My baby boy Brant is a Healthy 8 yr/old Russian Blue. He's energetic, playful and above all he's cuddly. He also one of the sweetest cats. Lately he's been constantly licking the lower half of his body. It's been about 5 months of him licking himself close to furless. Sometimes he eats to quick and throws up, but that's normal with 4 cats. He's an indoor cat because he has major anxiety when he goes out. He don't like loud noise. To me, he's perfectly normal, especially clean, and handsome.

Updated On March 9th, 2020

Pet's info: Cat | Russian Blue | Male | neutered | 7 years and 4 months old | 13 lbs

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Answered By Dr. Elizabeth

Veterinarian

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The most common reasons for licking could include allergies to fleas, allergies to something in the environment, stress, food allergy or endocrine disease. Each one of these problems is detected and addressed differently and I recommend to discuss with your veterinarian which one to start hunting down first. Parasites are often ruled out with an oral medication like Comfortis. Food allergy is best ruled out with a diet trial using a hydrolyzed protein. Endocrine diseases are detected with blood work. Environmental allergies are a little more difficult to detect but a response to therapy or a blood test can give an indication. Once you figure out and address the underlying cause, the lesions should not come back. Stress is a little harder to diagnose. This link may help: https://www.petcoach.co/article/excessive-grooming-in-cats-what-it-means-and-how-to-help/ There are a couple things you can do at home and they can help but they may not address the underlying cause. You can try adding in an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for pets, this can help improve the skin health. You may also try changing his diet to something like Royal Canin or Nutro as they are aimed at skin health. Also protect the area from trauma by having Bryant wear an elizabethan collar at all times. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

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