Tail Nibbling

We have an old neutered long haired black male cat that visits us on a
daily basis, & over the last 3-4 weeks, He has been nibbling his tail
in about 3 separate places. He started @ the base of his tail, So I
frontlined him just in case it was flea's that were causing him to
nibble. In fact the nibbling was so bad that he actually licked all of
the fur off in this patch until it was right down to unformed skin
(rather like the skin when you pop a blister- almost to the point of
bleeding, but not quite, or one of your kids skins thier knee's by
falling off their bike) Unfortunately, it doesn't seemed to have
helped very much. Since front lining him, he has 3 licked bald patches
on his tail. although it might not be terrible, it looks ever so sore
& I am @ a loss as to what I can do to help him, other than trying to
trap him & taking him to the vet surgery.

Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this, & if so, what was
the cause, & how did you treat them. I do have an Elizabethan collar
here from when Lucy(fur!!) was trapped & given one, but I am worride
about putting that on him & allowing him to go off with it on. He
might get caught somewhere or not see something coming & get run over.

If I can't find any help for this one, I will have to trap him & take
him down to the vets, but we have a full house right now with our own
cats & the 3 rescue cats too ( all except 3 runs are down now to in
order for us to make the new run, & they are occupied by the rescues).
I have asked other colleagues if they have room for him, just until
his tail is sorted out, but no one else has room either. If push comes
to shove, I will take him in. ( I couldn't do any other than
that!!)... but if there is another solution, I would be most
interested to hear what others think the cause might be, please?
Thanks,
Sheelagh "o"

Suddenly, without warning, Sheelagh o exclaimed (9/8/2007 12:18 AM):
We have an old neutered long haired black male cat that visits us on a
daily basis, & over the last 3-4 weeks, He has been nibbling his tail
in about 3 separate places. He started @ the base of his tail, So I
frontlined him just in case it was flea's that were causing him to
nibble. In fact the nibbling was so bad that he actually licked all of
the fur off in this patch until it was right down to unformed skin
(rather like the skin when you pop a blister- almost to the point of
bleeding, but not quite, or one of your kids skins thier knee's by
falling off their bike) Unfortunately, it doesn't seemed to have
helped very much. Since front lining him, he has 3 licked bald patches
on his tail. although it might not be terrible, it looks ever so sore
& I am @ a loss as to what I can do to help him, other than trying to
trap him & taking him to the vet surgery.

Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this, & if so, what was
the cause, & how did you treat them. I do have an Elizabethan collar
here from when Lucy(fur!!) was trapped & given one, but I am worride
about putting that on him & allowing him to go off with it on. He
might get caught somewhere or not see something coming & get run over.

If I can't find any help for this one, I will have to trap him & take
him down to the vets, but we have a full house right now with our own
cats & the 3 rescue cats too ( all except 3 runs are down now to in
order for us to make the new run, & they are occupied by the rescues).
I have asked other colleagues if they have room for him, just until
his tail is sorted out, but no one else has room either. If push comes
to shove, I will take him in. ( I couldn't do any other than
that!!)... but if there is another solution, I would be most
interested to hear what others think the cause might be, please?
Thanks,
Sheelagh "o"


Same as Meep: Allergies, or behavioral. I wonder if he got his tail
into something. Will he let you close enough to feel it over for bumps
or scabs.

Meep once wore out a spot on the inside of a leg - I suspect she'd
gotten bit by something like a spider or mite.

jmc

On 8 Sep, 01:51, jmc wrote:
Suddenly, without warning, Sheelagh o exclaimed (9/8/2007 12:18 AM):





We have an old neutered long haired black male cat that visits us on a
daily basis, & over the last 3-4 weeks, He has been nibbling his tail
in about 3 separate places. He started @ the base of his tail, So I
frontlined him just in case it was flea's that were causing him to
nibble. In fact the nibbling was so bad that he actually licked all of
the fur off in this patch until it was right down to unformed skin
(rather like the skin when you pop a blister- almost to the point of
bleeding, but not quite, or one of your kids skins thier knee's by
falling off their bike) Unfortunately, it doesn't seemed to have
helped very much. Since front lining him, he has 3 licked bald patches
on his tail. although it might not be terrible, it looks ever so sore
& I am @ a loss as to what I can do to help him, other than trying to
trap him & taking him to the vet surgery.

Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this, & if so, what was
the cause, & how did you treat them. I do have an Elizabethan collar
here from when Lucy(fur!!) was trapped & given one, but I am worride
about putting that on him & allowing him to go off with it on. He
might get caught somewhere or not see something coming & get run over.

