Biggles over grooming

[FayRose]

I'm not sure if I should put this in the health section or the behaviour one, so mods, please move if you think I'm in the wrong place.

We have recently returned from the vets with Biggles. He is our youngest cat (5 in August). He is a very large long haired ginger castrated tom and the son of our middle cat Jenny (long haired tortie). The oldest cat is Polly who will be 13 at the end of this month. This is just to give the background in the hope you can help me with what's happened.

Over the past several months Biggles has taken to over grooming his back so severley that he has bald patches. Originally the vet suspected some sort of allergy having eliminated flea or any other type of infestation (I feared mange at one point). She prescribed steroids and assured us this would do the trick but that Biggles would have to remain on a maintenance dose for the rest of his life.
Well, a month on and its not made a jot of difference, hence our returning today.

I'm stunned and mortified to be told that in the absense of any other apparent reason, they conclude that Biggles is suffering from stress and needs medication and possibly a consultation with a behaviourist.
To say its a shock is an understatement.
He has always been slightly more nervous than the other 2 and does not hunt, prefers to be indoors and would eat the world if given half a chance.

I know there are a lot of very experienced and knowledgeable cat people on here and would be very grateful for your opinions and any ideas. I feel totally ashamed if this is right and I have allowed one of my cats to get into this condition.

Bit of a ramble I'm afraid but I have to explain fully so you can make a judgement.
Thank you.

[trick]

Originally Posted by FayRose

I'm not sure if I should put this in the health section or the behaviour one, so mods, please move if you think I'm in the wrong place.

We have recently returned from the vets with Biggles. He is our youngest cat (5 in August). He is a very large long haired ginger castrated tom and the son of our middle cat Jenny (long haired tortie). The oldest cat is Polly who will be 13 at the end of this month. This is just to give the background in the hope you can help me with what's happened.

Over the past several months Biggles has taken to over grooming his back so severley that he has bald patches. Originally the vet suspected some sort of allergy having eliminated flea or any other type of infestation (I feared mange at one point). She prescribed steroids and assured us this would do the trick but that Biggles would have to remain on a maintenance dose for the rest of his life.
Well, a month on and its not made a jot of difference, hence our returning today.

I'm stunned and mortified to be told that in the absense of any other apparent reason, they conclude that Biggles is suffering from stress and needs medication and possibly a consultation with a behaviourist.
To say its a shock is an understatement.
He has always been slightly more nervous than the other 2 and does not hunt, prefers to be indoors and would eat the world if given half a chance.

I know there are a lot of very experienced and knowledgeable cat people on here and would be very grateful for your opinions and any ideas. I feel totally ashamed if this is right and I have allowed one of my cats to get into this condition.

Bit of a ramble I'm afraid but I have to explain fully so you can make a judgement.
Thank you.

Hi there. How long is a couple of months exactly, and has the vet taken skin scrapping for parisites or skin infection? Just one flea bite can cause an allergic reaction and once this happens the skin can take along time to recover. At the cp shelter near me they had a older cat that started licking and scratching at her side and neck, she was tested for everything and finaly they discovered she had a food allergy, as you can imagine this went on for many months before the cp found out what foods were ok and which were not.
It is also possible that Biggles has developed a bad habit, have you tried a buster collar?

[FayRose]

The vet seems convinced its not an allergy on the basis the steroids would work if it was and they haven't.

I hadn't thought of a collar. He's been prescribed Zylkene and I guess we should see some results if that works, though the vet said he'd have to be on it at least a month to have any effect.

I've never actually seen him doing this grooming so I don't know if he looks frantic while he's doing it. Poor little b**$4* must be hiding away.

Thanks for your suggestions, I may talk to the vet about a collar if these meds don't work.

[EmmaG]

Have you changed their food recently, we changed to Felix and our female cat has started to overgroom herself, I am convinced it is something to do with the food and have changed back to HiLife and Applepaws

[FayRose]

Not recently changed the food, but we did start buying Felix tinned food some months ago and they still have that. I only consistently feed the dried food (they get both) and I give them Whiskas. The meat can be Felix, Whiskas and Gourmet pate. They all go on and off tinned meat varieties which is why I switch from time to time.

[EmmaG]

I would try to make sure he does not have any felix food for a few months and see if it improves.

[EmmaG]

Me and my OT noticed that when we changed over to Felix they were drinking a LOT of water as well.

[FayRose]

Originally Posted by EmmaG

I would try to make sure he does not have any felix food for a few months and see if it improves.

Thanks Emma, I'll try that. I haven't noticed any of them drinking more, but then the other cats are outside most of the time and whoever's doing the feeding that day fills their water bowls. I'll keep an eye on that too.