Why is my cat licking all her hair off? Is she in pain or sick?

The most common problem causing Milly's symptoms is a severe flea allergic dermatitis. Regardless I recommend brushing her to remove the old fur and skin, giving a bath with a hypoallergenic shampoo and using Advantage flea prevention on her. You can purchase it at PetCo. She may need antibiotics to heal the skin and your veterinarian will do an exam to determine the cause of her problems. They may run a blood panel in addition to determine if she is anemic or has a metabolic problem. Once they have a diagnosis they will give her the appropriate treatment and hopefully she will recover quickly. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Milly.

This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. Abnormal overgrooming due to behavioural disorders (usually related to stress) should be considered as well as a possibility but all the other causes need to be ruled out first. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Excessive grooming can sometimes be linked to a behavioral issues (IE stress, or even becoming a habit after a stressful event) rather than a health one. If all tests have ruled out issues (including samples of the affected area sent to a lab), looking to behavioral ones may be beneficial. Trying to reduce any stressors in Belle's life such as making sure she has access to her own food, water, litter, places to sleep and hide, etc may help. Using a soft brush if she is regularly groomed may help as well. Pheromone diffusers such as comfort zone can also help with stress related issues. An Elizabethan (cone) collar or a T-shirt covering the area that is excessively groomed can also help break the habit. Here are some articles that may be useful for you as well on the topic: https://www.petcoach.co/article/psychogenic-alopecia-in-cats/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/excessive-grooming-in-cats-what-it-means-and-how-to-help/

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.

If she isn't on a flea preventative, that is one thing she should get on right away. Some cats have an allergy to flea bites, and all it takes is one flea to cause the itch to start. You may not find a couple fleas with a flea comb. Since she has trauma to her skin, I would recommend that you have Meow Meow examined by the vet. She may need an antibiotic or anti-inflammatory while we work on why she is pulling out her hair. In addition to fleas, there are other causes, such as pain, anxiety, mites, food allergies, etc. Here is a good article explaining what might be going on: https://www.petcoach.co/article/excessive-grooming-in-cats-what-it-means-and-how-to-help/

Hello, sorry to hear about Maggie. It does look like she may be having allergies. I would assume that based on her history and long hair that her allergies may be environmental and she is likely keeping a lot of these allergens trapped on her fur. You could consider having her shaved and groom to remove the mats and to keep her hair short. This may ultimately help with her allergies. She will likely need some form of allergy medical management long term which could be provided by your veterinarian. Hope this helps and best of luck.

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.