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Expert: - 5/14/2011


Question
My cat was acting normal. She seemed to have a happy life with no issues. She has started hanging out a lot outside because our house I extremely hot and I think she wants shade. She developed two large mats on her back close to the spine from rolling around in the dirt outside. I tries to remove them, but had to end up clipping them out. They were pretty bad, so most of the hair on her back was taken off. Because of this I notice twitching on her back. The clipping was yesterday. Today she started crying loudly in the hallway and then slept under the bed all day. When she finally got up she went outside and didn't come in for the whole night. She won't eat treats and she seems mad. Not her usual loving self. She seems skittish and aggravated. She is almost 2 years old and spayed. She hates going to the vet and is traumatized and depressed when I bring her back from a visit, so I do t want to go the vet route. What should I do?

Answer
Cassandra,

Like it or not, I would have her checked out by your vet.  It is strange that the matting would occur only on the back unless, she may have been bitten by another cat or an insect and it has festered and abscessed. Often the symptoms you are describing may be due to a health problem and she could be feeling quite a bit of discomfort.

Traumatizing or not, a visit to the vet looks to be what you should do for her next!

Please let me know what transpires.

Concerned regards... Norm

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Norman Auspitz

Expertise

I can answer most non-veterinary questions about cats. My particular expertise is pedigree cats, breeding and showing. However, I am versed in feline behavior, cat breeds and their characteristics, general feline husbandry, and the like.

Experience

I judged for the Canadian Cat Association from 1975 until 1982. I am currently an approved allbreed judge for the Cat Fanciers'' Association (the world''s largets cat registry), and have been judging for them since 1991. I have been breeding pedigreed cats since 1971 and have been exhibiting pedigreed cats in shows since 1970. I obtained my first pedigreed cat in 1970 and have never looked back. In 1971, I obtained my first Abyssinian which has become my primary breed. In addition, I have bred Manx and Persians. Currently, besides the Abyssinians, I am also breeding Maine Coons.


Organizations
Cat Fanciers'' Association, inc. (CFA) and the Manx, Maine Coon, and Abyssinian breed councils. I am currently Abyssinian breed council secretary.

Publications
Cat Fancy Magazine, The Abyssinian Chapter in The Cat Fanciers'' Association Complete Cat Book, and Articles for various editions of The Cat Fanciers'' Association Yearbook

Education/Credentials
I received a B.S. from Drexel University in 1968, a M.Math from University of Waterloo, in 1970, a Ph.D. from University of Waterloo in 1975, and a MBA from McMaster University in 1980. I received my approved allbreed judging status in the Cat Fanciers'' Association in 1999.

Awards and Honors
We have produced a number of Cat Fanciers'' Association (CFA) National winning Abyssinian and Maine Coons. We have produced a number of Abyssinian and Maine Coon Distinguished Merit females (an award for a top producing cat), including the first Distinguished Merit Abyssinian in the red (sorrel) color. I am the CFA Abyssinian breed council secretary and belong and/or hold office in a number of cat clubs. I am also a member of the CFA Judges Association.

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