Hi All,

I'm here again with a question about Bunk and his OCD!

He is always cleaning himself and it's driving me mad I'll tell you why:

1) I flea treat him every month and brush him every other day (no fleas present ever). I've used Frontline, Virbac Effipro, Spot on, and Johnsons to check it wasn't a reaction to a particular make.

2) I've bought several refills for Feliway plug - never seems to make a difference.

3) He's the most laid back cat i've ever met!!! If I could up load pictures of him lounging around the house in the positions he does, you'd be

4) He has a cat flap so comes and goes as he pleases, and i've watched him outside and he loves it. He has a "girlfriend" called Jessie, a siamese, and her owners are always telling me he's been in their garden playing with her.

I know excessive grooming is linked with stress but I honestly can't see it, he's driving me

What could it be??

Thanks in advance x

Does he just wash his lower back near the tail or just everywhere?

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All my children have paws!

Mainly the base of his tail (which the vet saw last time we took him in, but didn't seem bothered) But he chews his arms too...

He used to do his belly too but he's stopped that now.

May be he has a touch of arthritis our old MC used to do the same & the vet put it down to that, Ive been giving our pensioners some glucosomine liquid from P@H & the eldest is much better on his pins or at least he was chaseing his tail half way up the stairs earlier

Might be worth a try

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All my children have paws!

Thanks for the advice. I'm willing to try anything. He couldn't be any more fussed if we tried, I think he's just pushing my buttons for the fun of it

Hi,

If it's not arthritis you could try a Feliway spray instead of a diffuser. Before I went on holiday I sprayed some strategic places from the cat's point of view and my nervous Cow stopped overgrooming.
I heard it's more effective than the diffuser.

Not sure how long this has been going on though it sounds as if it had temporarily resolved at one stage. All year round or seasonal?

Ruling out flea-allergy and grooming base of tail it sounds likely ( and it only takes one to set off an allergic reaction ) there are other triggers as well such as environmental ( house dust or mites or pollen ) or food. Which Frontline since both types are now regarded as being far less effective? Firstly, I'd switch to Stronghold or another prescription one and see if things improve. If not then investigate the others. You could also try some salmon oil which helps to relieve itchiness.

Of course if he's outdoor it's possible he may be coming into contact with something out there!

Could he be allergic to the flea treatment, and it's making his skin itchy??

My 4 month old kitten has just been put on Effipro, which is a new spot-on for fleas, seems to be effective and has a gentle smell, so maybe that would benefit him?

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RIP Charcoal my shy girl 1987-2000, Patch the wanderer 1987-?, Tabby my darling fluffball 1988-2002 & Panda the rascal 1988-2008

Thank you all for your replies, I appreciate the feedback

It's an all year round thing unfortunately. We got him from the RSPCA Dec '09 and he's done it ever since we've had him. At first we put it down to stress of moving from one place to another but he's never shown any signs of stress/nervousness. He already had a bald belly when we got him which he gradually made worse by licking it all the time, but we managed to get him out of the habit and hasn't really done it since (every now and again but stops when he knows we're watching...) but never to the point of pulling fur out.

He was an indoor cat when we got him and was until July '10 when we moved house. He now goes in and out as he pleases and although there's a couple of cats he doesn't get on with, there's a couple he does.

We worked out he's about 8 years old and shows no signs of arthritis (especially when he's hiding in trees!)

We've just changed his flea treatment from Frontline to Effipro and have in the past used several different ones. In the past i've given him Evening Primrose as I was told that's good fo skin irritations...

I honestly don't know where to go from here. I don;t want to take him to the vets just for them to tell me he's stressed