If I can't find any help for this one, I will have to trap him & take
him down to the vets, but we have a full house right now with our own
cats & the 3 rescue cats too ( all except 3 runs are down now to in
order for us to make the new run, & they are occupied by the rescues).
I have asked other colleagues if they have room for him, just until
his tail is sorted out, but no one else has room either. If push comes
to shove, I will take him in. ( I couldn't do any other than
that!!)... but if there is another solution, I would be most
interested to hear what others think the cause might be, please?
Thanks,
Sheelagh "o"

Same as Meep: Allergies, or behavioral. I wonder if he got his tail
into something. Will he let you close enough to feel it over for bumps
or scabs.

Meep once wore out a spot on the inside of a leg - I suspect she'd
gotten bit by something like a spider or mite.

jmc- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

It could be either. He doesn't like you getting too near him. I had to
trap him to get a decent look @ his tail & frontline him. I made him
wait a few hours for some food, then left it just inside the kitchen
door. I did this for 3 nights, & on the 3rd night, I just kicked the
back door shut behind him. He went lairy, but eventually calmed down
once he got into a windows behind the landing curtains. I waited until
the kids went to bed, then got the frontline pipet ready, then stroked
to him, talked to him & parted the hair on his neck, & applied it.

He is a very wary cat, & to trap him again would need a fairly
inventive idea, so he will fall for it. I expect him around 5-7 pm, so
I will have to get my thinking hat on.

It's Saturday & there will only be an emergency vet. Having said that,
it is not really a huge emergency. I have abandoned any idea's of
putting an Elizabethan collar on him & releasing him. I got Paul to re
- erect one of the prefabricated runs, so that I can get the collar on
him, to prevent any more mowing for tonight & all day tomorrow, & one
Monday I will pop him down to the vet & see what they have to say
about it. He looks ever so odd. It looks like he had a Lion coat cut,
but only got as far as 3 pom-poms on his tail, with raw bits in
between though. Poor Big fellow!!
He does enjoy chin tickles ...... on his terms of course!!

I'll let you know what the vet had to say after we go and see him on
Monday. I'm not so worride now because we have somewhere to house him,
& I feel comfortable about follow up care & Putting the collar on just
to stop him making him tail bleed. I just hope the vet has some
answers, because funds are a bit limited @ the moment. Mind you, I was
lucky enough to get a bit of help financially for taking him to the
vet surgery. I rang the RSPCA & explained that it is not my cat, but @
the same time I can't ignore what he is doing to himself ( It's like
self mutilation, isn't it?) Fortunately, they are willing to chuck £60
in the pot towards paying his bill which is brilliant news. More as I
know it, & thanks for the input Jodie.
Sheelagh "o"

On 8 Sep, 01:51, jmc wrote:
Suddenly, without warning, Sheelagh o exclaimed (9/8/2007 12:18 AM):





We have an old neutered long haired black male cat that visits us on a
daily basis, & over the last 3-4 weeks, He has been nibbling his tail
in about 3 separate places. He started @ the base of his tail, So I
frontlined him just in case it was flea's that were causing him to
nibble. In fact the nibbling was so bad that he actually licked all of
the fur off in this patch until it was right down to unformed skin
(rather like the skin when you pop a blister- almost to the point of
bleeding, but not quite, or one of your kids skins thier knee's by
falling off their bike) Unfortunately, it doesn't seemed to have
helped very much. Since front lining him, he has 3 licked bald patches
on his tail. although it might not be terrible, it looks ever so sore
& I am @ a loss as to what I can do to help him, other than trying to
trap him & taking him to the vet surgery.

Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this, & if so, what was
the cause, & how did you treat them. I do have an Elizabethan collar
here from when Lucy(fur!!) was trapped & given one, but I am worride
about putting that on him & allowing him to go off with it on. He
might get caught somewhere or not see something coming & get run over.

If I can't find any help for this one, I will have to trap him & take
him down to the vets, but we have a full house right now with our own
cats & the 3 rescue cats too ( all except 3 runs are down now to in
order for us to make the new run, & they are occupied by the rescues).
I have asked other colleagues if they have room for him, just until
his tail is sorted out, but no one else has room either. If push comes
to shove, I will take him in. ( I couldn't do any other than
that!!)... but if there is another solution, I would be most
interested to hear what others think the cause might be, please?
Thanks,
Sheelagh "o"

Same as Meep: Allergies, or behavioral. I wonder if he got his tail
into something. Will he let you close enough to feel it over for bumps
or scabs.

