# Ripping Fur Out!



## clg86 (Apr 20, 2010)

We moved house last Monday and Bunk won't stop ripping his fur out!:frown:

He's med/long haired and constantly grooms himself anyway, but he's ripping his fur out with his teeth and scratching so hard that clumps of fur are flying everywhere!

We knew he'd be stressed at first because he was when we first got him because he was a rescue but I've never seen him this bad. We are trying to do everything we can to calm him but there's no stopping him. 

He's coughed up 4 fur balls in the last week and I don't know what to do :confused1:

I've always had cats but never had a problem like this before. What can I do?

Thanks in advance, 

A very worried Mummy...


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Ok, could be a reaction to stress but could he have fleas and perhaps a flea allergy? Could you check? 

If it is stress, have you considered investing in a feliway plug-in for a month to see whether that calms him down or some rescue remedy?


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Is it possible that your cat has picked up fleas from his new environment.Is it a previously occupied house.There may have been a flea problem with previous tennant(no disrespect intended )Just a thought.If you feel it to be stress related you could try a feliway diffuser plug in.


Sorry for double post you beat me to it hobbs


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

I type faster! Good to know we are both thinking the same......


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## clg86 (Apr 20, 2010)

Haha, thanks to you both...

I suppose it is possible. The people before us had a dog and the state of the house when we moved in wasn't the cleanest so it is a possiblity. I have just booked him in the vets for tomorrow to give his a check over and I will invest in a feliway plug.

We've also just bought a furminator brush. Amazing! I could make a wig with the amount of fur that's coming out of him...not that I need one...

Thanks x


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Since you have just brushed your cat - did you see any fleas? Any blackish specks? Did he feel as though he had hives (thinking in terms of allergy)?


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## clg86 (Apr 20, 2010)

Nope, just a bit of dry skin but I think that's due to him scratching so much. It's not there all the time and there isn't alot of it. But no sign of flea's as of yet.

Do you know where the cheapest place to buy a Feliway plug is? My vet is selling them at £31.00!!! I know I need to get him one but i'm sure I can get one cheaper somewhere...


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

The best deals on Feliway are online. For example, Feliway Diffuser - Feliway pet healthcare. But [email protected] also do them, not sure for how much.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Just bought one on zoo plus with new customer discount was about £22.00
but shop around on line ebay ect. [email protected] are expensive


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## clg86 (Apr 20, 2010)

Just got one from Vetmedsdirect.co.uk Should have been £21.99 but got 10% off and free shipping! Hope it works...


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## Tobacat (Oct 24, 2009)

Is he pulling fur out in any particular area? If my female gets fleas, she will bite and pull at her fur around her stomach, back legs and around her tail until she is bare. If you come to the conclusion it is fleas, the vet can give you a stronger flea treatment and can give an injection to de-sensitize (sorry not sure how to spell!) the area.

Even if it is fleas or another reason, it won't do any harm getting a Feliway diffuser as it may help your cat relax a bit after moving. Google Feliway diffuser and a number of suppliers will come up.


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## clg86 (Apr 20, 2010)

Tobacat said:


> Is he pulling fur out in any particular area? If my female gets fleas, she will bite and pull at her fur around her stomach, back legs and around her tail until she is bare. If you come to the conclusion it is fleas, the vet can give you a stronger flea treatment and can give an injection to de-sensitize (sorry not sure how to spell!) the area.
> 
> Even if it is fleas or another reason, it won't do any harm getting a Feliway diffuser as it may help your cat relax a bit after moving. Google Feliway diffuser and a number of suppliers will come up.


He's now got a bald patch on his left arm...

We took him to the vets last night and he was given an injection and I bought frontline and a spray for the house.

The Feliway plug came this morning and I've plugged that in, and we are brushing him twice a day with the furminator brush. So we are doing as much as we can at this stage. It's just upsetting to see him scratch in bpull his fur out! We keep trying to distract him but he just moves to another room and does it anyway.

He's not interested in playing either so I know it's stress, but he's so pampered it makes you wonder what you're doing wrong :


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2010)

This is a very very good article on cat and stress, if you also go on the main fab site it gives advice on enriching your cats enviroment, also if it's stress has your vet dicussed Zyklene, I have one of mine on it for stress and it has help so much, it has completely cured her but it has certainly taken the edge off


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## jomary-austin (Apr 9, 2009)

I knew somebody who's cat reacted badly to a new carpet and ended up with bald patches. They got rid of the carpet in the end and he got better. 

Hopefully in Bunk's case its just the fleas, although flea treaments can end up as expensive as a new carpet! (I spent £80 on some stuff from the vets and the little blighters are still with us so have just shelled out another £80 for some different stuff).

Could be a combination of fleas and stress, am sure cats find moving as stressful as we do. Are you keeping him in while he gets used to the new house as that will make him bored, or is he a house boy anyway?

