My cat is licking her fur off. What's causing it and how to help?

Pumpkin may be suffering from a mite infection, allergies or a bacterial or fungal infection. All of these need veterinary care and each is treated differently from the other. Your vet can easily determine which condition it is by clinical exam and/or a skin scrape. Mites are easily treated with an injectable acaricide, a bacterial infection needs antibiotics, fungal infections is treated with a fungicide and allergies with these signs usually point to food allergies, treatable by avoiding the allergenic food and feed a specific hypoallergenic diet. Please take Pumpkin to a vet soon. Mite and fungal infections are also contagious to people. and other pets.

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.

Poor Pumpkin! You are correct atet it could be from overgrooming, as being in a cattery can be stressful for cats. But it could also be due to a medical illness such as ringworm, which can occur in places like catteries where there are lots of cats. I don't think you will be annoying your vet by having Pumpkin seen, and I do recommend taking her into the vet in the morning just to make sure it isn't something like ringworm.

It could be allergies causing Lola's behavior, but typically it's the environment causing the allergy not food. I would hold off on switching food until after she sees the vet. The only way to know how to treat her problems is to have her seen by a vet, who can diagnose the cause in order to prescribe the correct treatment. If paying for a vet is an issue, you can see if your vet accepts payment plans, if there is a low cost clinic in your area, or you can apply for Care Credit online. There is also an organization called Red Rover that give grants for treatment of sick animals, and you can see if you qualify for one of their grants. Best Friends also has a list of resources that offer financial assistance on their website. http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_pet.html?credit=web_id91754962 https://www.redrover.org https://www.carecredit.com http://bestfriends.org/resources/financial-aid-pets http://lessonsfromaparalyzeddog.com/when-pet-owners-cant-afford-veterinary-bills/ http://www.dogheirs.com/resources-affordable-veterinary-care/ Check out these resources to see if one can help you, and have her seen by a vet this week. I hope this helps!

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

That could be due to an allergic disorder (usually flea allergy dermatitis), presence of parasites, or psychogenic type of overgrooming (usually related to stress). The different causes must be ruled out treating for parasites, giving meds for allergies and eventually trying to remove stress causes. A check is then required. Please do not hesitate to contact us agli if you want to discuss it any further. We are available for one to one chat (consultation).

The treatment needed would depend on what is causing the problem. It may be [allergies](https://www.petcoach.co/cat/condition/feline-allergies/), or an infection. A visit to your veterinarian would help identify the most likely cause and point you in the direction of the best treatment. It sounds like her issue is quite severe if she's making herself bleed, so I would get her in to see your veterinarian as soon as you can. If her issue was quite mild, a soothing spray, such as [Zymox](https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/zymox-spray-with-5-hydrocortisone), may be helpful but I'm afraid Phaedra's problem may be beyond conservative home care. Get her in to the veterinarian or a [veterinary dermatologist](https://www.acvd.org/tools/locator/locator.asp?ids=16_Find_Dermatologist) when you can! Thanks for asking PetCoach!