HELP! me cat katrina is bitting herself

[Summer111]

hi! my 4 year old cat katrina( who has been spayed) has been ripping out her fur with her teeth, she has been doing this for months, and we don't know what to do.the only spot she's being picking at is above her tail kind of on her back.she lives with multiple cats and lots of other types of pets.we do not give her flea medioson because she is an indoor cat. 1 cat in our house is an out door cat, the rest arn't.( for the past couple months she has also been peeing all around my house)  please help me! thanks-linda

[ireneo]

I had a cat years ago that developed an abscess every summer right there on the back near the tail. And it was from flea bites. We had to be very diligent about keeping the fleas under control. Not sure why that area was so reactive but it was a battle.

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Itchy dermatological lesions can be caused by demodex, scabies, notodectes, or other mites, flea allergy dermatitis, ringworm, food allergies,  and other problems.  Chewing on fur can also be caused by behavioral barbarism, also known as psychogenic alopecia, but this is an uncommon cause.

The cat who does go out can bring in fleas unless that cat is protected with an effective flea and tick preparation, such as Advantage, Frontline, Vectra or other topical product.  This cat, if unprotected could bring in a single flea.  If the itchy cat has flea allergy dermatitis, a single flea could bite her and she could be itchy for a month.

It would be best to have this problem addressed by your veterinarian.