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1716071 tn?1308803156

Cat Licking Belly&BackLeg fur off

I have a 10 year-old, orange, shorthair, indoor (though we could have tracked anything indoors on our shoes), female cat.

Approximately 2 months ago she started licking her back legs a lot. Over a few weeks she licked her inner back legs and lower belly completely bare. About 2 weeks ago I noticed very faint pink dots on the bare skin. They were not raised bumps. They were not there before. One week ago she has licked the pink spots so much they are much more noticable now, though still not raised even as much as acne bumps to make a comparison. This week she has licked a spot or two to rawness. She is also licking small bald areas to her front legs.

She has NO FLEAS. I do not think it is ALLERGIES as her diet/environment has not changed. I've seen her go hours and hours without licking her belly but then I'd come into my bedroom some afternoon and she's licking her belly and legs again. None of my other cats as of yet have begun to lick their fur off.
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874521 tn?1424116797
have you changed anything in your home like carpets? furniture? cleansers?....something new that she is reacting too....could even be scents. hairspray, candles, room freshners....etc etc.....stop using ALL household cleaners and polishes, anything with a scent...it can be slow process to find out what is giving her this reaction, remember it can be either -ingested, inhaled or just touched. if you don't suspect her food that it has to be one of the other two...:(
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1716071 tn?1308803156
Well her spots have disappeared and her flesh is now its normal pink, but she is still licking her belly and legs. Her bald spots are getting licked larger and she is now working on one of her front legs. Right now she's sprawled out on the carpet giving herself a wash as I type.
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1716071 tn?1308803156
Her spots don't resemble any of the ones in the photos (though those are poor quality ones that made it hard to see anything). Her spots more resemble something like this

http://bedbugsecrets.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/1307875118-90.jpg

Except that we do not have bed bugs OR fleas. All our cats are treated monthly with flea medication from our vet and are not outside animals.

I have changed her litter box to an unscented variety. Her food is Royal Canin Indoor Cat food. I find it hard to believe though that she could have an allergy to the food she has been fed since she finishing kittenhood.
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874521 tn?1424116797
hi and welcome I hope we can help...
first of all your kitties symptoms are classic 'allergic' reaction, nothing needs to have changed in her diet/environment  b/c allergies can develop at anytime d/t long time exposure just as with us. When we are in contact with an allergen we being to sneeze or get runny eye/noses, with cats the reaction shows up on their skin!!

the spots she is getting are called granulomas or ulcers and there are several types under the family of eosinophilic plaque. this can be caused by -contact allergy -inhaled allergy or ingested.(very commonly chicken or grains in the diet)

often stemming from a single flea bite...whether or NOT she now has fleas she could have at some point been bitten by a flea. OR commonly since the spots are showing up near her back legs and lower belly its often d/t a contact allergy to her litter, I would recommend trying to change the litter to something with as few additives as possible, and NON SCENTED...

rather than me typing in tons of info, it would make more sense to direct you to a good website that goes more into detail and shows photos that you can compare with.
I do want to add though I DO NOT AGREE with the treatment option of steroids for any reason!!! this treatment can lead to many nasty health problems for kitties.
Do the reading than post again and we'll talk, see if her spots resemble the ones in the photos....
I too had a cat with extensive eosinophilic plaque (EGC or eosinophilic granuloma complex)

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_eosinophilic_granuloma.html
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