How can i stop my cat from constantly washing and causing her to lose fur?

Question

Once there was a building site next door and freaked her out and the vet said she was probably stressed and kept washing because she felt disturbed. Now all gone and she has a habit of non-stop grooming to the point of losing fur on her inside legs and arms. The vets say she is perfectly healthy and nothing can be done. Any ideas?

Answer 1

bit like feather plucking in parrots, it becomes habit, you need to distract her from it, don't yell or shout 'stop it!' at her, cause that will actually make it worse and she will become more stressed and do it more.

if she likes playing with toys, buy or create something that will cause her to stop the 'excess washing' and be interested in something else. it might take time to do it.

if the vet says nothing is wrong internally or externally, that rules out irritation, or hormone imbalnce for example.

you could try putting a 'lampshade' (from the vets, not actual lampshape!) on her head for part of the day, but you must allow her time to groom, cause cats have to groom their fur daily, she is just doing it over the top.

spilt her meals, or hide 1/2 of her daily allowance of dry biscuit she likes most around the house, so she starts to spend some of her time seeking out the food. change the amount you put in one place from day ot day, so she doesn't pig out on one regualr large pile, she has only a few here and there, places that she will go, walk past (obviously harder if you got dogs or other cats).

i am somewhat against putting bitter bite or similar on her coat, cause cats hate dirty coats and might end up not washing and end up with a sick cat.

also if your vet hasn't informed you, since she is grooming over the top, she will be ingesting lots of hair and wil be at risk of hair balls and even blockages, so regular treatment with a malty hairball remover.

if she is friendly, you could also try making a fuss of her more often, cats will wash after eating so let her wash for 5 minutes most cats leave off then and go to sleep.

if she starts on the areas she has made hairless, go and stroke her, make a fuss of her, call her name, throw her a toy with cat nip on (you can get sprays and dried cat nip to refrease a favorite toy), a few dry biscuits, keep back a smal box or packet of something she really likes.

we do this with our cat, when their is fireworks or over head thunder storm, distract her from the worry, after a while now our cat sees us not worried and not bothering and she will not bother.

best of luck

Answer 2

Stress! Cats who are stressed or feeling threatened will overgroom, put an elizabethan collar on her (ever seen a pet with a bucket around their head) such as they use for surgery. Try to find out the cause of the stress, what happened when she started to do this, did you move? Get another cat/dog/baby/new furniture. Did a new cat move in next door? Are there other cats around bothering her? You need to find the cause, then you can go from there.

And, you may want to consult another vet, there is more can be done, there are calming drugs that can be used and also feliway, a plug in synthetic pheremone diffuser which mimics cat's facial pheremones has been reported to be successful in reducing stress.

Answer 3

My 13 yr old Sylvie is an obsessive groomer. She tends to get hairballs backed up in her system causing her to feel punk. She doesn't cough up this hair.

So I got something called Obsession Remedy from Jean Hovfe, DVM at www.littlebigcat.com. I have used the remedy for about four weeks now and the bottle is about empty. I am hoping that will do the trick. The bottle cost only $16.95 and it was shipped for free so I figured that was worth a shot -- much less expensive than vet trips, steroids etc.

Answer 4

Try Green Apple spray. They hate the taste this. It's nontoxic and eventually should discourage the licking habit.

Our vet even recommends this for recently spayed or neutered kittens - so it's most definitely safe!

Good luck.

On second thought, you also might want a second opinion from another vet - perhaps she has allergies, and it happened to coincide or be kicked off by the construction. She obviously should not be licking like this.

Answer 5

Probably not. My friends cat does that too. He has no fur on his belly or the insides his back legs. He is a normal cat in all other ways. He just apparently likes to be "shaved" smooth there! :)
My friend works at a vet and if there was anything to be done, she would have done it.

Answer 6

I'd go with the vet. How long ago was the construction that freaked her out? If it's less than a couple months then wait and see if she stops. If it's been over a year then contact this guy....

http://thepetshow.com/

He (Warren Eckstein) is an animal behaviorist and I listen to his radio show all the time. He is extremely knowledgeable about animals and I have learned a lot from him.
Good luck, have a great day and pat your kitty 'hello' from me and my two cats, Figaro & Rosina.

Answer 7

You need another vet. SOMETHING can be done. She either has allergies or a nervous condition or something. If training/re-conditioning her has not worked, surely there has to be some form of kitty Valium to calm her nerves. Keep looking for a doctor or maybe even a pet behavior therapist to help you. You and kitty deserve better than a vet who's just going to give up on her!

Answer 8

Spend time to groom her yourself, they now have sprays that you can use on cats that will make their fur shinny and full but at the same time if they lick it the taste should stop them. It is non-toxic so need not worry!

I am not sure the brand but a pet supply store like petco and petsmart should know.

Answer 9

Try another vet, hon; this can also be a symptom of a hormone problem, as it was with my cat. She is galloping about the kitchen right now without a care in the world, chasing a moth nearly as big as she is, so the treatment worked for her! Good luck.

Answer 10

My cat has a bald tummy from non-stop grooming. I took him to the vet and she says that the cat has allergies.

Since it's not affected his quality of life, I won't give him meds for it figuring that the process of giving the pill will be more traumatizing than it's worth.

Talk to your vet, they are the professionals.

Good luck.