My cat constantly licks himself...fur is missing

I think my cat, Wonton, is a diagnosed neurotic.

He constantly cleans himself, which thins out the fur on his legs and
sides of his stomach. I think he may have some serious issues going
on. Here are some things:

-I have 2 other cats that he doesn't get along with. He's the
youngest (8 years) and the other 2 are 12 and 14 years. They don't
fight, but they ignore eachother. Wonton is the coolest of all 3, but
the others are very boring and lame. I sometimes see him hanging out
with the neighbor's cats.

-I raised him to be both indoors and outdoors, but lately he seems to
come indoors more often than out.

Is there something I can give him to eat to make him settle down? Is
there some kind of catnip or special liquid? I bought him some tuna
paste-like liquid but he hates it. I even got him a special oil blend
of Omega-3 oils, but he won't eat that either.

What can I do before he looks like a shaved sheep??

"Joelberg" wrote in message
...
I think my cat, Wonton, is a diagnosed neurotic.

He constantly cleans himself, which thins out the fur on his legs and
sides of his stomach. I think he may have some serious issues going
on. Here are some things:

-I have 2 other cats that he doesn't get along with.

There's your problem. He's anxious. Solve it and he will no longer
be bald.

-I have 2 other �cats that he doesn't get along with. He's the
youngest (8 years) and the other 2 are 12 and 14 years. They don't
fight, but they ignore eachother. Wonton is the coolest of all 3, but
the others are very boring and lame. I sometimes see him hanging out
with the neighbor's cats.

If he doesn't get along with these cats, he's being stressed out and
this is contributing to his licking. You either need to keep him
separate from these cats, for now.

-I raised him to be both indoors and outdoors, but lately he seems to
come indoors more often than out.

Something outside may have stressed him out. I'd keep him indoors
until he is doing better emotionally.

Is there something I can give him to eat to make him settle down? Is
there some kind of catnip or special liquid? I bought him some tuna
paste-like liquid but he hates it. I even got him a special oil blend
of Omega-3 oils, but he won't eat that either.

You need to do several things. First, bring him to a vet for a check
up to make sure nothing is wrong with him medically. He may need a
skin scraping to check for bacteria, etc. Second, what type of food
are you feeding him? He may have a food allergy. Try feeding a wet
food with no grains, since grains can contribute to allergies.
Something like Wellness canned (grain free, check the label on the
can).

I highly recommend using Feliway diffusers around your house.
Petguys.com has good prices on these. You can add some Rescue Remedy
to all of the cats' water (www.rescueremedy.com) Keep in mind these
aren't cure-alls, just things to help the situation.

If, after trying all these things, there is still no improvement, you
can ask your vet about anxiety medication. One of my cats is on such a
medication because he constantly would pull his fur out, and it's done
wonders for him. HOWEVER, I would not just medicate him. There may be
other factors going on.

On May 27, 9:26*pm, Joelberg wrote:
I think my cat, Wonton, is a diagnosed neurotic.

He constantly cleans himself, which thins out the fur on his legs and
sides of his stomach. I think he may have some serious issues going
on. Here are some things:

-I have 2 other *cats that he doesn't get along with. He's the
youngest (8 years) and the other 2 are 12 and 14 years. They don't
fight, but they ignore eachother. Wonton is the coolest of all 3, but
the others are very boring and lame. I sometimes see him hanging out
with the neighbor's cats.

-I raised him to be both indoors and outdoors, but lately he seems to
come indoors more often than out.

Is there something I can give him to eat to make him settle down? Is
there some kind of catnip or special liquid? I bought him some tuna
paste-like liquid but he hates it. I even got him a special oil blend
of Omega-3 oils, but he won't eat that either.

What can I do before he looks like a shaved sheep??

I don't mean to scare you, but your cat *could* have irritable bowel
syndrome (IBS). The reason I mention this is I had another cat, a few
years ago, who died from IBS. We moved and she didn't like the new
place. My other cat flourished, but she did not. No matter what I
did or didn't do, I'd find her constantly licking and pulling out
fur. She was so stressed.

To make a long story short, she finally was so bad that the vet
recommended surgery but she was so far gone that he couldn't save
her. I always wondered if I had suggested IBS to him sooner and if
they had put her on a steroid sooner and reduced the inflammation,
that perhaps she'd be alive today? I don't know about that, but it's
just something I've wondered.

