Why is my cat overgrooming, aggressive, and losing fur on his belly?

Question

Hi, we have a cat, around 2-3 years old. I am not sure about the race, but he is ginger :). He mostly lives in the house, as we live in an apartment in a city. But from time to time we take him out. A few weeks ago, he became very sensitive when touched and very aggressive. Also, he started overgrooming his belly and legs till boldness. We are not sure what is causing this kind of behaviour as nothing changed much in our day to day life. Maybe you could suggest what are the causes. Thank you! Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 3 years and 7 months old | 12 lbs

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

Hi, and thanks for your question. This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, 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). If even medications for allergies are effective, a behavioural disorder (overgrooming related to stress) can be suspected. Hope this answer was helpful, but 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. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

Why is my cat overgrooming, aggressive, and losing fur on his belly?

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