# Cat licking too much



## Mar Mar (Aug 3, 2010)

My sister has a 8 year old cat who tends to lick herself too much on the tummy, all this licking has left a weird sore on her stomach. Does anyone know something that can be applied to her stomach to heal it, and keep her from licking the spot? Thanks all help is very appreciated.


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

Your sister's cat should be check out by a vet to determine if this "weird sore" is just from overlicking or something else, like an abscess. 

Some cats will overlick as a way of calming themselves as something is causing them stress. This is a fairly common problem. It could be something like a change in sister's work hourse, a new person living in the house. Sometimes overlicking does become a habit and cat will lick off all the fur on the tummy or inside of legs. It it's become an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), the vet may prescribe some medication to break the cycle and relieve the stress. 

http://cats.about.com/od/behaviortraining/a/catover-grooming.htm


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Welcome to CatForum. Two other things to consider and mention to your vet besides stress, are: flea allergy and food allergy.

All it takes is one flea-bite or one food ingredient to give a kitty an allergic reaction.
Many cats show sensitivities to fish and/or grains in their foods.
Two of our kitties who have passed away would show symptoms when fleas were an issue. Toby would lick his belly and inner hind legs bald and Marmalade would chew/bite at the skin and fur over his pelvis in front of the root of his tail (croup).
I *never* saw fleas on them.
In fact, recently my Malibu was getting little bump-y sores around her neck and at her croup. I thought it was a food allergy because I never saw fleas and I've been buying better quality foods ... but every summer she'd have that reaction and when the weather turned cold, it would stop. So, she started getting those bumps and our newest cat, Skippyjon Jones is a very light colored Siamese-mix and I saw ONE flea on him. _Just one, so there couldn't be many in our home._ But it appears to be enough to cause the allergic reaction.
I treated everyone with a spot on product (Advantage) and sprayed my home for fleas and she is healing very nicely.

So ask your vet to look at the strange sore she is making on her tummy and ask the vet about treatment options for flea allergy, food allergy or stress-factors.
You could also try treating for fleas on your own and see if that helps, then if it doesn't, take kitty to the vet to ask about food allergies or stress-management. 
Best of luck!
heidi =^..^=

PS
_If you decide to treat for fleas on your own ... please do NOT use any flea collars or spot-ons by Hartz. In fact, it is best to never use any flea collars, sprays, powders, shampoos or most pest treatment products available at grocery stores as they can be dangerous and/or ineffective to treat what you are trying to solve. Spend the money and get Advantage, Revolution, Comfortis or (another 'C' product). Advantage and Revolution can be purchased in several places but the two 'C' products are available only through the vet, I think. Treat your home, and yard, to kill fleas. I like the Bayer product "12mo Tree & Shrub" because it has the same active ingredient in Advantage spot-on, but in a lower dose. It killed a *bad* flea infestation problem in my friend's yard ... like walk-in-the-grass-and-see-hundres-of-fleas-leaping. She sprayed almost a half acre of her yard around her home and out to the barn and she says her farm dogs have *never* been this comfortable in the 11yrs she's lived there. She had tried everything and was just resigned to having fleas every summer. _
_The spot-on products only kill the fleas on the animal, if the infestation is bad, the pets will suffer from fleas until all adults and hatched egg-larvae-adults bite and die. When she treated her yard, it killed the adults and she sprayed again about a week later to catch any egg-hatchings._


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