My cat is licking her fur off

I have a six year old part siamese male cat, I found a sore on the inside of his right arm about a month or two ago, he was licking it all the time and he had taken the fur off. I put a cortizone spray on it and it seemed to heal. Just last night I found a large area of hair gone from the opposite arm. He has licked down to the skin and he won't leave the area alone. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am hesitant to take him to the vet because he gets really stressed out. I have another cat at home and they get along great, but for the last few months (since I moved with the cats) my male cat has not been playing quite as much with my female cat and he has been hissing at her from time to time. I did just move so I know this could play a role, but I am just not sure what to do. If this is a recent move and stress issue, is there anything I can do? Should I try the cortizone spray again?

[zodiacqueen]

I agree, this could be stress from the move!  Cats really hate any kind of change to their routine or surroundings.  They like everything to be predictable!  Life, unfortunately can't always be that way.

It's interesting that he's been hissing at your female.  Is she new?  That would also be a stressful change to cats.  Or, if the female has been around for at least a year, maybe she got rough and nasty with her and now he doesn't like her anymore.  That could cause stress reactions in him, too.  Constantly licking the same area all the time shows that it's some kind of anxiety issue.

Good luck

[jenbird]

Just a quick question, did you change their pet food?  I had a 16 year old cat (just passed last winter) that could not have Friskies!  If she ate Friskies canned food, she would develop these small sores and her hair would fall out (over licking of these areas).  She developed some kind of allergy!  Once we fed her anything other than friskies, the sores healed.

I also agree with zodiacqueen that this may be due to stress... but definitely keep an eye on the sore areas...

[Mrs_Savas]

Think about if there is anything going on that is new that started around the time that this behavior started.  Like if you are going out more or if you have a new person coming around the house.  Cats don't like change and especially a cat that tends to get stressed, might have this kind anxiety.

If this turns out to be the case, there are herbal supplements that you can give your kitty, temporarily, that are not dangerous, like drugs can be.  Skullcap is one, Valerian is another.

However, before doing that, I think I'd want to be sure that there is no physical cause.  And this can be circular, because a physical problem can be relatively minor, but cause stress, which causes anxiety, which causes the behavior...

And Jenbird has a point.  It could possibly be dietary.  I always recommmend using a good human-grade pet food, anyway, canned and dry both (for sufficient hydration).  If you aren't doing this already, it couldn't hurt and even if it doesn't fix this situation, it will be good for both of them!  You can google human-grade cat foods.  I like By Nature's Organics, but there are a number of good ones.

Let us know what happens, ok?

[kcorso]

Thanks for the help, my cat is not on a new food, a few years ago the vet put him on Science diet cd because he was getting urinary infections. The move been hard for him, I moved in with my boyfriend, so he has a new person around all the time, I also moved from a studio where he was able to sleep in my bed at night to a two bedroom, where I close the bedroom door. I don't think he likes that too much! I have had my other cat for years, they pretty much grew up together, but he definitely seems less tolerant of her in the past few months since the move. I am hoping it is just taking him time to adjust. I got more advantage flea medication and I am going to be better about putting it on him each month, they are indoor cats, but sometimes it seems that the area he is licking might have started from a bite.

[zodiacqueen]

Well, from what you've just said-that's convinced me that this is stress related.  Just give him lots of extra love and attention to make him feel secure!  He'll be fine in no time!!

[lalamasha]

Hello,

Hi. I have a cat who is 5 and about couple months ago he ran outside and since then he is been having this rash in the rights side of his belly. He chewed his hair off to the skin and skin is all red and blistered. I gave him antibiotics and a shot and i keep putting neosporin in the spot but it doesnt seem to go away . I dont kmow what to do. Any suggestions?

[nancyjac]

It might be a fungal infection rather than a bacterial one.  Try an antifungal ointment instead of the antibiotics.

[lshcharmed]

the-itchy-red-skin-and-excessive-bitting-is-due-to-specific-cat-types-esp--Siamese-and-abysinias--I-just-left-the-doc-and--he-is-sure--it-is-this-breeds-they--react-negatively-to-any-changes--she-is-doing-better-after-her-predisone-shot--and-I-have-a-few-more-to-add-here-at-home---Please--don;t==guess-for-your-kitty's--sake---see--the--professionals----please--follow---doctor's---order's-----