Cat Tail biter

My 12 year old Calico cat started chasing her tail about 5 months ago, and actually, ended up biting off the end. She still bites it, and when she does...she makes it bleed again. I think part of it is because it's itchy, and she scratches w/ her tongue, and the scab comes off. We try to bandage her tail, and it's okay for a while, but when the bandage comes off, she gets crazy again. Also, in addition to the tail, she's been drinking an excessive amount of water. We might be wrong in this aspect, but if we take her to a vet, they'll want to run test after test, and to be honest, we really cannot afford that. Any suggestions from anybody would be extremely appreciated!

Answer from KAte
Hi
First of all you have to make sure she is flea free. This also means that her home needs to be flea free too because she may have an allergy to flea bites which my cat did and this will drive them crazy.

then if fleas are not the answer you have to consider that it may be an allergy to something else. Please see this page for more information

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-allergy.html

To be honest with you i dont think that the vet would need to do test after test and anyway you are the owner so you would discuss all your options with them before tests were done. Going to the vet really should be your fist priority especially as it sounds like your cat is in a lot of distress with the tail.

I have owned cats for many years and have seen this sort of itching before and sometimes a simply anti histamine injection from the vet is all that is needed to help the cats immune system build up some resistance (this is what happened to my old cat and her allergy).

best wishes Kate

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