Is there a cream to stop my cat from over grooming?

[asendria]

My Cat who i found in a ditch at 5 weeks old, with a short kinked tail, heart murmur, and she is orange(90% of orange cats are male, mine is a girl) is 10 years old and has always been very skittish and odd.  She is very affectionate and follows me around the condo.  
When I moved into my boyfriends apartment 2 years ago she began over grooming her belly and inner legs.  It is not red of dry or irritated looking in any way, there is just no hair or very little.  She is an indoor cat and does not have fleas, mites, or anything else of that sort.  The funny thing is that I have only seen her hack up a furball about 10 times her entire lifetime.  It seems to be a psychological issue as her toys, litter, food, scratching post, and bed are still the same.
I bought the feliway plug in which has definitely calmed her down.  She doesn't hide every time a new person comes over for a visit anymore, but she hasn't stopped over grooming.  I try to stop her from grooming the area when ever I see her.  But I can't watch her all the time.  I read every post on here and I did try changing her litter at one point from the silica that I have used for years.  She was not happy.  I changed her food to an expensive vet formula which she wasn't a big fan of either.  Since it isn't irritated I don't think it is an allergy though.  I was hoping someone would know of something i could rub on her to discourage her from grooming, preferably something natural.

[opus88]

hi you can read this article if you'd like more info on this problem, click on the highlighted word ALLERGIES to further the discussion of what I mentioned to you.....IBD stands for irritable bowel disease, but I don't think this is what your kitty has hers appears to be more of a skin related issue and wide spread thats why I'm thinking allergies?...just read all the site and see what you think, can also be inhaled allergies associated with the new apartment.....do you use different chemicals such as room sprays, hairsprays, cologne, candles, cleaners? any of these can cause allergies, people start sneezing but with cats it manifests itself on their skin and they began to ITCH...try reducing all chemicals that you can.

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/overgrooming.html

[asendria]

Thank you for the comments.  I will try the different food.  As for just letting her continue to lick, I would rather not as the patch has doubled in size over the last 6 months, and if she keeps it up, the only place she will have hair will be where she can't reach.
Also what does IBD stand for?

[nancyjac]

Any type of topical ointment will likely cause her to groom even more to remove it which could cause further digestive problems.  If she is otherwise healthy and the only result of the grooming is hair loss and the skin underneath does not appear to be dry or irritated, I would just leave it alone.  Some hair loss as a cat gets older is normal for many cats.

[opus88]

shoot forgot to add the website.

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=cannedfoods

[opus88]

I had a kitty that behaved much like yours too and she too had IBD. unfortunately I trusted my Vet and treated with steroids and wasn't aware of the dangers associated with that. she got very ill....I am glad you are trying feliway and are having some success with it, thats great news for now I too greatly favor holistic measures.
I've read that Omega 3 fatty acids and probiotics such as acidophilus(human form but with NO sugar) can be very helpful.
IBS can also be attributed to a grain intolerance. many commercial foods have grains added but there are some brands avail that have NO grains and I would suggest trying one of those.
I am including a website by Dr. Pierson DVM. its very informative, nearing the end of her article she lists all the BEST brands of cat food that have NO GRAIN and I strongly suggest you try this, I wish I had known all this while my Tia was still here...
good luck, welcome and post anytime if you have more questions or to give us an update please!!!
♥OPus