Expert: Norman Auspitz - 4/6/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I have a kitten who over-cleans herself.  She is a long haired cat and I have bought and tried several different kinds of brushes and combs, but she just cleans herself so much that her fur is scruffy - so scruffy that I named her Scruff Puff.  She is a beautiful cat - long haired, pure white with two blue eyes and I have tried to keep her coat nice and combed out, but I can't keep up with her over cleaning herself.  She is always damp or wet from her cleaning herself and it is rare to pet her and not find a wet spot.  I would equate it to a person washing their hair over and over again and not combing it after each wash - what your hair would look like after doing this is about the same as what Scruff Puff's fur looks like.  It's not matted - not yet and this is also a concern for me - but it's really messy looking.  She looks like she's a homeless cat that's been outside without any love or care for a long time.  I don't know what to do about this other than to keep trying to brush her as much as I can, which I'm doing now, but I can't keep up with how many times she cleans herself.  What can I do????

ANSWER: Kathie,

Remember, I ma not a vet. There are a couple of possibilities.

Is she spayed yet? How old is she? How long has this been going on?

The first is that she has developed an allergy, most probably to food or fleas or the like.  To find out if the cat does have an allergy requires a fair bit of detective work.

Another possibility is that she may have an oversensitivity to body mites.  Thus is easily treatable with a drug called Ivermectin.

Your first step is to take her to your vet and have her checked out.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: No, she doesn't have any bugs.  She's an indoor cat and my house is clean.  She also doesn't scratch herself.

She is just over 5 months old, so she isn't fixed yet.

I will look into the idea that she could have an allergy.  You're right - it will be a job playing detective to figure this out.  She was a "scruff" when I adopted her, so I think this will narrow it down because I will just need to figure out the common factors between my house and my daughter's (I adopted her from my daughter).  I feed her different food than my daughter did, so I think my first step will be to switch from the scented scoopable litter to a non-scented one because we both use the same brand of litter.

I will also discuss this over-cleaning with my vet when I see her next, when Scruff Puff is 6 months old, to be fixed, and I thank you for your time in answering me.  An allergy is not something that I was even thinking of!

Answer
Kathie,

The usual things cats are allergic to in food are corn, soy, wheat.  Sometimes the food allergies do not set in until they are reaching puberty.  At age 5 months, this is a possibility.

As to body mites, you would not be able to see them as they are microscopic.  We have given Ivermectin, just in case.

It is also possible spaying may blunt the behavior as it could also be due to hormones.

Please let me know what your vet says.

Best regards... Norm.