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Old February 8th, 2008, 02:57 PM
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MartiniGIrl MartiniGIrl is offline
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obsessive grooming

My cat, McKitten started obsessively grooming herself when my bf and I split up. Her belly fur is almost non existent and she's not got bald patches on her sides. Ive taken her to the vet a number of times and he says it's stress. It's been over a year since my bf and I broke up and he moved out (he was McKitten's favourite) and I have since moved homes. She was ok for a few months and has started doing this again.

Ive changed her food to hypoallergenic food (vet said it was possible that it was a food allergy) and I have had her on anti-anxiety meds, but didnt notice much of a difference so I stopped giving her the meds.

Has anyone else had this problem with their cat(s)?

If so did you find a solution?

I recently bought some Rescue Remedy but so far I havent noticed any difference in her behaviour. Any suggests would be very much appreciated.
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Old February 8th, 2008, 04:01 PM
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badger badger is offline
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If you can manage and think it might distract her - and, of course, she agrees - why not get her a feline friend? If you go through a rescue, they can usually tell you something about a cat's temperament, behaviour around other cats, etc.

What a face. Poor McKitten.
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Old February 8th, 2008, 04:29 PM
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krdahmer krdahmer is offline
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Aw she's beautiful! So sorry she is stressed out. I have a guy Fagan who chews off his fur about once every two months, we then get him a depomedrol shot which gives some relief enough that the spots heal and we have a good couple of months. My vet did a skin scraping and we now know it is allergies. To what we can't be sure... may be a combo of fleas and certain foods. I too give him a holistic cocktail I get from my vet, the bottles are called Thompson's... I use a mix of Hypericum, Complex SK, Traumeel and Rescue Remedy. I mix it with water and give it to him morning and night in a syringe. It seems to help the shots last longer. Maybe you could discuss this with your vet and see if they sell similar holistic products, or could recommend a vet that does.

At first the vet attributed Fagan's behaviour to stress as well as I had added a couple of new cats, I also gave him anti-anxiety meds (which made him gain a lot of weight and become mopey), he too continued to chew as well. It wasn't until the skin scraping that we knew we were dealing with allergies.

Others on this board have had good luck with Feliway as well... I am yet to try it but it is on my list.

Oh and definitely try the 2nd cat... it may be that she is lonely when you aren't around...

Best of luck
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Old February 21st, 2008, 02:56 PM
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MartiniGIrl MartiniGIrl is offline
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thanks for your replies.

I have tried Felaway and I have two other cats. The Feliway was great for aggression but has done nothing to stop her licking. The vet did a skin scraping to check for mites but I didnt realize he could check for allergies that way.

The vet did mention trying a steroid shot. Is that what depomedrol is? are there any side effects?
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Old February 21st, 2008, 03:43 PM
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Depomedrol is used for allergies and not stress as far as I know. I would take her to a holistic vet for treatment.
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Old February 21st, 2008, 04:21 PM
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krdahmer krdahmer is offline
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They actually do a skin biopsy to check for allergies not just a scraping, and they usually take it from the affected area. It would be a good investment to know for sure if you are dealing with allergies or stress. If allergies the Depo is a steroid and it works great... it does however have some side effects, one that we experienced here is weakening of the joints... when you get the shot you have to dicourage them from being overly active for a couple weeks... put things they can use like steps where they like to climb etc. Allergies could explain why the feliway etc route is not working.
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Old February 22nd, 2008, 01:49 PM
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My guy Solomon used to lick his belly and legs bald. Looked terrible. We did all kinds of tests, and he was diagnosed with crazy licking (I think it's actually called psychogenic allopecia sp?) :-) It gradually got better over the course of a year, and he hasn't started it up since. I'm not really sure what the stressor was in his case.
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