Good luck to you and your furry friend!

On Tue, 27 May 2008 21:26:00 -0700 (PDT), Joelberg
wrote:

I think my cat, Wonton, is a diagnosed neurotic.

He constantly cleans himself, which thins out the fur on his legs and
sides of his stomach. I think he may have some serious issues going
on. Here are some things:

-I have 2 other cats that he doesn't get along with. He's the
youngest (8 years) and the other 2 are 12 and 14 years. They don't
fight, but they ignore eachother. Wonton is the coolest of all 3, but
the others are very boring and lame. I sometimes see him hanging out
with the neighbor's cats.

-I raised him to be both indoors and outdoors, but lately he seems to
come indoors more often than out.

Is there something I can give him to eat to make him settle down? Is
there some kind of catnip or special liquid? I bought him some tuna
paste-like liquid but he hates it. I even got him a special oil blend
of Omega-3 oils, but he won't eat that either.

What can I do before he looks like a shaved sheep??

It's possible also that he has allergies, to either food or fleas. One
of my cats has both, and would similarly lick himself bald in spots
because he itched. I argued with the veterinarian over the fleas
because he's strictly an indoor cat, but found that they can be
brought in from outside on shoes, clothing etc. Soon after getting a
prescription flea treatment (the ointment that goes on the nape of his
neck), he stopped licking constantly and his skin gradually returned
to normal. Unfortunately he also has a food (processed grains)
allergy (which I've previously posted about) but that manifests
slightly different, with "plugs" of fur forming all over that come
out when I comb him, or when he constantly licks them. I call them
"kitty bumps. Prednisone shots worked on both allergies, but
fortunately I found a cat food that he both likes and is not allergic
to. Between that and the flea treatments he hasn't had to have a
steroid shot now in over a year, and has stopped constantly licking
and hacking up furballs.
---
Zob

_________________
"A lot of people pay good lip service to the idea of personal freedom...
right up to the point that someone tries to do something that they
don't personally approve of." - Neal Boortz

My cat had a recent urinary tract infection he was treated for. Thank
god I took him in time or he would have died I asked the vet
what to feed him and they said dry food, no wet food. I find that
strange, considering wet food is more "upper class" compared to the
dry stuff.

What I need to do is try collecting tuna oils and put on the dry food.
He usually likes that, but I don't eat tuna often, which means less
tuna juice for him. I'll have to look in the supermarket for cans of
tuna oil so I can have a ready amount for it. Thanks to everybody for
the advice.

-Joel

On May 29, 10:44*pm, Joelberg wrote:
My cat had a recent urinary tract infection he was treated for. Thank
god I took him in time or he would have died I asked the vet
what to feed him and they said dry food, no wet food. I find that
strange, considering wet food is more "upper class" compared to the
dry stuff.

Considering your cat had a UTI, I would not feed dry food at all.
Honestly, most vets are poorly educated in feline nutrition (I've come
across several myself). I strongly suggest reading this article:
http://www.catinfo.org

On May 29, 8:44*pm, Joelberg wrote:
My cat had a recent urinary tract infection he was treated for. Thank
god I took him in time or he would have died I asked the vet
what to feed him and they said dry food, no wet food. I find that
strange, considering wet food is more "upper class" compared to the
dry stuff.

What I need to do is try collecting tuna oils and put on the dry food.
He usually likes that, but *I don't eat tuna often, which means less
tuna juice for him. I'll have to look in the supermarket for cans of
tuna oil so I can have a ready amount for it. Thanks to everybody for
the advice.

-Joel

I'm glad you found out what was wrong with your kitty! My cat, at age
3, had crystals and it was so bad that "he" had to be made into a
"girl". So, about $3K later (I live in the Bay Area and everything's
expensie), he was transformed. He's been fine ever since and he's now
13. Glad you didn't have to go that route! I've been feeding him
prescription Dry Food ever since and he's not had any problems.

On Fri, 30 May 2008 15:09:33 -0700 (PDT), LauraM
wrote:

My cat, at age 3, had crystals and it was so bad that "he" had to be made into a
"girl". So, about $3K later (I live in the Bay Area and everything's
expensie), he was transformed.

A transsexual in the Bay area. What a novel thought! ;-D
---
Zob

_________________
"A lot of people pay good lip service to the idea of personal freedom...
right up to the point that someone tries to do something that they
don't personally approve of." - Neal Boortz