and Marley in the bedroom, so Levi would have company, and left Ava and Penny out. And I'll swap them at lunch. Or may just put Ava in the bedroom by herself until I get home after work. I felt so bad putting them up, but Levi was trying to play too rough with Ava this morning. I heard her cry, and ran out and saw her hiding from him. And he just thinks everyone is having fun. I don't know how to teach him not to play like that! Of course I tell him no, and step in between them, and try to shoo him away from her, but as soon as you turn your back, he starts stalking her again

 

[alm86]

And I've heard of that Rescue Remedy before. I need to try it. I'm assuming it can only be ordered online? I have some calming treats but you know how that goes, one day they'll eat them just fine, the next day they think they're the grossest thing you've ever tried to feed them lol

 

[aislinn]

You can get Rescue Remedy on Amazon, or at a health food store. You just have to be sure to get the one for pets because the one for humans contains alcohol. Keep me posted!

 

[alm86]

Yep I saw it on Amazon! Thinking of giving it just to Levi for now. I'm a little worried about giving it to Ava since she's already on anxiety medication. Still haven't seen her pull any fur out since Saturday, so fingers crossed she isn't doing it when I'm not around. Can't really tell if her tail looks any worse since then, but I don't think so. Hope we're starting to see improvement!

 

[aislinn]

I hope so too!!!

 

[alm86]

Thank you! Still haven't seen her pull any! Do you have any suggestions on how to keep Levi from playing too rough with her? I think the way she reacts to him by running from him and getting mad is why he does it. He just focuses in on her and goes after her. It's not all the time, but every time he does it, she gets upset

 

[aislinn]

Can you play with him to tire him out? Get one of those fishing line toys and have him chase it. Levi has a lot of energy and is desperately trying to engage her, but she is not interested. He needs to be distracted and that's where you can help.

 

[alm86]

We have started trying to play with him more. He really only likes the laser toy, which I try to use every night. I don't have time in the morning before work unfortunately. I'm just worried we're going to have to separate them any time we're not at home now, and I don't want to have to do that. But if he continues to do this, I don't see any other option. I just wish he knew how to play more gently, or to just leave her alone completely and only play with Marley and Penny.

This morning she was laying on the bed with me, and he was in a chair I put next to the bed. Well he started pawing at her and she started growling, so I tried to tell him no and nudge him off the chair. Any time you try to touch him when he doesn't want to be touched, he'll walk away. But he turned and bit my finger hard enough to draw blood so I can only imagine how she must feel when he bites her. He's never bitten me like that before, and of course it hurt my feelings lol. I just want everyone to get along again!

 

[aislinn]

I think poor Ava's victim behavior also encourages Levi to pester her. I guess he was a bit agitated when you tried to stop him today. I'll bet that bite hurt! One of my cats gave a nip once after I tried to get him to go upstairs. Yes, even cats have tempers. I still think it's best to keep Ava separated when you're not home. It's just not fair to her to leave her traumatized like that. Don't feel bad that she's alone in the room. Trust me. That's what she wants.