Overgrooming, vets or not?

[Hemskis]

Lucy moved in almost two weeks when I adopted her and Jas from a local rescue. Lucy is a very scared cat but is starting to settle in and will take treats and have the occasional cuddle.
The rescue said she was allergic to flea bites but she is up to date in flea treatment. I think she has been overgrooming from the stress of moving and she now has bald patches by each ear and by one leg. One area is looking really sore.
I'm going to have to take her to the vet aren't I? The insurance isn't valid yet but I don't mind paying, it's the trauma for Lucy of going to the vet that I'm worried about. She is such a scaredy cat and I feel like this will really set her back. On the other hand I don't want her to be I'll or get worse. Giving her any treatment will be very tricky. I've tried calling the rescue for advice and they said they would call back but haven't yet. Any advice would be gratefully received, even if it's telling me to get a grip and brave the vets.

My neighbours cat over grooms and has little bald spots all over and she takes him for a steroid shot every couple of months.

A close up of her face.

And all of her with the shorter patch by her leg. The fluff underneath is her tail.

I am a vet, definitely take her. She won't be covered on insurance for this anyway, as it is a pre-existing condition.

Which flea treatment are you using?

If a shot would help that would be super. I suppose I'd have to take them soon anyway to sort out flea treatment so this will just be sooner than planned. My last cat Ruby was a big softie and would let me groom her, trim claws and so on with only token protests.
Lucy will need the cat towel burrito treatment :(

She had a dose from the rescue when they dropped her off. That's one of the things I wanted to find out from them as well, which sort it was.
I don't feel they were quite as forthcoming about her fearful nature and skin issues but I want to do the best for her.
I'll call the vets this morning and get an appointment sorted.

Are you using Feliway to help her settle?

Our allergic cat has recently been variously given a steroid injection which lasted a week, and steroid tablets which she will eat in yoghurt so it’s not been too traumatic for her (even though she does hate her box and the vets). Still not sure what she’s allergic to unfortunately - your girl might be allergic to something other than fleas also?

I've got feliway and pet remedy, not sure they are doing much.
She spent the first few days behind the fridge. We blocked it off and she took to hiding in a box I set up upstairs under a desk with the front of the desk partly covered. I spent a lot of time sitting nearby and handfeeding treats but she wouldn't come out completely. It's only the last 2 days or so that she has started to come downstairs in the daytime so I've been able to get a better look at her.
Yesterday she tried to sleep sitting up on the window sill, today she has relaxed enough to lie down and sleep. I think her stress levels are coming down but if it's sore she will keep scratching and licking I imagine.

It may just be a habit now that she needs to break, but it will take time. I'd give her a few more weeks to settle and see if it calms down at all. What food does she eat? One of mine over groomed a little, but I wasn't sure it was stress related or not (had her since she was about 4/5 weeks, she's nearly 8yo now, always been pretty chilled and content) - so looks at her diet (Royal Canin dry food) and changed to grain free (Applaws). It seems to have worked!

Lucy is off to see the vet tomorrow evening a d i'm not looking forward to getting her into the carrier. I'm not allowed in but I've warned them that she is very scared and might scratch in her struggles to get away.

I'm transitioning them onto a grain free diet and have a fish oil supplement as well which they both enjoy.

Lucy is definitely more relaxed which is great although she is very nervous of hands.

Oh dear, makes you wonder what’s happened to her doesn’t it?. One of mine was hand shy, she was an abandoned pet then feral.

A friend's cat was over grooming; after the vet's treatment made no difference I suggested Zylkene - cat no longer over grooms. Then again that vet is crap, he's left them now for various other reasons.

After much trauma poor Lucy is now at the vet. I'm not allowed in so am waiting in the car. I've asked them to sort out her flea and parasite treatments at the same time so we don't have to come back any time soon. Fingers crossed they can help.

Oh dear, who’s more traumatised you or Lucy?.

Sounds like you’re in for a stony silence on the way home.

Poor puss. What had you been using to treat for fleas up until now? If there is any chance they are in the house then you should Indorex.

She came to me from the rescue two weeks ago and was treated then. I am very sensitive to flea bites so would have noticed if we had any.
The poor girl was so scared she peed :( I feel horrible but I just couldn't leave her with those big bald bleeding patches.

But treated with what?

Flea treatment, the rescue aren't retuning my calls so I don't know exactly what they used. They've been less than helpful.

My experience is that finding what helps can be a bit of trial error.
Keeping on top of flea treatments is one thing, another is grain free food. Our kitty has ended up with a prescription diet as she also started having bladder problems and that has almost completely solved the grooming problem too.
I remember thinking that going to the vet was stressing her out and making it worse, but it eventually made all the difference.
I hope Lucy feels better soon.

We had a dog who did this when first moved in, personally I wouldn't go to the vets at this stage as you'll just be spending money for them to not find anything (as it's due to the stress of moving) and they'll do loads of blood tests at huge expense (well ours did literally every time we took them) and then give you some medicine for the skin that is also very expensive.

The rescue recommended sudocrem as it helps the skin heal and stops them licking the area due to the taste. The other thing to try is one of those calming plug in things to reduce anxiety, Feliway I think they might be called for cats.

Trial and error obv.
Fully furred cat now

Should say on the paperwork. Anything OTC won’t be effective. And frontline is rubbish too.

She can’t avoid the basket though so you have to be as business like as possible so she doesn’t get the idea it’s a bad thing.

You can try zylkene a day before, it’s well tolerated in food and will just take the edge off what she finds enormously frightening. Hopefully she’ll learn nothing bad happens when you get boxed.

All done, she's had a steroid injection and an antibiotic injection. If no improvement in a week she can have a special bath at the vet. He commented on how very scared she was :(
I do feel it was right to take her though.