<p>My calico has lost hair from the backs of her front legs and along right her side where her ribcage is. I took her to the vet and he says that it stress that is causing the overgrooming leading to hair loss. </p>
<p>He examined her with a Woods lamp that tells you if their is a fungal infection which there is not. He said that the treatment is the give cats low dose elavil. I am not dying to give my kitty pills which would also be difficult and stressful I think for me to hold her down to give her.</p>
<p>I tried this product called Feliway which is supposed to have pheromones that calm cats in it but it did nothing. We have been playing with her more and trying to love her up more but it has made no difference. </p>
<p>We have another cat but the calico is the one who chases her so that is not causing her stress except the frustration of the other cat not wanting to play. No other stressful things have occurred that would cause this behavior as best as I can tell. </p>
<p>Anyone else have this problem with their cat and what did you do?</p>
<p>One of mine, an anxious creature at the best of times, was doing this, and her belly was just about free of hair. For a time, anyhow. I tried to love her up a bit more, and did tell her to ‘stop it’ when I’d catch her in the act. She actually has stopped now, and the fur is back. </p>
<p>However she was such an anxious creature, always, and I thought medication might have helped her path in life, not that I went looking for it, as my vet is rather low intervention.</p>
<p>My kitty is not anxious, or never seemed anxious, but has had a hairless belly for years and just licked half the hair off in a 3" x 3" area above her tail. Drugs?</p>
<p>you could try giving her a little fish oil every day. Just because she doesn’t have an infection does not mean she isn’t itchy. Fish oil helps with this with my goldens when the heat is on in the winter and they get “drier.”</p>
<p>OP, I’ve had two cats who did that. In both cases, I was told it was stress and/or boredom. So I just made a point of spending extra “love time” with them every day, and they stopped.</p>
<p>My cat was on this for about six months, it worked very well. It’s a behavioral drug, so it should take away the negative behavior and the anxiety. You only need to use the drug for a while, and when you take the kitty off it, the behavior will have ceased because the anxiety ceases. It was very very cheap, and worked very well.</p>
<p>We haven’t had a cat, but our dog used to do this. His vet said that he was allergic to fleas and that even one flea would make him crazy. We gave him oral steroids periodically and it helped. Of course, we treated him for fleas too, but the vet said it wasn’t possible to eliminate them all and an allergic animal needs extra help.</p>
<p>Thanks. I’ll look into it. Giving my kitty any pill is going to be a challenge.</p>
<p>My cats are both indoor cats so don’t really get exposed to fleas. We actually wondered if somehow something in the litter was contributing since it seems like the litter is dustier than it used to be but only the one cat has this problem. The irony is the other cat is much more high strung but she does not have this problem.</p>
<p>lakemom, are you sure? My oldest dog is 13 and takes a pain reliever for athritis and it is liver flavored. We get it from the vet. We have to give the other dogs a treat when we give this medication. Otherwise they think the old guy is getting something “extra.” </p>
<p>So, check on that with your vet.</p>
<p>Either way, good luck. </p>
<p>The mention of the steroid, reminded me that you can spray benedryl on the itchy place, too. I don’t always think it’s a nervous habit. They used to tell people they had a nervous this or that, too.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, I have a friend who had to put her canary on Prozac because the poor thing was compulsively pulling out its feathers. It worked.</p>
<p>I had a tortoiseshell who did this way back when we had the audacity to bring our first child into the house. </p>
<p>The vet felt pretty sure from the beginning that if we gave the cat extra affection, she would eventually stop. We were happy to up the petting time. Still, she kept up the excessive grooming for about a year, slowing down but not really stopping until my D, an early walker, was steady on her feet. Apparently when D became vertical, the cat no longer regarded her as competition? </p>
<p>We were braced for a repeat when S1 came along, but it wasn’t a problem. That may have had to do with the fact that we lived in a bigger place by then.</p>
<p>Good luck figuring out what’s up with your cat.</p>
<p>I tried to give this kitty that malt flavored laxative for hairballs that some cats love. She hated it. She wouldn’t lick from my hand so I spread it on the top of her paw so she had to lick it off. She grew suspicious of me for while after that. </p>
<p>She also only licks the juice from wet food leaving this food itself to dry out. </p>
<p>I will have to think about whether it is worth the try to give her pills.</p>
<p>I wish I could think of a specific event that started this. I noticed the leg hair loss months ago but I thought it was her rubbing against the carpet. In the last 6 months the hair loss is now in other places.</p>
<p>This is troublesome especially because the cat is ingesting all that hair. I use science diet hairball control - my cat loves it and only has about one hairball a year. I had a female cat several years ago who also washed frantically/obsessively and a couple of vets also recommended anti anxiety medication which did not work well. A friend recommended another vet who said that it was a hormonal imbalance - low estrogen I believe. He put her on kitty birth control pills which worked like a charm. I did not have to feed the pills to her either - they had a good flavor and she ate them like treats. You may want to run this idea by your vet.</p>
<p>Fleas can get into any house. They are teensy. A mouse can get into a house through a dime-sized hole. Fleas and bed bugs can go anywhere and live on almost nothing. i’m not saying your cat has fleas, just that it is possible, even for an inside kitty. I wonder if steroids could be given in an oil-based form with some yummy food. Of course, your vet needs to be your decider with meds, but sometimes we have thoughts here that you can ask about. We never saw a flea on our dog. I got dengue fever in Africa and never saw a mosquito, but one of them must have found me.</p>
<p>My cat does this too. It started all the sudden and I had no idea why. I took him to the vet and she said either fleas (which we later ruled out) or the problem is that he is so fat he can’t wash his bottom properly and he gets frustrated so he pulls out the hair on his forelegs that he can reach more easily.</p>
<p>Yes, the vet did blood work to confirm, but he immediately thought about the hormonal issue when I told that she did not seem to have anxiety - the excessive washing started suddenly and nothing prompted it. Fleas can be easily treated with Revolution or another similar product. Vets can easily find fleas, so I’d be shocked if your vet missed that.</p>
<p>Well, I think the blood work is what is needed for the next visit and I will mention the hormone possibility so he can test for that. I will also ask why he things elavil is the drug to use versus Buspar.</p>