18m/o girl cat pulling out fur?

[googoodolly]

We have two cats, siblings. They're eighteen months old and we've had them since they were twelve weeks, both are neutered indoor cats (can't go outside as we live in a second-floor flat).

The girl has always been nervous. When we got her, she was terrified of everything and her previous owner said she ran and hid at anything loud or scary. She's been getting better since and she will come and sit with us for a fuss and cuddle, but not for long and she still scares very easily.

We've noticed that on the left side of her lower back, above her tail, she's getting a bald patch because she's constantly biting her fur and pulling it out. Is this just anxiety and what can we do about it? She seems healthy otherwise.

That sounds more like a flea allergy, or possibly mites. What do you treat her with?

We have Advocate but neither of them have had any sign of fleas/mites etc. for at least six or seven months.

In that case then yes, it could be anxiety. Have you tried Feliway?

Not yet - would it help? They're not aggressive with each other - they play fight though.

My previous cat had a problem like this. The tearing and scratching out of fur began near her tail on her back and she ended up with large bald spots. When we took her to the vet she was also diagnosed with a staph infection the vet said was caused by constant scratching at the bald spots.

We treated her with ABs and a dietary supplement of Vitamin E oil (iirc) that we squirted from capsules onto her food. The vet blamed an allergy to artificial colours and preservatives in her dry food and recommended an expensive, preservative and colour-free dry food; her lovely coat grew back within a very short time of finishing up the ABs and the new food and vitamin supplement prevented any recurrence of the tearing out of fur. According to the vet, the old food had caused itching that led to her tearing out her fur.

She always had a flighty and nervous manner too. This remained, but she had no more fur loss.

Yes I was also going to say that it's not necessarily anxiety, and if you've definitely ruled out fleas and mites then an allergy is also a suspect. I think a vet visit would be a good idea.