my cat's pulling out hair on her belly and biting

[chelsea]

my cat (Mittens) is about 10 years old and for the last 2 years has been pulling out hair on her belly and biting it bald. the vet had us give her something like valium for a month to see if that helped. it did, but she wasn't my cat anymore so i didn't refill the prescription (she became slow and sluggish). the vet said it might be for attention and that we should resist the urge to make a big deal when she was doing it so maybe she'd give that up (i don't know how she could possibly be starved for attention though...) but that didn't work either. we tried putting bad tasting things on her tummy like garlic or lemon juice but that seems kinda cruel to her nose.
i recently read about "feline hyperesthesia" which lead me hear (you probably know the story about lucky-cat attacking her leg)

[CarolC]

Hi Chelsea, I don't know anything about this syndrome, but it has been mentioned on this message board. If you page back through this message board to 2/24 there is a posting entitled KITTY SELF-MUTILIATION--AFRAID OF IT. You could read what they said. I don't blame you for not wanting Mittens to be zonked out all the time, but it may just be a simple question of reducing her dosage on the medication. I would recommend calling the vet and explaining that the medicine worked but made your cat too sleepy. Ask them if they can refill the prescription with smaller sized doses. Either they might have smaller tablets, or they might cut some tablets in half for you, or maybe it comes in liquid and you could measure it easily. Ask them if you could just get enough to try smaller doses, such as enough for a week, so you won't have to pay for a whole refill. (Don't know if they'll do that, but it doesn't hurt to ask.) She may do fine with less of it. Maybe she just needs a little, not a lot. Honestly, if it were me, I'd be wondering if it were some sort of allergy. She may have developed a fish allergy, for example. Or it may be something in her environment. Is it worse at certain times of the year? We can develop allergies at any stage of life. You might try a brand of food especially for allergic cats and see if that helps. Also, it could be a flea allergy. I hate to keep talking about chemicals, but you might ask the vet for a little sample dose of flea treatment like Frontline (you know those little tubes of liquid you squeeze onto the back of the neck?) which kills fleas for a month or longer, and see if her tummy gets better and she isn't chewing so much. I think just as a practical idea, it might help slightly to shave her tummy so at least she isn't pulling the fur out by the roots, though she still may lick and chew. I hope you find something that works for Mittens. Best wishes to you and her.

[critters]

It could also be behavioral, even kin to obessive-compulsive disorder in people. Have you tried antidepressants with her? Seriously--they work for people, too. I can't remember what I used with my old fart tiger boy, but it chilled him out nicely. I'll try to remember...

[Alisa G]

Has the kitty checked out healthy otherwise? Sometimes cats with inflammatory bowel disease lick the fur off of their stomachs because their tummy's are uncomfortable. No food allergies?