Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hi All,

I've got two lovely cats Ziggy and Zep. I adopted them both from a friend from work, who was moving abroad. When I adopted them, Ziggy had a cleaning problem. He told me that she hadn't always been like this (I've seen pictures of her fully haired) and that when they got a dog she didn't like it and started over grooming. He said he'd taken her to the vets and they said it was stress from the dog.

I've had both the cats now for around 10 months.

Ziggy is still over grooming. I've taken her to vets once and they said it could be an allergy to house dust or something outside, as she also goes outside. They gave her a steroid injection, this seemed to stop her cleaning a little bit for a few days, but didn't really stop much.

Poor thing is balled on her back two legs, bottom of her back, belly and a little bit of her tail. It isn't horribly bad, but you can see her skin.

Few things about Ziggy (not sure if this may be linked or some other problem):
- She eats Aldi Cat Biscuits
- She goes outside for around an hour a day at different period
- Seems to over groom constantly
- Doesn't scratch herself
- Seems to have diarrhea a lot recently

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions? I could take her back to the vets but it will cost a lot of money to have blood tests etc which still might not give an outcome. I will take her though if I can't manage to work it out.

Thank you all in advanced!

Lots of love,
Meg, Ziggy & Zep
xx

What a shame your friend put having a dog over the consequences for her cats, to the point that she just gave them up. Poor Ziggy has been through an awful lot lately so It could still be stress. How is she coping in her new home with you? Does she seem relaxed, or is she skittish and hiding? If she's still stressed, a feliway diffuser might help, and also changing her environment by giving her places she can get away from it all, and keeping calm around her, gentle handling, gentle one to one play, and just talking to her softly. You'd be amazed the difference it can make.

You could also try her on food for sensitive skin (I think Hills or Royal Canin do one), but I can't speak from experience as to how well these work.

But it can also be habit. My Mitz, who was blind, started fur pulling on his tummy the first time I put them in boarding kennels, and continued doing it for the rest of his life, despite being fully fluffy when I first brought them home after 2 years in a pen in a rather grim rescue centre (hence me thinking he would be fine in the kennels.... which were very much nicer than his old pen). Ours is a very calm quiet and cat focussed household, but he still did it anyway, just when he was chilled out and grooming himself. I just used to gently distract him every time I caught him doing it. Sometimes we could see his a little of his fat pink tummy through the fur, and other times it grew back a bit.

Otherwise you can keep trying the vet, but my bet is still that it's stress, if she was fine before the dog turned up.