Overgrooming in Cats
By: Dr. Katie Vance
Published October 1, 2024
My cat’s belly is naked! What does this mean? This month we are talking about overgrooming in cats!
Grooming is a natural cat behavior that allows cats to clean their fur of dirt and parasites, prevent matting, maintain healthy skin, and thermoregulation. However, overgrooming is when cats lick, chew, and/or bite their fur to an excessive amount where you will see hair loss or sores on the skin. There are medical and behavioral causes for overgrooming.
Grooming is a natural cat behavior that allows cats to clean their fur of dirt and parasites, prevent matting, maintain healthy skin, and thermoregulation. However, overgrooming is when cats lick, chew, and/or bite their fur to an excessive amount where you will see hair loss or sores on the skin. There are medical and behavioral causes for overgrooming.
Medical Causes
Overgrooming can be a response to physical discomfort (itchiness or pain). Common medical conditions that lead to excessive grooming include:
1.) Allergies:
- Cats can develop allergies to food, environmental factors, or even flea bites. Allergic reactions often result in itchy skin, prompting cats to groom excessively to alleviate discomfort.
- Fleas, mites, and ringworm infections can cause itching and irritation, leading to increased grooming. Regular flea and tick prevention is essential.
- Skin infections (bacteria or yeast) can trigger persistent grooming.
- Pain in areas such as the abdomen or joints can cause cats to groom more in an attempt to soothe the discomfort.
Behavioral Factors
Once we have ruled out medical causes for the overgrooming, we are left with behavioral or emotional causes called Psychogenic alopecia. This is often linked to stress or anxiety, and some contributing factors include:
1.) Environmental Changes:
- Changes in a cat’s environment, such as moving to a new home or the introduction/loss of pets or people can create stress. Cats may respond by overgrooming as a coping mechanism.
- Cats that are bored or under-stimulated may resort to excessive grooming as a form of self entertainment. Ensuring your cat has interactive toys and enrichment activities can help alleviate this behavior.
- In some cases, overgrooming can develop into a compulsive disorder. This is often a response to ongoing stress or frustration.
What You Can Do
If you notice your cat engaging in excessive grooming, it’s important to consult with a veterinarian. We will conduct a thorough examination, and a diagnostic work up that may include blood tests, skin cytology/scrapings, fungal cultures, and/or allergy testing to determine the underlying cause.
Treatment will be aimed at managing the underlying cause, if it can be determined. For medical causes this may include allergy medications, dietary changes (for food allergy), flea/tick/mite prevention, pain management, antibiotics, and/or antifungal medication.
If psychogenic alopecia is suspected, treatment involves removing any known stressors, maintaining a routine, providing environmental enrichment (rotating toys, interactive playtime, puzzle toys, outlets for scratching and hiding, etc), and synthetic pheromones (ex: Feliway – calming pheromone). If these lifestyle changes are not managing the behavioral overgrooming, anti anxiety medication may be helpful in managing the disease in conjunction with behavioral modification. If you believe your cat is grooming excessively, please bring them to your primary vet so they can help determine the next best steps!
Treatment will be aimed at managing the underlying cause, if it can be determined. For medical causes this may include allergy medications, dietary changes (for food allergy), flea/tick/mite prevention, pain management, antibiotics, and/or antifungal medication.
If psychogenic alopecia is suspected, treatment involves removing any known stressors, maintaining a routine, providing environmental enrichment (rotating toys, interactive playtime, puzzle toys, outlets for scratching and hiding, etc), and synthetic pheromones (ex: Feliway – calming pheromone). If these lifestyle changes are not managing the behavioral overgrooming, anti anxiety medication may be helpful in managing the disease in conjunction with behavioral modification. If you believe your cat is grooming excessively, please bring them to your primary vet so they can help determine the next best steps!
