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A aggravating skin problem seen in numerous feline companions is when they over-groom and/or pull their hair out. This may occur on any part of the body, but many typically occurs on the tummy and flank regions. Many times there will be no other primary skin lesions or eruptions, but just the presence of the barbered and shortened hair. any cat presenting with this condition ought to have a full skin workup, including possibly skin scrape for mites, assessment of hairs for external skin parasites including fleas and lice, as well as a extensive dermatologic history to evaluate for possibly underlying inhalant/contact allergies and/or food allergies.
In older cats, I find that in some cases internal metabolic diseases may cause excessive grooming and hair pulling, including diseases such as hyperthyroidism. Therefore, any middle-age to older cat with this presentation ought to have a full medical workup discussed here to guideline out underlying causes. In my experience, the large majority of cats with this presentation have some sort of allergic skin disease. A close inspection for fleas and/or flea dirt is also recommended.
Treatment of over-grooming/barbering will depend upon an assessment for these underlying causes. In those cases where no underlying causes can be found, tension or nervous hair pulling is then suspected. In these cases, medications such as amitriptyline or clomipramine may decrease stress-induced licking. In all of these cases, I will typically recommend a natural, preferably raw meat-based diet, which typically has fantastic health benefits. If this is not possible, natural canned diets including ones by Nature’s Variety, PetGuard, and Wysong are my favorites to choose. Immune boosters such as Vetri-DMG liquid can also be valuable in numerous of these cases, especially if there is an emotional component to the problem.