Overgrooming cat.

Dr. Marie replied:

Hi Richard, thanks for your question!

I just have a few questions about your cat before I answer:

Does your cat have any lesions (red spots, flakiness, etc) anywhere?
Where does he seem to be the most itchy?
When did he last receive Advantage? How many times has he had advantage?

Thanks!
Dr. Marie.

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Dr. Marie replied:

Hi Rich...just wanted to remind you that your question is here...You can click on the link below to reply to my questions.

Dr. Marie.

Dr. Marie replied:

Thanks for that information!

It certainly sounds like your cat is quite uncomfortable. I wish I could examine him to see if I could have a better idea as to what is going on. However, I can give you a few ideas.

You may be seeing signs of an allergy. While the most common allergy is fleas, we can probably rule this out because your cat is on Advantage which is an excellent flea product. It is also possible that he is allergic to his food. If so, he may need a trial of hypoallergenic food to see if this helps. By far the best hypoallergenic foods are those available at the vet's office. If this is working it may take 6-8 weeks for him to be better.

It is also possible that he is allergic to something in the environment which is harder to deal with. Most cats with environmental allergies need a small dose of steroids prescribed by the vet.

Another possibility is a parasite called Demodex Gattoi. However, if this were the case I would expect both cats to have it.

And then, we see some cats who can overgroom due to stress. Often the source of stress is never found. However, these cats are not usually chewing to the extreme that you have mentioned.

Ideally it would be best to have your vet take a look at him. They may be able to administer a steroid injection which should work for 4-6 weeks and if they feel it is warranted they will prescribe a hypoallergenic food. Or, you can try changing his food and see how things go and if there is no improvement in a few weeks then take him to the vet.

If you have more concerns, just hit reply below, scroll down and you can ask me any more questions you have about this concern!

Dr. Marie.