hypersthesia
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Mama-San,
My 1 yr old tabby has developed a fear of its tail! The end twitches and she sometimes lightly attacks it, but most times just runs from it (especially at night) your site mentions anger in connection with tip- twitching. But she is the sweetest little cat in world and gets along famously with two other cats in the house who are the same age.
We have had visits from a raccoon lately and we have more than a few neighborhood cats prowling around. But this has me mystified. I hate to have to give her drugs, but if it gets worse she might need prozac or something else? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Donna
Purrs and head butts, Donna!
I recently had a similar problem with my own tail, which also baffled my mom, only I was twitching and chewing it down to a nub. There is something known as “hypersthesia” or “Rolling Skin Syndrome” (Read more about it here). First of all, your cat’s problem with her tail sounds more neurological/nervous than physical. Of course, the first thing my mom did was take me to a veterinarian for a full workup. It’s best to be safe, I suppose. So my first recommendation is that you do the same. They will likely need to draw blood in order to eliminate any kidney and/or liver issues that could be contributing to this issue. The next thing my mom did was evaluate me for food allergies. You may want to think about changing her diet. I’m not sure what type of food you have her on, but a good one (that has no allergens and tastes VERY good is Life’s Abundance – you can find more information about it here.
But, had my mom just listened to me, she would have known that I was chewing my tail off because I was very upset with a new arrival in the home, my arch-enemy, Isabo. Isabo was chasing me around for no reason at all and had no idea that I was the queen of the household, not her. But, she never did it when my mom was watching. Isabo is VERY sneaky and conniving and I could never explain the depths of her betrayals to my mother. Eventually they put me on a mood altering medication, which did NO good because I was just too stressed out. But, then my mom started really paying attention. She saw that Isabo was terrorizing me, and chasing me and finally realized what the real problem was. I was so happy! They took me off of the medication, and purchased something called “Feliway” which you can also read about here (my mom is very thorough on product testing). She also put me in a different room all by myself where I could be alone for awhile with just my mom and dad. That made me feel much better. This calmed everyone down and no one had to be on any drugs! Eventually I felt much better, and I was able to come back out and deal with all of the crazy cats in the house again. I just needed a little break away from everyone, and some one-on-one time with mom and dad.
So, you may want to consider the behavioral issue. I would say that the raccoon or the other cats may be contributing to her behavior issues. Often, this nervous energy manifests itself as tail-biting, teeth-grinding, and other negative things. I do hope this helps a little! I always say: First, eliminate the physical problem, then address the mental issue, then cure the emotional distress. This is my usual “Recipe for success” with cats and it seems to work in 99.9% of all cases!
Good luck and please keep us posted on your progress! 🙂
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