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I have two cats, both about 6 years old. We got them together as kittens. They are both shorthairs. One of them has been overgrooming to the point that she has no fur left (just a bit of fuzz) on her belly, and much less hair than she should on arms, legs, and sides.
She keeps licking until she gives herself sores. She also has the roughest tongue of any cat I've ever been licked by.
We've taken her to see the vet several times, and they have done a biopsy to see if she had any parasites, and given her several rounds of steroids. She seems to do better for a very short period after the steroids, but then starts licking again right away after they are gone.
This has been going on for a couple of years now. We've not had any changes in our household. Both cats are strictly indoors. We've tried everything we can think of or the vet has suggested, including changing food several times to try to eliminate a food allergy, changing to metal bowls, changing litter types, even changing laundry detergent, nothing has helped. We also tried a humidifier, in case it was a dry skin problem.
I'm beginning to wonder if this is a psychological issue rather than an allergy, and the slight improvement while being on steroids was coincidental. However, I can't see how it would be a stress issue. Both cats get along with each other great, and they have very little stress in their lives. We try to play with them a couple times a day, and give them lots of love and cuddle time.
If all possible food &/or environmental allergies have been tested for and found not to be the issue (and I do mean a proper allergy test done by a proper allergy testing lab) then it does sound as if you're looking at a purely behavioural issue.
One possible scenario is that at some point in the dim and distant past, the cat was stressed. Grooming made her feel better, was self-comforting and self-rewarding, so she groomed. The more she groomed, the better she felt. Stress trigger disappeared, but by this time, too late, a very powerful self-rewarding habit had been formed. I will NOT call it OCD because animals do not suffer from it the way humans do. The root causes are different. In this case, it sounds to be a self-rewarding, self-comforting action (accompanied by the release of endorphines) that has become powerful enough for her to ignore the physical discomfort she must be causing herself.
Think of it as a "high" for the cat - one to be obtained at the expense of physical comfort. Probably the easiest way for us to understand it is to liken it to a drug addiction.
If this has gone on long enough - and from the sounds of it, it has - you need to discuss with both your vet and a qualified feline behaviourist the use of psychotropic drug therapy combined with behaviour modification. The drugs will allow the cycle of behaviour to be broken while behaviour modification will ensure that it doesn't come back. Drug therapy should not be - in my view - viewed as a solution of and by itself. Without the behaviour modification componant, she'd start again as soon as you stopped medication... which, obviously, isn't solving the problem.
You might find this article helpful as it specifically deals with displacement and overgrooming. (ETA - ignore the title that comes up on the link... I don't know why it does that - it is the article I mention.)
When my girl does that, she needs another steroid shot. She's been getting them for 3 yrs or so, every 6 weeks or coupole of months. I wait until I see her start it up again.
My vet won't try the allergy shot, I asked...they said it can cause diabetes in cats if used long term, so they only use it as an extreme last resort.
That's the first time I've heard that and quite a leap of imagination when it comes to serum allergy treatment. As it is ONLY made up of the allergens, it's also quite impossible.
When you say "allergy shot" - what exactly do you mean? People seem to call any cortisone/steroid shot "allergy shots" and that's not what I'm referring to.
I'm referring to a chronically allergic animal who gets tested for specific food allergens and environmental allergens, which will vary by location/area of the country. Then, based on the result, an individually tailored serum made up of the environmental allergens is made up and the animal started on the hypersensitization protocol. It takes about six months (I think, I can't remember exactly) to reach the last, or "maintenance" vial - a once a month injection of 1 ml. Food allergens are treated by avoidance only - but it's a lot easier when you have the list of what, exactly, the animal is allergic to.
This is what I'm referring to - performed via a blood sample:
The Spectrum Group (http://www.vetallergy.com/pages/testingpanels.html - broken link)
While I always think it is good to know what your pet is allergic to, the serum allergy injections aren't nearly as effective on animals as they are in humans. But just to know what the pet is allergic to can be helpful. The cortisone injections are the most helpful. Yes, the injections can predispose an animal to diabetes, but there are many, many animals that don't get diabetes. I couldn't imagine a lifetime of itchiness and pain because I might get diabetes. You need to find another vet that will give your cat some relief. I would much rather live a life a few years shorter in length than a much longer life filled with torture from constant itching.
That's the first time I've heard that and quite a leap of imagination when it comes to serum allergy treatment. As it is ONLY made up of the allergens, it's also quite impossible.
When you say "allergy shot" - what exactly do you mean? People seem to call any cortisone/steroid shot "allergy shots" and that's not what I'm referring to.
I'm referring to a chronically allergic animal who gets tested for specific food allergens and environmental allergens, which will vary by location/area of the country. Then, based on the result, an individually tailored serum made up of the environmental allergens is made up and the animal started on the hypersensitization protocol. It takes about six months (I think, I can't remember exactly) to reach the last, or "maintenance" vial - a once a month injection of 1 ml. Food allergens are treated by avoidance only - but it's a lot easier when you have the list of what, exactly, the animal is allergic to.
This is what I'm referring to - performed via a blood sample:
The Spectrum Group (http://www.vetallergy.com/pages/testingpanels.html - broken link)
Sorry, yes, when I said "allergy shot", I was referring to the cortisol/steroid shot that the previous two posters mentioned. I didn't actually realize they did specific treatments for cats for individual allergens.
Does anyone know how much it costs to have the allergy testing done? My vet hinted that it was fairly pricey, and I am just making ends meet right now, as hubby has been unemployed for a full year.
That article was very interesting. It does sound like it matches kitty's behavior, so I wonder if it might not be a stress reaction, rather than an allergy. I'll try some of the things in the article for a few weeks and see if it makes any difference.
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As it is ONLY made up of the allergens, it's also quite impossible.
