Question about my little Chloe **UPDATED**

[heidiv]

Knowing most of you have dealt with just about anything...... I thought that I would get the best answer from all of you 1st.

My 2nd youngest kitty Chloe was laying on the couch last night and I noticed that the fur on the inside of her legs was gone It doesn't look as if she pulled it all out it almost looks like she has licked it all off????

Now Chloe is what I call an obsessive cleaner. She will wake up my husband in his sleep because she is over cleaning his hair. My question is....Does anyone in this forum have a cat that does this???? Should I be taking her in to the vet??? Do you think it could be a nervous thing???? And if it is a nervous thing what would I do to make it better????

Any help would be great I might just call into the vet anyway to see what they say. Thank you all!!

[Catty1]

It's an obsessive-compulsive disorder. My formerly wild boy, Oscar, has that, and he is on twice-a-day Feliway for the rest of his days. His fur seems to be growing back, slowly.

I asked my vet about Feliway instead of anti-depressants, as Feliway contains the cat facial pheromones. My tiny bottle was $70 - but I bought it in June and still have about a month or two left!

She might also have a UTI and licking the area there because it is uncomfy. Let us know what the vet says.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm sorry to hear this. As Catty1 has said it does sound like an obsessive compulsive disorder. It may be caused by stress. Do you know if she did this before you adopted Paris? If not then maybe Paris is stressing her out. Does she get along with Paris? Hopefully the vet will be able to give you something that will help her. Good luck.

[heidiv]

I am in tears right now I just found another patch of missing hair under one of her arms I am going to get into the vets office tomarrow ASAP. I have made a list of things that could be causing this.

1) Adopting Paris-This was back in August?????? They seem to get along if anyone gets picked on its Mopar (By Chloe and Paris) It seems as if they gang up on her.

2) We stared to feed our cats indoor formula Science diet food so that everyone likes the food. I am going to go and buy Their Iams food tomarrow since we are almost finished with the other one.

3)Her obsessive cleaning habit (Caused by stress??)
She has since she was a kitten freaked out by any little noise sudden movement and the other night she hissed at me because I accidently startled her???

I don't know what to do I can't believe I didn't notice this sooner? She is totally into my husband and I am constantly trying to keep Paris out of whatever she is into at that moment....that checking Chloe really hasn't been on my mind. I noticed she is still eating alright and using the litter box. This hasn't been a problem at all. Does anyone think that this could be hormonal at all? And if it could be Paris what am I going to do to lesson the burden on Chloe? I know I would not be able to rehome Paris I would not be able to do that we are like best buds.... I am such a bad meowmie I always thought I was on top of the cats health..... Any help would be great I am feeling extremely bad right now.

[Catty1]

WHOA....cats, like people, have individual personalities, and Chloe just might be a bit more jumpy than her housemates. It is NO one's fault at all...

Oscar had been doing this, and I had been slow on the uptake about his UTI - till one day he went to the closet door where the litter box was - the one door that was NEVER opened...I opened it, he stepped into the box, peed just a trickle, and got out again. I was MORTIFIED that I hadn't noticed earlier, though I was suspecting something.

You got this in time...Chloe will be ok....don't beat up on yourself, k? Keep us posted!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Cats are very good at hiding pain and illness and probably many other things from us so please don't blame yourself for not noticing this issue sooner. I'm glad that you're going to take her to the vet. Hopefully your vet will be able to diagnose her problem and give her something that will make her feel better. Please continue to keep us updated. Good luck.

[kb2yjx]

Ask your vet is there is any chance that Chloe may have food allergies. Good luck...

[Freedom]

It doesn't matter HOW attentive you are; they are going to surprise you! that is one thing cats are VERY good at doing. You DID notice this, and you ARE taking action. You are doing fine as a meowmie!

I had to take Vita to the vet's this week for her sneezing. She has had URI's before. I have had other cats have it. I knew she has been sneezing. BUT I still didn't realize she had a cold and not just the odd sneeze now and then until she was sneezing non stop. It happens to all of us in part because cats are cats - they hide their illnesses quite well.

You won't need to rehome Paris, even if Paris is a part of the problem. There are many ways to address it. But the first step it to discover what is happening.

Let us know what the vet says!

[heidiv]

Well as most of you have said the vet needs us to take it one step at a time. Chloe being Chloe makes the vet think its an emotional situation. So we sat down and made a list of things that have changed in the last 4 to 6 weeks. Well Christmas came and went. We moved our smaller love seat couch to a spare bedroom till we could take down our tree. And that was the thing the vet thought was her problem she said the areas that she is chewing isn't rashy or anything just really groomed close.... So she said we need to take it step by step first getting her couch out where she likes it. Then if there is no change then change back to her Iams Adult food(Which she and the other cats liked real well but they all gained alot of weight on it).

THANK THE LORD-she really did not think Paris is the problem. Since the two of them tend to pick on Mopar together..... almost gang up.(Because Mopar is really sensitive.) She took all of her vital signs and did a fecal test. And it looked all normal. So she thought instead of putting her on anti-anxiety medication she would rather start with behavioral things first and if there is no change then we will need to go down another road. I covered the fact of the thyroid issues and diet issues and she didn't think either of these was the issue.

So for now we are starting things real slow starting with the Christmas Tree and love seat. And then we will observe. If the constant grooming starts again we will try the food change and if it gets to the point where she is licking her flesh off then we will need to look into meds.

The girls at the vet clinic call me the lady with all the siamese cats????? I only have two?? But that is an unusual thing for this area not very many pure bred cats around here.There should be if people even knew how awesome they are!!! Thank You to everyone for the good thoughts and advice. Chloe is glad to be home tonight and is running around the house like a maniac with Paris so I don't think she is feeling ill by any means

Thank you everyone again
-Heidi-

[Taz_Zoee]

Well that is good news. I hope is it just the temporary change in her environment and everything will be back to normal as soon as her couch is where she likes it.
And you keep up your good parenting skills. I know how you can feel guilty, I have a dog going through anxiety issues right now and I feel helpless. But you did help Chloe and will continue until you find out what is causing it.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I know that cats hate change so hopefully this is the cause. I hope that she'll stop overgrooming so her fur will grow back soon. Good luck.

[jennielynn1970]

I think the emotional/obsessive compulsive thing sounds right. I have a foster up stairs that I took in from our shelter. Sassy was such a pathetic soul at the shelter. He was lacking hair on most of his lower body, halfway up his middle. He just looked odd. No one knew if it was stress, or if it was a food allergy. I felt so bad for him, because he just wanted to be loved and would tap you on the arm or shoulder for affection.

Once i got him home and with the two other kitties upstairs, he started to mellow out. I also put him on good food (Nutro), and now, his fur is growing back in wonderfully. He's also not as timid as he was. Whoever had him as a pet did one heck of a number on him. He's extremely hand shy, and would bite when you went to pet him. Now he is a lovebug. He stretches up to be held and kissed and hugged. He's doing really well. Only the best home will be considered for this boy. He needs to know that no one will ever mistreat him again, and love him despite his little personality quirks, like licking all his hair away.

Good luck to your girl Chloe! She'll pull through fine!

[heidiv]

Thanks for the good vibes we went back to our old food today and she just ate and ate it was weird. So I think she may be mad about that too???? So today she was in a much better mood. I made a point of spending some extra time with her today. We played with her milk rings and feather toys. I also have been watching Paris closely for her bulliness. She tends to be a little much sometimes. So I am doing some behavior modification with her also. Its really hard but she has to learn somehow to respect the other kitties. She is a little overbearing at times but I love her for it. She doesn't understand why all us don't want to play and love so much(well I love it, but the other kitties don't).