Zoomies, skin twitching, and biting back/tail

[war&wisdom]

I debated whether or not to put this in Cat Health or here in Cat Behavior. My 3.5-year-old cat Athena has been having episodes of skin and tail twitching and zoomies during which she pauses to bite at her lower back and tail. It seems to happen more at night, but I'm also at work on weekdays, so I haven't had a chance to observe her then. When I give her back scritches, she usually calms down, at least somewhat. Her brother Ares is always staring at her like she's crazy during these episodes.

I'm planning to get a video in the next couple days and am considering a vet appointment, but to me it looks like feline hyperesthesia syndrome, which isn't really treatable as far as I know. I'm also wondering if her skin is drier because of the season/heating on inside and/or if she's feeling static -- she loves to rub herself on the floor, which gets her sparky. I would love to hear people's opinions, though!

 

[vince]

Could be skin parasites--fleas or mites. Have you checked? Regarding static, do you have a humidifier? Without one, my cats spark so much at night, I can see the sparks!

 

[di and bob]

A humidifier definitely helps. For your skin too! When she is relaxed start petting her and get her to roll over on her back. Look closely at the area where her back legs join her abdomen, that area has much thinner hair and you should be able to see any parasites. If not it is either dry skin or allergies. Change back to old food if you have changed lately and try that humidifier. My allergic cat is getting .25 ml of Cat CBD oil and is doing much better.

 

[war&wisdom]

Definitely no fleas or mites. I treat them every month, and they're indoor cats. I did double check, and the only thing I found in her fur/on her skin was a little bit of dandruff. No recent food changes either.

I was thinking of getting a humidifier, so I'm going to look into that.

 

[Caspers Human]

I don't know if this is true for your cat but my first cat, K.C., used to get static in his fur a lot.

I would pet him and rub is fur until he got all charged up with static electricity and his fur stood on end. K.C. would walk around like he was big and tough... until he went near something metal and zapped himself.

Silly story aside, cats can definitely tell when their fur gets dry and staticky. I'm sure that some cats are more sensitive than others. It's not a far stretch to guess than one of your cats is more sensitive than the other.

Humidifying the house is probably a good solution, overall. A simple answer would be to get a damp cloth and wipe the cat down a bit. The moisture would keep the static away and, if there is something on your cat's skin that's irritating, a wipe-down might help remove what's bothering her.

You could also try some kitty wipes, too.
You know... those moist towlette, "baby wipes" made specially for cats. We keep a package on hand for those occasions when Casper gets into something and gets dirty.