I'm trying to find out if a cat overgrooming itself can be caused by needing to have their teeth cleaned?

My cat Baylee has been overgrooming herself for quite a long time now. I've tried Bach's Crab Apple, and SpiritEssence's Obsession Remedy. Neither did much. I may have tried other Bach remedies early on, but I can't remember which. I also tried a homeopathic remedy for itchiness in case that was the cause. That didn't work either.

I know she does need to have her teeth cleaned, but I've been holding off due to her vestibular syndrome relapses, one of which she had yesterday.

Thanks for your help.

Trish

Hey Trish!

It's good to see you here.

I'm sorry to hear that Baylee's relapsed again. I hope she's feeling better soon!

I've searched and searched, but I can't find anything that links overgrooming to dental problems. I'd recommend a trip to the vet and make sure everything's okay.

Quote:

Allergies are a common reason why cats over-groom and pull out their fur. Flea allergy, food allergy, and atopy (allergy to airborne substances) are three common causes of allergy in cats.

Here's the rest of the articles on hair loss - they're really very good.

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Here's some more on overgrooming -

Quote:

This problem will often include, but is not limited to: allergy, parasites, dermatophytosis (fungal infections in the hair or skin), cystitis, gastroenteritis and anal sacculitis. It will be necessary for your veterinarian to do blood work, a urinalysis, a fecal exam, check the anal glands and test hair for dermatophytes (DTM), as a minimum database. In addition, skin biopsies often help with this diagnosis.

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I hope that helps, and again, welcome!

Welcome to the forum, Trish!

I'm not surpised the Bach remedies didn't do anything. All they are is extremely diluted water that had some flower petals in the first batch of water. They were not intended for use in animals, but somehow it got to be "the thing" for some people to use them with animals. There is no real evidence that diluted flower petal water does anything at all for animals or humans.

But even if you hold fast that the flower water works if the correct one was used for a correct situation, a cat overgrooming is most often due to a physical cause.

Tooth and gum problems would not result in overgrooming per se, but if a cat is in pain and feeling stressed, it will often groom more to try to help itself somehow feel better. That won't work, of course, if the teeth and gums are hurting.

Itchy skin to due to various causes will result in overgrooming. That can be due to dry skin- perhaps due to humans bathing the cat too often, food allergies, contact allergies- even due to the laundry detergent you use on cloth items the cat lays on such as bedspreads, flea bite allergy (even if you don't see fleas, the cat still could have been bitten by one causing an allergic reaction), and other skin problems.

If Baylee is feeling stressed due to other cats or dog(s) in the home, steps need to be taken by you to reduce that stress, such as providing more places for the animals to spread out away from each other, having many litter boxes in different areas of the home, and having food and water in different rooms so Baylee can have a chance to get to the resources without running into another cat or dog if you have one.

You need to take your cat to the vet to have the cause of the overgrooming figured out. Talk to the vet about what to do about the dental considering your cat's vestibular problem. Maybe it won't really matter. The cat won't need to stay balanced for the procedure, after all .

What bloodwork has Baylee had done in the past few months? Feline leukemia, feline infectious peritonitis and feline immunodeficiency virus can sometimes cause central nervous system problems. Vestibular problems are occasionally seen in cats with hypothroidism, and dry skin also seen in cats who are hypothryoid.

Thanks for the article. I searched a while ago and couldn't find anything relating the two either. I've been wanting to get another homeopathic workup done on her - maybe it's time. I don't think it's parasitic or allergy based. She grooms herself a lot when I'm petting her. If I stop, she will usually stop too. And she grooms when I'm washing her butt. She does groom on her own too; mostly her front legs.

I couldn't believe it yesterday when I knew she relapsed. On Friday since we had the blizzard forecasted, I redosed her with the homeopathic remedy recommended by MB. She got through it fine. When she didn't come down for breakfast yesterday I knew. She was in the closet so I brought her food to her. I didn't expect her to eat, but she did. I thought maybe she was just being lazy and that it wasn't a relapse, but I picked her up and she was very tilted. I gave her a diluted dose yesterday morning. At least it was the least severe relapse she's had yet. And of course she's fine today.

Trish

Thanks Margaret.

I'm pretty sure she's not feeling stress from her "sisters". Baylee is the calmest cat I've ever seen. You could slam a book down next to her and she wouldn't even flinch.

She does have dry skin though. I've heard it's common in overweight cats. She's had many medical issues in the 3 years I've had her.

I just have a funny feeling that it's dental related. Her breath is bad and I can see the plaque on her back teeth.

She hasn't had any recent bloodwork done. She's been overgrooming for a long time. Can't tell you how long, but at least a year. It's really getting to me now.

[i]Vestibular problems are occasionally seen in cats with hypothroidism, and dry skin also seen in cats who are hypothryoid./i]

. Nothing personal - don't even go there. I've approached that with various vets until I'm blue in the face. Even went to a specialist because she had many classic signs of hypothyroidism. And her bloodwork came back with very low T4. Yet, they wouldn't medicate her. They just told me to feed her less.

Trish

Well, the main reason I brought her there was her weight. I got her when she was 8 months old. She gained a pound every month. I wasn't concerned until she hit a year old at 12 pounds and didn't see it slowing down at all. She got up to a whopping 16+ pounds before I went the holistic route and started raw feeding. The other hypo symptoms she had were extreme lethargy, dry skin, and fur that came out by the root when I brushed her.

I do have two litterboxes, one upstairs & one downstairs.

And she doesn't do much scratching.

If the dental cleaning doesn't do it, I may do a second homeopathy workup on her since it's been over 2 years from her last one. I'm a firm believer in homeopathy after Abby's treatment. She had severe balance issues. If she jumped out of your arms she would fall on her side. And she fell over frequently. The homeopath gave her lycopodium - 4 drops diluted in a half cup of water, shaken, then 1 ml given to her. I had to do it every 2 weeks for a while, but she made a miraculous recovery. She jumped out of my arms the other night and was all twisted. Landed square on all 4. I felt like such a proud mom.

Trish

Here is something interest that could be a factor, tying in the vestibular symptoms and the overgrooming, both being related to a thiamine deficiency:

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"and thiamine deficiency can lead to fabric sucking and chewing. Other medical disorders (such as parasites or allergies) can cause loss of fur."

That article was about sterotypic behaviors. So while Baylee isn't chewing and sucking fabric, overgrooming is a stereotypic behavior.

You don't feed raw fish, do you?

Abby came to me with balance problems. At first I assumed she had been in a cage in the shelter too long but it never resolved itself. Conventional vets were puzzled.

Baylee's IVS relapses last no more than a day and then she's back to normal.

I feed the recipe from catnutrition & blakkatz. It has muscle meat, heart, liver, Vitamin B complex, salmon oil, Vitamin E, & glandulars. No I don't feed fish or pork. Just chicken most of the time, then turkey & rabbit. Abby is the only one who likes beef.

I'll check out the article. Thanks