My adopted cat grooms aggressively. Is it stress or a health issue?

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Excessive licking and grooming in cats is often related to allergies or stress. Moving house and adapting to the new environment can be stressful for many cats. Cat pheromones (for example Feliway) are typically used to treat stress-related overgrooming. They are available over-the-counter at pet shops and Online retailers. It wound be definitely worth to try a pheromone diffuser for Naomi. However, if the overgrooming start causing skin wounds, skin inflammation or hair falling, you should take Naomi to your vets to check her over and potentially investigate for allergic problems.

Overgrooming can be caused by a few medical problems, such as fleas, food allergies, mites, or internal medical disease. I would take Milly to a vet to rule out these issues. If the vet can't find anything physically wrong, then it could be behavioral. You can try supplements for stress like Zylkene or Comfort Zone/Feliway. Here is some more information on overgrooming in cats that includes things to discuss with your vet: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2565

Hello! Cats can start this behavior which we call barbering or over grooming. To my knowledge there is no specific known cause but it has been linked to stress and allergies. Since this is thought to be more of a behavioral issue the options for treatment are centered around environmental enrichment and/or behavior modifying medications. I would recommend discussing this further with your regular veterinarian so they can also evaluate Tess' to rule out things like a primary dermatological problem. Some have discussed switching to a hypoallergenic food to see if that helps. I have also met many owners who choose not to do anything because like Tess they aren't causing trauma to themselves. Hopefully this information is helpful and best of luck to you and Tess.

It's not impossible for a cat to have stress that is causing the excessive licking but usually it is an allergy and the most common allergy for a cat is fleas. Even if you don't see them on her. Since you mentioned that you rescued her from outside my guess is that she has fleas. Cats don't like to have fleas so they will groom themselves excessively to get the fleas off which is why you often won't see them. Here is a good article that may help you determine if fleas are present. http://www.petmd.com/cat/parasites/evr_ct_does_my_cat_have_fleas I would start with fleas as the number one consideration and if you determine there are no fleas then you should get her to the vet for some testing. If you determine fleas are present I would treat her with a GOOD topical flea prevention like Advantage II or Fronline- DO NOT use Hartz or Seargant brands. They are awful and cause many toxicities in cats. You need to apply this EVERY month even if she does not go outside. You also need to treat the environment (so the inside of the house and the yard if she goes outside). https://www.chewy.com/virbac-knockout-es-area-treatment/dp/53856 https://www.chewy.com/advantage-ii-yard-premise-spray-32/dp/103395 If you want to work the stress angle I see no harm in doing that as well. I suggest you get Feliway diffusers for your house to see if that helps. https://www.feliway.com/us#redirected Hope this answers your question. Best wishes!

If you’ve ruled or fleas, it could be some other allergy, though over grooming is not uncommon as a behavioral issue. Here is an article I think you may find very helpful. https://www.mspca.org/angell_services/overgrooming-cats/ Thanks for asking PetCoach!

Yes, the overgrooming can be from stress or anxiety. To control it quickly you can get a steroid injection from your veterinarian. You can also try using a pheromone diffuser like Feliway, and the anti anxiety supplement Solliquin. These things will help stop the overgrooming until she settles in with the new cat. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Obi.

Your kitty is likely a nervous or stressed cat, especially if stressful events (new neighborhood cat, new boyfriend, new baby, mvoing, removing or adding furniture, new puppy , etc.) have happened before she started the excessive licking. This licking pattern would be typical for overgrooming. Your vet needs to rule out parasites, fungal and bacterial infections. If there is none of these then you can try to help your cat by removing anything stressful in the house that can be removed and placing Feliway dispensers in the areas she spends most of the time. Feliway is a pheromone that makes cats happy and takes away stress. You will need to do this for at least two months before you will see success. If this does not work, then your vet can do some medication trials to see whether she will stop the overgrooming.