be sure you are on your flea meds!!! it just takes one flea to cause an allergic reaction!! you also might want to get to your vet and have it looked at. they might want to do a skin scraping, as well. we used to have a cat who licked all the fur off his belly, and plucked the fur from the base of his tail, and it was just a neurosis, kind of became a habit.
Whiskey on May 03 at 02:25 PM
Not just a flea allergy, but it can very well be caused by a food allergy. Both my sister's cat and my cat have been losing fur, licking like mad, to the point of bleeding. There is a prescription food out there that is Rabbit and Peas that will take care of it, but Royal Canin only has it by prescription. In doing research, Nature's Balance has a similar food of venison and peas, but it is only available in the canned version right now due to the mass melanie food recall. The NB is sold at Petco and Pet Supplies Plus and according to Petco is $1.09 per 6 oz. can. (I checked out their prices for my cat.) My siser spent money on taking her cat to a vet dermatologist in Carmel, I just compared notes and tried to avoid some of the costs, but you should still definitely have your vet check the cat out to rule out fleas or other problem.
Spokes on May 04 at 08:20 AM
VET TIME! And no, I don't work for one.
It could be something as simple as a flea allergy--remedied by using something like Advantage/Frontline on a regular basis. Even indoor cats can get fleas at times due to their eggs being tracked in by humans. A vet can give a prednisone shot in addition to the purchase of flea meds to help speed up the healing (worked wonders for little Spokes).
Perhaps it's a food allergy... Also easily fixed with a diet change (something a vet could recommend).
Or could be a behaviorial thing, any recent changes such as a new addition to the family? Some cats will lick themselves bald due to stress.
Anyway, it's been my experience that Vet's prefer pro-active concerned pet mommies who take care of issues when they're small, verses those who wait too long...
Visit Indiana Proactive Animal Welfare
Jersey Joe on May 02 at 08:37 PM