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Why is my indoor cat constantly scratching and licking himself?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

My male cat 11 years old is always scratching or licking. He is an indoor cat & never goes outside . Help!

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT

Licensed Veterinary Technician

Published on January 6th, 2017

The first thing to rule out would be fleas. Even though he doesn't go out, fleas can come inside on you or on small mammals such as mice. Check him over for live fleas or fleas dirt. This will be black specks like pepper. Rub them on a moistened cotton ball and you will get rust colored streaks. This is digested blood. Treat with a topical preventative for at least 3 consecutive months, preferably year round. You will also need to treat the environment for fleas to prevent reinfestation. Allergies are also a concern. They can be difficult and frustrating to diagnose, so you will likely need to see your vet for an exam. Consider adding an essential fatty acid supplement (usually a fish oil) to his diet to promote healthy skin. Search www.pet360.com for fish oil supplements such as DermCaps or EicosaCaps. If allergies are diagnosed, your task is to try to determine what he is allergic to and decrease or eliminate it. Discuss food elimination trials, hydrolyzed diets and allergy testing with your vet. At this time of year, dry air can cause dry, itchy skin. Use a humidifier in the house and see if that helps.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

    Veterinarian, Veterinary Oncology Resident

    Published on January 29th, 2019

    Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

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    Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on September 15th, 2017

    This is probably caused by an allergic reaction. first of all make sure you de-flea Scamper regularly every month with a high quality spot on (ex. Advantage, frontline is less effective) as fleas are by far the most common reason for these reactions. If the fleas are not the problem, it could be an allergic reaction to food or an environmental factor. this is more complicated to treat and will sometimes require medications such as Steroids, anti histamines or cyclosporin in order to stop the allergy.

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    Answered By Maria DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on September 23rd, 2018

    Even indoor cats are prone to fleas and this is a primary differential. I would recommend putting flea prevention on Miss and see how she does after a week or so. I would also recommend bringing her to the veterinarian to have them evaluate her skin to make sure she doesn't have a skin infection. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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