Meep once wore out a spot on the inside of a leg - I suspect she'd
gotten bit by something like a spider or mite.

jmc- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I managed to catch him at about 12GMT, & I rang the vet to ask if we
could bring him straight down to them, & very kindly, they agreed. We
don't have a name for the cat, so for names sake we are calling him
Welly. (as in wellington boot)

Welly calmed down much faster than I expected him to. Within 10 Min's
he was purring & swatting food through the front bars, but nicely..
Not outraged or anxious @ all. I'm so glad we did. It is far worse
than we realised. Most of his tail is bald now & his tail is crusty in
some places where it had got past the puss level. He is covered in
puss pockets all over his tail & the base of his tail on his body.
It'd hot, angry & itchy/ flaky in other area's.

He took a bit longer to calm him down @ the vets, so I let them deal
with him.
( I don't want him to associate me with that kind of experience-Yes, I
know it's silly!!)

The vet has diagnosed something called Pyoderma. I have got a course
of antibiotics for him, & I have to take him back on Tuesday again so
that the antibiotics have time to start working. Then they want to
take samples & address the underlying problem which they believe to be
caused by stress. I think they want the infection to go before he
gives him a shot of cortisone. I wish I had asked about why he needs
the injection- but, I forgot to ask. I suppose I could just ring
tomorrow & ask, can't I?

It looks like we have another visitor for a few weeks.
I was going to leave him till Monday, but I got a rare glimpse @ his
tail, & I simply couldn't wait. I had to ring up the RSPCA & ask if
they would cut the fee in half with me, & they have agreed which is
wonderful new to be honest! I wasn't sure how this was going to work.
It's difficult. He is not my cat, but @ the same time, I couldn't just
stand back stick my head in the sand.!! OTOH, It nearly brakes me to
keep on top of my cat's veterinary fee's. I guess it's the price you
pay when you choose to encourage community cats to come for dinner.
They bring their problems too- it's as it should be.(Responsibility)

All said, this is a good outcome. Hopefully, we will have that tail
sorted out, & see what the underlying cause cause is, then try &
address that too. Right now he is in the only pen left standing. He is
not very happy about the lamp shade collar they put on him earlier,
but he will live with it for a few days. I feel a bit guilty because
he can see the other cats, but having learned the hard way once
already, I thought it best to contain him, just in case we find out in
a day or two, that he is also brewing cat flu as well!! He has
housing, a nice fat bowl of dry to graze on, lots of water & a pouch
of food 3 times a day. Not a terrible life really. I'm pleased his
appetite is good. It a good sign.

More news as we have it.
Sheelagh "o"

Response from "Sheelagh o" :

More news as we have it.

I have a tendency to get REALLY bored and read really old threads, so I
wonder... what happened to Welly?

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

On 10 Oct, 11:14, "-Lost" wrote:
Response from "Sheelagh o" :

More news as we have it.

I have a tendency to get REALLY bored and read really old threads, so I
wonder... what happened to Welly?

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

We still have him here. He had a condition called Pyoderma, which
means that there were little puss filled spots under the skin where he
had been pulling @ it with his teeth, until it became infected. Once
the antibiotics took effect, it cleared up quite quickly. He still
looks ever so odd because he is ever such a fluffy black male cat, but
still has a bald as a coot tail on him. I'm delighted because it
really did look terrible..!! (It still does look a bit odd, because
where the fur is growing back, it looks like fuzz stuck to his tail,
LOL )

Since then, he has had two visits to the vet. The first was to check
up on how the antibiotics worked & to take some bloods, & the second
one was to give him a cortisone injection because the vet thinks his
problem is allergy related. That was 4 days ago now, & touch wood, he
has had his collar off too, but hasn't pulled @ his tail at all this
time. I'm hoping that I might be able to home him soon.

I've done notices @ the vet surgery, & more flier's through doors, but
we have had no response. The vet checked for a chip, but he doesn't
have one, so it is the best answer I can hope for. I have one possible
home for him. They are coming to meet him on Saturday coming. They
know about his tail. He is already neutered, so with any luck they
will have him. I've already been to see them in their home & it looks
good. He is the only cat resident, & I think he would like that better
than a multi cat home. He doesn't appear to have any other problems &
the people who want him know that too.

I'm still keeping him out of the way of the other cats though,
because the last time I went with my heart, rather than my head, I
introduced Ring worm to the rest of my cats- so it never pays to be
under vigilant. It ended up costing me a bomb, & I nearly lost one of
my own cats. It taught me a valuable lesson, I assure you!! (sporal D
to treat the Ringworm) Speaking of which, it is dinner time @Cats-
Castle, so I better go & feed them all!

