My cat is over-licking his tail, now it's reddish-brown. What to do?

Excessive grooming of the rear may indicate fleas or worms. The area she's paying attention to is classic for flea allergy. The most common worms are tapeworms, which your pet gets by grooming and ingesting a flea carrying the tapeworm eggs. A broad spectrum dewormer can be gotten from your vet as well as a topical or oral flea control such as Cheristin or Comfortis. You might also consider asking your vet for a dose of Capstar. It helps get the problem under control by killing the fleas on the cat starting in five minutes but only lasts for 24 hours. You also need to treat your home environment. If you use a pest control service, tell them you are having a flea problem and they can adjust their treatment. Use a premise spray that also contains an IGR, insect growth regulator. This will keep eggs and larvae from maturing into adults and helps break the life cycle. Also, vacuum EVERY DAY, throwing out the bag or emptying the canister every time into an outside receptacle and spraying the contents with insecticide to kill the fleas you’ve vacuumed up. Treat your yard as well, since fleas are opportunistic and will hop a ride into your home on your pant leg without you knowing it. Concentrate on areas under bushes, in the shade. Fleas are less likely to be located in open sunny areas where it gets hot. You might want to consider boarding your cat for the day at your vet, to give you the opportunity to flea bomb your house without having to worry about your cat. They can bathe your cat and give a dose of Capstar while you take care of the problem at home. Be patient, you may have to repeat these steps multiple times 10-14 days apart to help break the flea life cycle.

This could be from either an environmental allergies, food (if you introduced any new treats, etc), or just anxiety. Some cats as they get older will become obsessive groomers and will cause sores like this on their abdomens. A lot of cats will only groom when no one is around. I would first try some Benadryl twice a day and you can even spray it with a Benadryl spray to see if it helps with the itching. If this doesn't work, I would have your vet take a look at it to see if you need to try a stronger allergy meds like a steroids, antibiotics or just an anti-anxiety medicine. See link below for Benadryl dosing. I hope this helps! https://www.petcoach.co/canigive/cat/benadryl/#

The first step to managing Oden's overgrooming and skin irritation involves determining why this is occurring in the first place. Some cats overgroom due to anxiety or stress, while others pull out their hair while itching due to fleas, allergies or skin infections. Until you can get to the vet, I recommend putting an e-collar (cone) on Oden to prevent him from licking or chewing at his hind end further, as this can only make matters worse. Also be sure that you are using a good quality flea prevention (Advantage is a great option that is available over the counter) on Oden regularly, as some cats are highly allergic to even one or two flea bites. As soon as you are financially able to do so, I recommend taking Oden to the vet. He may need diagnostic testing of his skin, oral antibiotics or oral steroids to manage this condition. Many shelters also offer discounted veterinary services, if needed.

You can try applying Neosporin and giving it time. Unfortunately, tip of the tail injuries like this can be very difficult to heal since there is not much tissue or a very good blood supply to the very tip of a cat's tail. Sometimes they are licking it to clean even when you don't see, which will significantly slow healing. If it doesn't appear to be healing in a few days, then your kitty should get checked out by a vet. Sometimes we need to amputate the tip of the tail so that we can close healthy tissue over the bone to aid with healing.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Chester. I recommend that he sees his veterinarian. He should be checked for a traumatic wound to the tail or even a small mass that it is irritating him. If this is not the case, he could have a neurologic condition that makes the tail tingle or painful. His veterinarian will likely prescribe treatment based on his exam findings. I hope this information helps!

Poor kitty! There are a few causes including fleas, environmental allergy and food allergy. Fleas are very suspicious for that region. You can rule them out by using a good flea product like Revolution or Cheristan. You will need to use it for a couple months, if the skin clears up then you know it’s fleas! It sounds like your cat is uncomfortable with the description of chewing off all the hair and the red skin. A visit to your veterinarian can provide some relief with medications. I recommend to have your cat checked out to make him feel better quickly. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Poor Baby! I would talk to your vet about whether a long acting steroid like depo-medrol may be beneficial as long as he is healthy enough and they don't think it will cause it to get worse. I would also make sure he is staying on a monthly high quality flea preventative as this can be a major cause for allergies in cats. Another option would be to ask for a referral to see a dermatologist or to find a alternative vet to discuss acupuncture or herbs as an option. I hope this helps and he starts to feel better really soon!