Daily Kitten Chat Forum » Cats & Kittens

1. 

   Hello, seeing Sammy's update reminded me of a problem my sister's cat is having, so I thought I'd ask for some advice :). It started a good few months ago - my sister (Sarah) noticed the Jasper was missing the fur on his inside back legs, and when it didn't clear up quickly she took him to the vet. The vet found that there was a problem with his anal glands , so she sorted them out for him - they had just managed to become blocked somehow. She (the vet) thought that the hair loss was due to Jasper overgrooming in an attempt to make himself feel better, and cleaner while he had his problem. However, it's now a couple of months later, and he's still overgrooming the area. We know it's probably habit now for him, but how should she stop him? Whenever they see him grooming, they distract him but he must be doing it when they're not around too. Any advice is appreciated!

   Posted 3 years ago by metsa #

2. 

   He could also have an allergy to s flea bite metsa - Pickle had this, and lost fur in exactly the same place. She has regular 6 monthly anti flea treatment, but now needs top up treatment in the summer months. I didn't think it was a flea thing, as I couldn't find any evidence, but vet said she was overgrooming so much the fleas wouldn't stand a chance!

   Posted 3 years ago by MadcatwomanintheUK #

3. 

   Sebastian used to do this also, and it was because of fleas. I only had 2 flea-festations while he was alive and both times that's what he did. As soon as I got rid of the fleas, he quit and all his hair grew back.

   Posted 3 years ago by HuddysMama #

4. 

   Huh, it's not easy to break a habit. Especially if you can't see any harm coming from it. There has been talk about different bad-tasting but harmless lotions. Perhaps they would help?
   Edit: Overgrooming because of flea infestation does sound more probable though.

   Posted 3 years ago by miu #

5. 

   Thanks, I'll suggest fleas to my sister. She hasn't seen any fleas on either of the cats, but I know they can be hard to spot and they are indoor/ outdoor cats so it's certainly possible.

   Posted 3 years ago by metsa #

6. 

   When I combed Pickle there was no flea dirt, but the little buggers were still the problem. Vet!

   Posted 3 years ago by MadcatwomanintheUK #

7. 

   Even if they were entirely indoor cats, fleas can hitch a ride indoors on humans. And this year seems to have been a pretty bad year for fleas. Loss of hair on the inside of his back legs is exactly how my cat Even manifested his flea problem, the last time he had one.

   I'd definitely take him back in and see if maybe fleas might be the problem.

   Posted 3 years ago by anncetera2 #

8. 

   Could it be allergies to something, like people they can develop seemingly overnight?

   Posted 3 years ago by AZDEBRA 5/27 & crew #

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