Sheelagh "o"

Response from "Sheelagh o" :

On 10 Oct, 11:14, "-Lost" wrote:
Response from "Sheelagh o" :

More news as we have it.

I have a tendency to get REALLY bored and read really old
threads, so I wonder... what happened to Welly?


We still have him here. He had a condition called Pyoderma, which
means that there were little puss filled spots under the skin
where he had been pulling @ it with his teeth, until it became
infected. Once the antibiotics took effect, it cleared up quite
quickly. He still looks ever so odd because he is ever such a
fluffy black male cat, but still has a bald as a coot tail on him.
I'm delighted because it really did look terrible..!! (It still
does look a bit odd, because where the fur is growing back, it
looks like fuzz stuck to his tail, LOL )

Since then, he has had two visits to the vet. The first was to
check up on how the antibiotics worked & to take some bloods, &
the second one was to give him a cortisone injection because the
vet thinks his problem is allergy related. That was 4 days ago
now, & touch wood, he has had his collar off too, but hasn't
pulled @ his tail at all this time. I'm hoping that I might be
able to home him soon.

I've done notices @ the vet surgery, & more flier's through doors,
but we have had no response. The vet checked for a chip, but he
doesn't have one, so it is the best answer I can hope for. I have
one possible home for him. They are coming to meet him on Saturday
coming. They know about his tail. He is already neutered, so with
any luck they will have him. I've already been to see them in
their home & it looks good. He is the only cat resident, & I think
he would like that better than a multi cat home. He doesn't appear
to have any other problems & the people who want him know that
too.

I'm still keeping him out of the way of the other cats though,
because the last time I went with my heart, rather than my head, I
introduced Ring worm to the rest of my cats- so it never pays to
be under vigilant. It ended up costing me a bomb, & I nearly lost
one of my own cats. It taught me a valuable lesson, I assure you!!
(sporal D to treat the Ringworm) Speaking of which, it is dinner
time @Cats- Castle, so I better go & feed them all!

HAHAHA! Well, that's just awesome. I am glad he found a caring
friend in you. Hopefully that family will scoop him up and let him
be the king of his own Kitty Kastle. : )

Good luck to you and Welly.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

On 10 Oct, 19:36, "-Lost" wrote:
Response from "Sheelagh o" :





On 10 Oct, 11:14, "-Lost" wrote:
Response from "Sheelagh o" :

More news as we have it.

I have a tendency to get REALLY bored and read really old
threads, so I wonder... what happened to Welly?

We still have him here. He had a condition called Pyoderma, which
means that there were little puss filled spots under the skin
where he had been pulling @ it with his teeth, until it became
infected. Once the antibiotics took effect, it cleared up quite
quickly. He still looks ever so odd because he is ever such a
fluffy black male cat, but still has a bald as a coot tail on him.
I'm delighted because it really did look terrible..!! (It still
does look a bit odd, because where the fur is growing back, it
looks like fuzz stuck to his tail, LOL )

Since then, he has had two visits to the vet. The first was to
check up on how the antibiotics worked & to take some bloods, &
the second one was to give him a cortisone injection because the
vet thinks his problem is allergy related. That was 4 days ago
now, & touch wood, he has had his collar off too, but hasn't
pulled @ his tail at all this time. I'm hoping that I might be
able to home him soon.

I've done notices @ the vet surgery, & more flier's through doors,
but we have had no response. The vet checked for a chip, but he
doesn't have one, so it is the best answer I can hope for. I have
one possible home for him. They are coming to meet him on Saturday
coming. They know about his tail. He is already neutered, so with
any luck they will have him. I've already been to see them in
their home & it looks good. He is the only cat resident, & I think
he would like that better than a multi cat home. He doesn't appear
to have any other problems & the people who want him know that
too.

I'm still keeping him out of the way of the other cats though,
because the last time I went with my heart, rather than my head, I
introduced Ring worm to the rest of my cats- so it never pays to
be under vigilant. It ended up costing me a bomb, & I nearly lost
one of my own cats. It taught me a valuable lesson, I assure you!!
(sporal D to treat the Ringworm) Speaking of which, it is dinner
time @Cats- Castle, so I better go & feed them all!

HAHAHA! Well, that's just awesome. I am glad he found a caring
friend in you. Hopefully that family will scoop him up and let him
be the king of his own Kitty Kastle. : )

Good luck to you and Welly.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Lol,
Thank you v.much. I'll let you know how they get on with him & whether
they have him or not.
Sheelagh"o"