My cat Cash has just pulled a load of hair out on his arm, I think his problem is flea dermatitis so am dealing with that issue first. He's definitely not stressed as he is acting normally in every other way, playing, eating, sleeping ok etc. 

If Bunk has dry skin try putting evening a tiny drop of evening primrose, flax seed and or fish oils in his food, I did with Cashie and his skin is much better now and his coat SHINES!!

Really hope Bunk feels better soon.


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## rachael (Jul 30, 2008)

Did the injection from your vet help? Did you guys rule out skin issues?

One product I know to work very well is Bitter Apple spray. It's a spray that is safe for your pet to consume, but it tastes awful. It is advertised to help animals stop biting themselves. We would spray out furniture with it when our puppy was first teething.

It didn't work when my dog was biting himself, but I think that's because the bottle we have is about 4 years old and we couldn't get that much spray on him since he's a big dog.

I accidentally tasted this stuff before, it is so awful, and the taste lasts for so long.

I live in America and I'm not sure if they sell it in the UK, but if they don't have this brand I'm sure they have some other brand that is the same thing.

Good luck!

Grannick's Bitter Apple


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## clg86 (Apr 20, 2010)

> Could be a combination of fleas and stress, am sure cats find moving as stressful as we do. Are you keeping him in while he gets used to the new house as that will make him bored, or is he a house boy anyway?


He's always been indoors and when we first got him he used to pull fur off his belly, but we managed to get him out of the habit. He has plenty of toys and things to keep him occupied and my OH is off for 6 weeks (lucky teachers...) so he's not been left alone too much, although he is quite used to being alone for a few hours anyway.



> Did the injection from your vet help? Did you guys rule out skin issues?


The injection hasn't really stopped him scratching or chewing himself, and to be honest, I'm pretty sure its not a skin irritation or fleas...

We de-flea'd him and the vet said there was no sign of fleas anyway, but we did it as a precaution with moving into a house that had a dog previously. With regards to it being a skin irritation, again, the vet couldn't see any problems and if it was a skin problem, he would be doing it constantly no matter where he is. The reason I say this is because I've started taking him out on a lead so he can get to know his surroundings and eventually once he's settled we can let him out on his own. Yet when he's outside, he will happily sit in the sun or mooch around in bushes and even just sit and watch the world go by, and he doesn't scratch or lick or try to pull his fur out at all!

He has calmed down a little and we now have the Feliway plug in and we've started to take him out each day in the afternoon. There hasn't been a fur ball on my kitchen floor for a few days as we keep brushing as much excess fur out as we can, so hopefully he is on the mend...

The trip to the vet was more expensive than knowledgable. Everything the vet suggested I'd already tried or was in the process of trying.

I bought Bunk a couple of new things to play with yesterday and he seemed interested but soon got bored. He's such a fussy moggie!:arf:


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## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

Well I am glad you did not resort to covering him in Bitter Apple!
Ok, so you have hopefully eliminated the potential of fleas...and the vet has presumably given him a steroid shot to calm down any inflammation.
I would be giving him Evening Primrose oil and/or Fish oil in tiny amounts daily to help soothe his skin, it really helps my itchy-scratchy cat.
It does really sound as if he wants to be an out door cat...and this is an interesting case study for the indoor v outdoor debate. Quite simply, some cats really need to have access to the outside with all the stimulation that gives.
Good Luck!


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## clg86 (Apr 20, 2010)

No I didn't do the bitter apple solution, mainly because he probably would have liked it! Through advice when he was licking the fur off his belly when we first got him, I tried sudacrem and TCP and he licked them both right off!
Only through me jumping on him everytime I caught him licking it did he realise he needed to stop... (I didn't ACTUALLY jump on him )

Do I just put these oils in his water or on his food? The Feliway seems to be doing the trick calming him but he does still have moments were he's scratching himself for ages but just staring whilst doing it like he's in another world. He also sprayed up my kitchen door yesterday which he's NEVER done! He has been neutered though so I can't understand it...:confused1:

I love him to pieces but he's a right pain in the :ciappa: at the minute!


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## clg86 (Apr 20, 2010)

I've just read somewhere that it could be an ear infection, but he doesn't really scratch his ears, just under his chin mainly.

Would vitamin E do any good/harm?


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Problem with Vitamin E is that you can overdose on it quickly as it is a fat soluble vitamin that gets stored in the body. 

I would echo Paddypaws advice and check out evening primrose oil. You just add that to the food. It is often used successfully in cats that have an allergic reaction that manifests itself in skin problems. Also gives beautiful clear skin and coat.


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## clg86 (Apr 20, 2010)

hobbs2004 said:


> Problem with Vitamin E is that you can overdose on it quickly as it is a fat soluble vitamin that gets stored in the body.
> 
> I would echo Paddypaws advice and check out evening primrose oil. You just add that to the food. It is often used successfully in cats that have an allergic reaction that manifests itself in skin problems. Also gives beautiful clear skin and coat.


Great! I will give it a go. Thanks guys :thumbup:


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