Cat with sensitive skin

[brimfullofasha]

I'm hoping more experienced cat owners may be able to help me. We got our rescue cat in the summer and I noticed a patch of thin fur near her tail. This got progressively worse and became sore/scabby. It was clear she was over grooming herself. She's pretty laid back and happily plays and comes for cuddles. I've ordered a Feliway just in case. She's regularly treated for fleas.

The vet has given 2 steroid injections but these only seem to work for a week. They've checked her anal glands which are fine. They suggested cutting out fish from her diet and getting hypoallergenic food. They could try medication but suggest trying everything else first as it is expensive.

Has anyone had similar and found something that works? Thanks!

Not similar with my cats, but I found Zylkene worked well for calming and when I recommended it to a friend who's cat was overgrooming (otherwise seemed OK) he said it really helped?

My cat over-groomed and it turned out to be a sign of pain. He licked himself bald around his belly and bits, and it turned out he had crystals in his bladder.

He's now on cystease tablets (two per day) and a urinary diet (a brand named Smilla) and his fur is starting to grow back well and he no longer over-grooms himself.

Another cat of mine did similar and it turned out to be a flea allergy.

Thank you both. We will try the feliway and the diet changes and then perhaps go back the vet to explore other issues. Interesting that cystitis could cause overgrooming.

The vet thinks it was his way of trying to stop the pain, bless him. I'd say he over-groomed for a week before showing signs of cystitis - he was then diagnosed with crystals after his symptoms kept reoccurring.

It's been several months now and he's absolutely fine

We thought it could be a flea allergy as she was from a rescue and had been with an owner with multiple pets who couldn't cope. She's definitely not got fleas now though.

I will look out for other symptoms of cystitis. I know it's horrible for them but at least we could treat it.

Even a single flea bite can trigger an issue in a cat with an allergy. What did you flea treat with? Did you treat the house at the same time?

A previous cat of mine did the same thing, he was so sore all over, bless him! Turned out he was sunbathing on top of the car port and was allergic to the leaves of the tree overlooking it!

The car port came down, I never put it back up, the cat stoped itching and his fur grew back.

Thank you for the advice. I do think she is allergic to something but we can't work out what. I don't think it's fleas. The vet has checked several times, she was treated before got her and it has got worse rather than better. I think we'll just have to keep trying to work out what's triggering it. I was worried about being allergic to her but it's the other way round.