Help! My cat is eating her fur and losing weight...

[NiveusFox]

Hello, I'm Amber. My 5 year old kitty, Gizmo, is really starting to worry me. About a month ago we've been hit with fleas and we have four cats. She's been having the worst time, as she can't seem to stop herself from eating the fur off her back. I've combed her and she actually doesn't have very many fleas. I wonder if she may have had a bad reaction or may have been allergic to a flea medicine we tried. Anyway, it's gotten worse because she keeps eating her fur and seems to throw up her food along with it. Her weight is really worrying me. Today she once threw up foam, and I read that that indicates there was nothing in her stomach...

Please help! We've had to deal with fleas about every summer but I've never had any of my cats get this bad before. I'm hoping there's something I can do from home without needing a vet (as I'm financially seeing tough times right now), but if there is no other option I would like to know what I can expect from the visit... what may be wrong with Gizmo, what tests may need to be taken, etc.

[Longblades]

It sounds like flea dermatitis but you won't know for sure unless you visit the Vet. I sounds serious enough and has gone on long enough you will likely need medications for her to stop the itching before she wounds herself and the open skin gets infection, and to get rid of the fleas. Please do not dose her again with flea meds. on your own. Even though the treatment you used appears not to have worked there is still the danger of overloading your cats system with doubles of flea med.

Actually, since you don't see fleas but she is still having extreme itching it has gone too far. Hope she recovers OK and gets the fur back. Fleas are worse in the early fall so it will not likely go away on it's own.