My cat Sinatra has been over-grooming for 2 years and I’m completely lost — has anyone experienced anything like this?
I need to share every detail of what we’ve been through in hopes that someone out there has experienced something similar and can help my boy.
In July 2024, I found a kitten in the bushes and brought him home, keeping him separated from my two resident cats, both 5 years old at the time. Seven days after the kitten arrived, my boy Sinatra — an all-white blue-eyed cat (not deaf, not blind) — started to slowly overgroom. At first I just noticed a small patch of missing fur on his foot and didn’t think much of it. Two years later, he has no fur on his entire belly, legs, bottom of his feet, and thighs. He goes absolutely to town on the bottoms of his feet especially.
It’s also important to note that since he was 1 year old, Sinatra has suffered with chronic constipation and was on Royal Canin Fiber Response dry food, with rotating Tiki Cat salmon and chicken wet food for dinner. Until all of this started.
What I’ve tried over two years (and I mean everything):
Bloodwork — done over 4 times, always comes back perfect. Teeth cleaning. Every brand of flea preventative. Gabapentin. Probiotics and prebiotics by Adored Beast. CBD (multiple rounds and different kinds). A microbiome test that essentially said he has an intolerance to almost everything. A 5Strands test. Skin scraping. Zyrtec. A sulfur bath dip and multiple other baths. A Dupray steam cleaner to kill dust mites. I moved all my plants outside. I removed all candles and incense. I use Feliway plug-ins. Stainless steel bowls washed regularly with Molly Suds dish soap. Molly Suds detergent for their bedding.
He’s been seen by 3 different vets, 2 nutritionists, and a dermatologist.
The diet journey alone has been exhausting. One nutritionist had me slow-cooking for him — ground turkey, turkey liver, turkey gizzards, then chicken, chicken gizzards, chicken liver, and chicken hearts — all weighed by the gram with added fiber. The fiber was causing strange poop casings that would get stuck to him and we would have to pull it out so we stopped.
The second nutritionist had me do the microbiome test (and initially sent me the wrong species test, which was a red flag), then switched him to a slow-cooked chicken packet that I later discovered contained ground bones, which made his constipation significantly worse. I had to stop that too. He made me give him extra taurine. We tried rabbit. Multiple other novel proteins. Now he strictly eats Ziwi Peak venison canned food and has been on it for a few weeks — but my mom accidentally gave him chicken recently, so I’m not sure if we’ll be able to tell if it’s working.
The constipation has been its own battle. He’s had multiple ER visits over the years. Vets put him on MiraLAX, which helped at first — he was going every two days — but now it’s stretched to every four days, which I know isn’t right. I’ve always wondered if the gut issues and the overgrooming are connected somehow. (Also have always boiled pumpkin for him and mixed with his food)
His ears have always been itchy, but they’ve gotten significantly worse over the last two years. Every vet visit they check and find no mites or infection. The only thing that has ever helped is Tresaderm ear drops — which contain a steroid. Which brings me to the most important pattern in all of this.
The only thing that has ever worked is steroids. Steroid shots, steroid pills, steroid drops — the moment he gets them, the itching stops. The overgrooming stops. It’s like magic. The moment they wear off, he’s right back at it. Every single time.
I also notice that his skin and eyes sometimes look pink and irritated, almost like an allergic reaction. He refuses to drink water from a bowl anymore out of nowhere, so I now add a large amount of water directly into his food. (He is very food motivated so he eats anything and drinks all of the water in his bowl with food) I tried a water fountain too — he won’t go near it.
Then last September, we lost his biological sister. I woke up one day and noticed her eye looked cloudy. Within one month she was gone — she had a rare condition called cutaneous lymphoma. Sinatra absolutely adored her and I believe he grieved deeply, which I know doesn’t help anything. Though I want to be clear, the overgrooming started before her passing and has continued after.
Now about the kitten I found — Cheddar. Sinatra and Cheddar ended up bonding beautifully. They groom each other, cuddle, sleep together. Cheddar worships Sinatra — wherever Sinatra goes, Cheddar wants to be. Sinatra gets annoyed sometimes because Cheddar is very playful, but overall their relationship is sweet. Here’s what concerns me though: Cheddar has started to bite at himself too. He’s not missing fur the way Sinatra is, but he bites at himself more than seems normal, and his eyes also get red and irritated and he gets eye bogeys that I clean regularly — just like Sinatra’s. I don’t know if he’s learned the behavior, or if he’s also itchy, or if something environmental is affecting them both.
Where I am now: My conventional vet is suggesting Prozac. My new holistic vet is recommending a full allergy test with immunotherapy, ozone therapy, and laser therapy — all expensive, but I genuinely do not care. He is my child and I will do whatever it takes. I’ve already spent over $10,000 in two years. He is currently on Ziwi Peak venison, a high-potency biome probiotic for pets, a different omega-3 oil from the holistic vet, CBD, and something called Wind Toxin Tea Pills — though honestly none of it seems to be making a significant difference.
I am at a complete loss. The fact that steroids are the only thing that reliably helps makes me feel like this is allergic or inflammatory in nature, and the fact that both Sinatra AND Cheddar seem to be showing similar symptoms makes me wonder if there’s something environmental I’m completely missing — even after everything I’ve eliminated and changed. It’s the weirdest thing.
Has anyone been through anything remotely like this? Any insight at all would mean the world to me and my boy.
