My cat Nina is an over-groomer, constantly scratching and biting at herself; and my job (for her health and my sanity) was to find out why.
What I do first (and I'm sure most of you as well) is ask my good friend Google. We all know that Google can be our best friend and our worst enemy, but yet we still turn to that glowing monitor of instant gratification to see if we can figure out life's mysteries. After reading way too many possibilities (does she have fleas? parasites? maybe a food allergy?... skin allergy? omgggg), I smartened up and brought Nina in to see the great doctors at Vets & Pets.
After a couple months of ruling out possible conditions and an in-home visit from Dr. Cleveland (our favorite Vet!), it was determined that Nina has Psychogenic Alopecia. Never heard of that? Neither had I, but once I educated myself on it, it was Nina to a 'T'. I still have yet to determine what is causing her stress, but at least it has a name and I know how to manage it... whew! Check out the links below to read more.
Please keep in mind, I am not a vet, but just one cat momma sharing interesting info to other kitty parents in hopes of helping find some relief to the itchy-scratchy ones :)
Peace, Love, and Furballs
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