There are a few primary reasons why excessive grooming occurs in cats: behavioral habits, fleas, and allergies. Any one of these situations, or a combination, may cause your cat to groom excessively throughout the day. It will be difficult to determine what the cause of the grooming just by sight alone, so it is best to get your feline into a vet for regular checkups in order to resolve the issue efficiently.
Behavioral Grooming
When it comes to determining whether or not excessive grooming is behavioral, things can get a little difficult. This is because some cats simply will not perform the excessive behavior when their owner is around. Pay attention to the amount of hairballs that appear in your home. When cat’s excessively groom, they cough up a great amount of hairballs. This can be a good indicator that your cat has a grooming problem. A major cause for behavioral grooming is change. Cats are creatures of habit and any large change can be extremely stressful for them. If you have experienced something like a big move or a new animal coming into the home, this may be the reason for such excessive behavior and it should dissipate on its own over time.
Fleas
After discovering your cat is excessively grooming, check their skin for fleas or lice that may be hiding within the fur. If such mites are present, your cat may be having a hypertensive reaction to the flea’s saliva. The best thing to do in this case is to have a veterinarian intervene. Treatment will be required in order to remove the problem.
Allergies
Allergies in general may be the cause for your cat’s discomfort. There are quite a few to consider, such as:
- Food intolerance
- House dust/pollen
- Ear mites
- Bug bites
In such cases, most often a vet will need to prescribe a kind of medication to help alleviate the allergy symptoms. If food is the problem, you can try feeding them an alternative diet for 6-8 weeks to see if that helps. Your vet will need to help decide on your cat’s new diet, as it is not as simple as switching the brand of cat food.