My cat is licking fur off her body and shivering. What's the cause?

Question

My cat has been licking the fur off of her body, and, at times, shivers. Other than that, she is her usual self. What could be causing this? I don’t see any flea dirt or fleas. She’s an inside cat. Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Female | unspayed | 10 years and 1 month old | 9 lbs

Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS · Accepted Answer

This presentation could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. Abnormal behaviour causing overgrooming (stress related) is possible as well but first of all the other possible causes must be ruled out. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment (even if you did not see any), then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

My cat is licking fur off her body and shivering. What's the cause?

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