cat licking fur and skin off all over

by Shirley Gladin
(Concord Twp., Ohio, Lake)

18 Year Old Siamese Female Licking Problem

18 Year Old Siamese Female Licking Problem

I have a 18 year old Siamese cat that has been licking constantly and licked off her fur and skin in large patches covering her chest, shoulder to leg, back tail etc.... what is the cause and can she be cured?


I have put a cone collar on her for a month now and she has learned to now scratch these areas raw. She eats good quality food both dry and canned. Her litter mate does not have this problem and they have been together for live and eat sleep play etc. all the time they even inter act with my 2 Pomeranians and Boston Terrier which do not have this problem.

I've tried eliminating things re: allergies gave her greens (cat nip, grass grown indoors etc.).

I am at a loss to the cause. She definately is not bored nor is she stressed. She has attention from animals & humans they all get individual attention love and affection time.

Can you help me?

Shidla
Answer by Kate
You have not mentioned if you have taken her to the vet or not. this has to be the first port of call as she may have a skin problem that may only be able to be diagnosed via looking at skin cells under the microscope and only a vet would know what to look out for. Please take her as soon as possible before those nasty wounds become infected.

Comments for cat licking fur and skin off all over

Click here to add your own comments

Cat licking off fur
by: Anonymous

My cat was licking off his fur in huge areas on his back, legs, and neck area. I took him to the vet and he was said to have either anxiety or a flea allergy. I bathed him when I got home with flea shampoo. I followed that up with a conditioner to help itching and hot spots. I vaccumed my house and washed everything to get rid of any flea eggs, and sprayed my furniture.
A week later he was still itching, even though he did not have fleas. I had been using frontline monthly with him also. I did some online home remedy research. Gave him another bath a week later with dawn dishwashing liquid, followed up with the conditioner for hot spots.
I mixed a spray bottle with half distilled water and half apple cider vinegar with the mother. I sprayed his skin with the apple cider vinegar mixture and immediately slathered the areas thick with coconut oil, the kind you find in the baking aisle at the grocery store. He has had immediate improvement. Everyday, for a week I applied the apple cider vinegar to his skin and then followed it with coconut oil.
His fur is starting to grow back in well now, it has been three weeks and he hasn't bit out anymore fur.
I think the fleas are all gone, hopefully
by: MiMI

I have 2 cats, and the long hair female licked and pulled off a strip of hair and skin off around her potty area.....

I looked for fleas, the vet looked for fleas,
and none were found. Kitty also had sores in
her ears that were round and red.

She was put on a medication for allergies
to fleas, and the vet said she wanted me to
pretend we DID have fleas. I went home, pulled off all rugs, blankets, toys, pillows and put them all in large plastic bags to be washed later.

I was exhausted and decided to lie down on my bed
and turn on the electric blanket and take a little nap. The sun motes were coming in the window illuminating the bed and floor and the whole top of the bed was jumping with fleas......

The fleas were living and breeding in the nice warm electric blanket and then MewMew would drag the fleas around the whole house.

Its been 2 months now and with continuous daily cleaning and vacumning, I am not finding any live fleas at all......

But kitty still scratches one spot on her neck nearly every day, I have even thought of shaving her neck area to see if maybe its just really dry skin or if there is a patch of fleas hiding there....

My question is can there be itching without active fleas or am I maybe missing some flea nest somewhere....

Thank you

MiMi
Cat licking problems
by: Shannon

My cat does the same thing he has a patch of hair licked off his belly and he has 2 red patches...I took him to the vet and I was also told its an alergy but i havent discovered exactly what it is he is alergic to...I have a cone but cant get it on his head....I dont know what else to do.
Detergents can cause allergies
by: Alex

My cat did exactly the same thing. The patches were sometimes covered with little pimples or red rashes.
I took it to the vet because I thought it could be ring worms or a fungus. But she told me it was an allergy, and I started to act like a detective.
What I found out is that there is a component in detergents (cleaning floors detergents, laundry detergents, etc.) that can cause skin allergies: limonene. Although limonene is a natural component removed from oranges and lemons, some animals and even people can be sensitive to it.
I started to pay more attention to components in detergents and I don't use any that is agressive or has limonene (and it has been difficult). I have been forced to make my own detergents...
For floor cleaning (because cats eat in the floor, play in the floor...) I use water and apple vinegar (1 cup for 4 liters of water). Vinegar is a natural disinfectant, and because it's apple vinegar it smells nice and is allergy free.
I also changed its food and changed the plastic plates with metallic ones, because an allergic cat is more likely to have more than 1 allergy. Well, so far so good. :)
I hope you find the cause, because I understand how frustrating it can be when having an allergic cat and not finding the allergy origin (or origins).
grieving or senility
by: Kathie

My 17yr old cat started doing the exact thing when my 3yr was killed by a car. My vet told me that from suffering the loss of her companion it caused her to start becoming senile. Did your cat endure a loss of any kind?
Cats licking off fur
by: Cath

I also have a cat who licks off her fur in patches. I have been researching this is believe it is not physical at all but an emotional response to living with other animals (& small children). She suffers anxiety disorder and this is a cat's way of dealing with it - they don't have access prozac or alcohol.
I got her from a vet who suggested this was the problem (she was rejected by previous owners who decided it was gross and she was due to be put down). He had no solution as vets only deal with physical issues and suggested I track down alternatives. This was relatively easy as I live in the Northern Rivers know for it's alternative lifestylers and I quickly found a range of things to try. I decided to start with energetic medicine hoping to knock this straight up so I put her on a course of homeopathic drops which is like flower essence only it's proper medicine rather than just a therapy. You need a licensed practitioner to administer this if you want to get it right. Alternatively I might try herbs, hair testing for diagnosing any allergy (although I can only find someone for my horse who wont branch into cats) or acupuncture, but thats even harder to find. The other things I'm keen to try is the lady who talks to animals. She might be able to help me change things within our household that might be triggering her anxiety like other animals or the lack of safe zones.

Click here to add your own comments

Return to Cat Questions Archive One.