Cat scratching herself raw...Help?

If you haven't already done so, it's a good idea to get the vet to test for things such as diet sensitivity and allergies. Psychogenic or "nervous" dermatitis, is often a reaction to severe stress or recent illness.

The normal adult cat spends over a third of it's waking day grooming. Aside from the obvious benefits like ridding themselves of parasites and keeping the coat clean, cats also find grooming therapeutic in helping to relieve tension.

Some sensitive cats use grooming as a comforting, diversionary activity when faced with some kind of challenge or perceived threat. Is she a fairly timid cat? Try to think back to when this behaviour began, and see if you can remember anything that might have been a trigger. Some less confident cats will become stressed by changes of any kind, even something like new furniture or decorating.

Is she allowed outside at all? Cats also require a lot of mental stimulation to stop them from becoming bored. If she is an indoor only pet, then it might be a good idea to allow her outside for brief periods on a harness. This will divert her attention away from grooming and on to new interests, which will also build up her confidence at coping with new situations. If you are unable to do this, make sure to set aside regular time every day to play and interact with her, as this will help keep her mind off grooming.

While her wounds are healing, they will itch and your cat is responding by grooming the areas, and so the vicious cycle continues. I don't know how well she tolerates wearing her cloth coat, but if you haven't tried it already, you might consider fitting her with an "Elizabethan Collar" to stop her doing this. Sometimes a tapering dose of sedatives prescribed by your vet, in conjunction with treatment of the original psychological cause will resolve the problem. If she's a particularly sensitive cat, you may need to build up her competence levels so that she doesn't revert back to this behaviour should she become stressed again.

The web article below offers further advice on this subject.

http://www.bsava.com/virtualcontent/8534...

If all else fails, you may need to ask your vet to refer you to an animal behavioural therapist. Hope you find a solution. Good luck.

I’m going to assume that your vet has also ruled out allergies as a possible suspect in the problem? If not, I would definitely check into that and check into changing your food if that hasn’t been done. A high quality food will often change allergy issues. Has your vet recommended giving your cat any medication to help control the OCD? If not, perhaps you’d like to try some of the Bach flower remedies on her. (http://www.bachcentre.com/ for further info ) The specific one that comes to mind is Rescue Remedy which can be very useful for anxiety based issues and is usually available at most health food stores. It's a natural product in an alcohol base and you use just a drop or two either in water or directly on their tongue and there is no danger of overdose, etc. It's also something that can be used for us humans and other animals! Very effective and I’ve used it for years for my cats, my foster kids and my own kids and self.

Changing her environment might help too - giving her something else that might occupy her? Leash train her - take her for walks - schedule play time - get her something that she enjoys interacting with - at 10 I'm not sure how active she is but most cats enjoy playing no matter their age. Perhaps build her a space outside or a window ledge she can sun on - anything that would give her something different to do. Find a way to distract her from her obsession. Only you can come up with something as I cannot see her environment to advise you there.

Of course, I'm sure you've already gone the route of soothing the sore spots with shampoos and creams etc so won't go there. But anything you can do to help sooth the itchy feeling, whether real or imaginary will help too.

This might seem like quite a job but as you mentioned, she has chewed so vigorously that she’s left open sores at times, and this obviously can cause additional health problems for her. So treat the immediate issues of the sores and work on the long term with some sort of distraction and the Bach Rescue Remedy (or other form of medication) – look at the other products to see if there is something more specific you feel might be of benefit. Good luck!

Get a soda pop can and put a handful of pennies in it, and duct tape it shut. Whenever you see her being obsessive, get that can and make a BIG rattle with it in the next room, or somewhere where she can't see you. The idea is for her to not know it's YOU making the noise. Scare the bejeesus out of her a few times and she will reconsider her compulsion.

Other good alternatives are pan lids you can bang together in the kitchen, out of her line of sight. A stereo with a remote control that you have a very obnoxious CD in at high volume that you can just hit play from across the room when she starts up sometimes also works.

Sometimes they just itch like we do. Is your house very dry? If so, that could be the reason. If she wears a collar it could be irritating her so remove it if the answer to that is yes. Some cats get dry skin and that can make them itchy. Adding moiture to your home canhelp with that as does some tuna or sardine oil added to their diet. Please dont try to use lotion on your cat tho (seriously I know someone who did this *rolls eyes*) If the cat is scratching her ears alot it could be a fungal thing if she has a lot of fur inher ears. My maine coon gets this sometimes and I have to swab his ears with a cleaning solution the vet gave me. If your cat isnt scratching to the point of hurting itself you probably dont need to worry though.

i have to disagree with the scaring her post, if she's ocd then scaring her will make it worse. ask your vet for suggestions or you can check out the cat chow website, they have vets that answer questions on there, they've helped me several times with my cat!!

i never knew that animals coud have that disorder...i suppose that makes sense though...seeing as humans are animals too...maybe you could get some sort of ointment that heals the sore...and then when she goes to clean the spot she wont want to bc it smells like the ointment...or you could simily keep the clothon her....

maybe a neck cone would help.

well you could get her some cream which will help her but other wise there is not much you can do try to play with her to take her mind of it!