Why is my cat chewing tail and has urine on her rear fur?

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. He may have full anal glands that need to be expressed or be dealing with an allergy. This could also be stress related. I would recommend having a veterinarian examine him so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I would have the vet check his anal glands to make sure that is not the cause. You can also try the Feliway products, which can be found online or at you local PetCo. Feliway is a pheromone product that might help relax him if this is due to anxiety.I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Excessive grooming of the rear may indicate fleas or worms. The area she's paying attention to is classic for flea allergy. The most common worms are tapeworms, which your pet gets by grooming and ingesting a flea carrying the tapeworm eggs. A broad spectrum dewormer can be gotten from your vet as well as a topical or oral flea control such as Cheristin or Comfortis. You might also consider asking your vet for a dose of Capstar. It helps get the problem under control by killing the fleas on the cat starting in five minutes but only lasts for 24 hours. You also need to treat your home environment. If you use a pest control service, tell them you are having a flea problem and they can adjust their treatment. Use a premise spray that also contains an IGR, insect growth regulator. This will keep eggs and larvae from maturing into adults and helps break the life cycle. Also, vacuum EVERY DAY, throwing out the bag or emptying the canister every time into an outside receptacle and spraying the contents with insecticide to kill the fleas you’ve vacuumed up. Treat your yard as well, since fleas are opportunistic and will hop a ride into your home on your pant leg without you knowing it. Concentrate on areas under bushes, in the shade. Fleas are less likely to be located in open sunny areas where it gets hot. You might want to consider boarding your cat for the day at your vet, to give you the opportunity to flea bomb your house without having to worry about your cat. They can bathe your cat and give a dose of Capstar while you take care of the problem at home. Be patient, you may have to repeat these steps multiple times 10-14 days apart to help break the flea life cycle.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies as opposed to being behavioral. This is possibly more specifically due to flea allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

This looks like a eosinophilic plaque. He needs to see a vet for this condition. Here is an article on this condition. Steroids and antibiotics are usually the treatment of choice for this problem. http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/skin/c_ct_eosinophilic_granuloma_complex Based on what you described with the scabs at the base of the tail, I am guessing he has a flea allergy that may be the underlying cause. I hope this helps. Best wishes!

A flea allergy often causes irritation at the tail base or top of the tail. It could be some other cause of inflammation as well, but I would recommend that you start her on a good monthly flea product if she's not already on something. You can try a product such this: https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/zymox-spray-with-5-hydrocortisone. Also, put an e-collar on her to prevent her from licking at it; and if its not improving within a few days, arrange for her to see a vet. You may be able to find a house call vet or mobile vet in your area who would come to your home, this may make it easier for you both. Thanks for asking PetCoach!

It does look like he could have urine scalding around his rear end, it looks in the photo like the fur is wet underneath the red area? I would worry is he sitting in a soiled litterbox or wet area. We don't normally see the fur around the rear end getting soaked with urine in a cat. I would be sure that all the litterboxes are cleaned daily so he isn't sitting in a wet area and also would recommend getting an e-collar for him to stop him from licking the area (they can lick at the penis if they are having cystitis so maybe this is the case). I would bathe the area so there is no more urine present and dry with a hairdryer set on cool and put on an e-collar. I would let your vet know about the issue and they may want to prescribe a topical antibiotic or steroid ointment to use (if you have the dermalone, they may feel this is ok), or just monitor the area closely after bathing and putting on the e-collar.

It looks like Karma may have an infection or dermatitis back there. It could also be due to an anal gland problem or even fleas. That can happen when they aren't able to groom themselves well. If she will let you I would try to help clean her back there as best you can with either just water or a gentle pet shampoo. If that does not help or you cannot safely clean her back end, you may need to take her to a vet. They will be able to clip and clean any wounds and she may need systemic antibiotics in order for it to heal.