Hello,

Last week, my burmese cat was being sick a lot more than usual (he's quite a sicky cat anyway) and also had a an upset tummy. A couple of days later I noticed a few scabs appearing on his face. The following day, I found a bald patch at the inside top of his thigh of one of his front legs.

So, five days ago, I took him to the vet who said he is over grooming. He's done this before but only on his face. The vet gave him antibiotic and steroid injections which have stopped him being sick and his tummy is back to normal. Initially I also thought his overgrooming had calmed down, but I think his face is slightly worse and the patch under his arm is definitely much words - it's bigger and also very red and sore looking.

Does anybody else have any experience of this with their cats? I know oriental breeds can be prone to it, but I can't think of any reason why he would have starting doing it. I'm not sure how long to leave it before taking him back to the vets.

Many thanks

I have no real experience of overgrooming but did the vet mention the possibility of food allergies? For me all the signs point to this as being a distinct possibility particularly the scabs on the face combined with prolonged vomitting. I would ask your vets their opininon on this and whether they think it worthwhile considering a food elimination diet.

Hello,
The vet didn't say anything about food allergies. His food hasn't changed at all, but I suppose you never know if the manufacturer has changed the ingredients, so may be worth bearing in mind.
Thanks.

Cats tend to develop food allergies to ingredients that they have been eating for long periods rather than new ones, it's an immune response that builds up over time. Typical signs are scabs / sores predominantly around the head, ears and front end and itching causing scratching and licking. Sometimes diarrhea and / or vomitting may be present.

http://www.celiahaddon.co.uk/pet%20p...allergies.html

Hi there and welcome to PF,

Firstly how old is your Burmese?

Over-grooming can be triggered by flea and food allergies and stress generally in that order! Did the vet give any indication as to the cause in your cat's case?

Since flea-allergy is usually very responsive to steroids and symptoms clear up almost immediately I would strongly suspect food-allergy here. Another reason for my suspicion is the location of the itching-usually the head and neck areas are affected. Furthermore if your cat has always been what you describe as 'sickly' this can be another indicator of inflammatory bowel disease/food allergy or even perhaps intolerance. Vomiting the only symptom? What are you currently feeding him? You need to discuss all this with your vet.

Of course there's also a chance, owing to the bald patch elsewhere he may also be over-grooming due to stress or fleas so I would definitely ensure these have been eliminated as well! My guess though is that once the 'food-allergy' has been treated then this may well resolve it, as it may be triggering the stress!

Reading the article, he has definitely got a lot of the symptoms of a food allergy especially not licking when I am around, the weeping sores and weight loss

The vet checked him for fleas but as he is a house cat, and doesn't go to a cattery or mix with other cats other than his brother, thought it was unlikely to be a flea allergy.

He's 11 years old and has Felix As Good as it Looks and Feline Fayre food. He also has dry Iams available all the time.

Theoretically he could be allergic to any of these foods ( an ingredient or protein source ) but my number one suspicion would be the Iams since as far as I know it contains grains. So I would try eliminating this first and see if this helps but results aren't always instantaneous, it depends on the cat!

IF this is inflammatory bowel disease, though it sounds likely, the weigh loss suggests to me it's due to malabsorption and has been going on for a long time. Again to be discussed with vet.