please help my cat keeps chewing herself

gill07

hi
last summer my cat started frantically chewing near her shoulder. she made a right mess an i got her right to the vet.they took her in and cut open where she had chewed to see if something inside causing it. they didnt find anything so they stitched her up. she had to have a plastic collar on to prevent her getting at it and it took couple months to heal.when collar came off she was fine at first then started chewing same place again. she had collar back on again till healed. collar came off last week an she was fine then yesterday i heard her start chewing frantically again so i got the collar back on.she doesnt have fleas and the vets dont seem to know why she is doing this. she makes a right mess of herself and it must hurt when she is doing it.has any one ever come across this who may be able to offer advise. she gets lots of loving and always seems a happy cat.
heres hoping gill
ps/ she always does it same place

littleredhen

sorry can't think of anything other than possibly more regular grooming - it might have become a habit with her and if you brush her everyday for a little while she might be distracted

noonesperfect

Has the vet done any blood tests?

I know it's a different animal, but my dog kept getting sore patches on her tummy which became inflamed. They would get better with a course of antibiotics then would recur again some months later.
The upshot was, a bright young vet decided to do a check and discovered she has a very under-active thyroid, and this, apart from a poor coat was the only visible sign!

Not saying this could be the problem with your kitty, but it's amazing what they can find with bllod tests.

gill07

thank you for replies. i do comb her regularly. it is so distressing when she does it she will make this awful noise and roll about like something is really bothering her.she looks so sad with the plastic collar on but its the only way to stop her. the vet was going to do an epylepsi test on her but have realised she is not having a fit when she does it.i will mention to them about maybe giving her some blood tests.

Murtle

My vet said when my cat started biting at an area that it could have been *something* but when that healed it became habit. Try without the collar when you are around and distracting her to break the habit, try not to instill new ones though!!

gill07

thanks murtle. that makes sense i was thinking it like a habit. i am taking her back to the vets tomorrow to see if they can try to get to the bottom of it.it just seems so daft that she is fine and enjoying going out and everything then she goes and does it again. it must hurt when she does it.

gill07

just to let you know i have taken cat to vets today. they are sending her for a biopsy to see if they can find any bacterial or viral infection.if not they are talking of doing further investigative surgery. i have my fingers crossed they find the cause of her problems and put an end to this chewing

Murtle

gill07 wrote: »

just to let you know i have taken cat to vets today. they are sending her for a biopsy to see if they can find any bacterial or viral infection.if not they are talking of doing further investigative surgery. i have my fingers crossed they find the cause of her problems and put an end to this chewing

Hope she is doing well and that the vets have found out why she is doing it.

x

lostinrates

Hi, my siamese cat started chewing her feet at about 2 years old. We ran through things with various vets and specialists and narrowed it down to something neurological or a food allergy. We tried the standard vet prescribed dried foods for allergy then a friend who is a feline specialist suggested going GRAIN free...which makes buying commercial food very hard. Since cutting all grain out of her diet the problem dramaticaly reduced and while she certainly has retained the habit its a huge benefit. You could try ctting out grains except rice, of which there are more foods, eg Almo Nature. Also, many people hold dried cat food is not really as great as it seems for cats anyway. It can't hurt to loo at diet as a cause.

Pixie1986

I doubt this would be the same, but i know parrots do a similar thing when they are bored or lonely... ? I'm not saying your neglecting your cat Just maybe spend some more time distracting her with toys and the like, and maybe she'll forget to nibble!