Does anyone understand why my cat should be tearing out his own fur?
He is clean and healthy otherwise with an appetite to match.
His miaow seems to have gone a bit quieter too because he used to maiow loudly every morning for his breakfast and milk.
Just in the last month he has begun to leave clumps of his fur all over the kitchen floor.
I thought it strange and actually saw him sitting there pulling his own fur out from his tummy area.
He hasn't gone fleas, worms or nasty diseases like mange. I have taken him to the vets and the vet says that some cats do that as a habit.
It seems to be something he has taken to doing.
He is 13 (human) years old and still quite fiesty and viscious towards other cats when he is outdoors.

I wonder if he has an alergy to fleas that dont have too have fleas to have an alergy. He might be getting stressed, As anything in the last month changed in your household. My maisey moo is exactly the same she grooms herself and hasnt got fleas either she just nibbles at her fur all the time.

Maisey Moo is right. If your cat is allergic to fleas one flea bite can set off a reaction, and the flea may not even still be on the cat.

However, if medical reasons have been ruled out, in this area it is more commonly due to stress, much like people biting their fingernails or indeed pulling their hair and, while any changes in or near the house can upset cats, the most common cause of stress to cats is other cats.

He may be feeling less able to defend his territory as he gets older or there may be a new cat in the neighbourhood, or one who has now grown up and started to challenge him.

Ensure other cats cannot enter the house, discourage other cats if you see them in your garden, chase them off, use a hose or water gun, so you discourage them without hurting them.

Clean off the outside of doors and windows and around the cat flap, it you have one, with a 10% solution of biological washing liquid, in case other cats have sprayed there.

In some cases you may need a qualified behaviourist to visit to resolve it, your vet should be able to recommend someone but beware of just getting someone on the basis of an advert as anyone can call themselves a behaviourist .

Sometimes the cat may need anti anxiety medication from the vet as well as a behaviourial modification programme.

Although some people have some success with it, be careful of using Feliway if other cats are involved as it may make things worse by introducing a virtual cat right into the house via synthetic feline scent.

Thanks Tess and Maisy Moo
I do actually think that stress could be the answer.
There is another cat that has started coming into our garden

Think that may well be the reason. Even my big,bruiser cat got stressed when a wild stray started coming into my garden. He has a sensitive tum anyway (from when he was starving before being rescued), started getting diarrhea again, etc. Whe stray cat was rescued and removed, his problems resolved as well.

I also think it could be stress. My little girl went through a similar thing when she was about 18months old - she constantly washed her front paws and nibbled at them until she made them sore. It passed after a few weeks but was quite worrying at the time.

If not stress, I wonder if he has a pain in his tummy causing him to groom there (may explain why he may have less of an appetite?)....or perhaps he's intrigued by the gurgling sound - plausible if he's still young.

One of my previous cats would go through spells of overgrooming, especially at the base of her tail. As others have said, it seems to be stress related and I used to but a cat & dog skin cream on the area which broke the cycle as she couldn't abide the taste.

op - it does as others suggest sound like a stress-induced sterotypical behaviour (behaviours that are repetitive and appear to have no benefit), its basically a coping mechanisim. Try some feliway for a bit, see if that reduces it.

Which cream did you use on your cat? One of our cats seems to have sensitive skin.

My cat has been pulling her fur out for years at one stage the whole of her bottom half was bald and she would chew herself until she bled and had lumps, it got so bad at one stage that she was doing it in her sleep. We had various tests done at the vet only to be told that she is allergic to some form of mite that they have in dried food. She also has an allergy to fleas, the vet said if she is allergic to one thing she is likely to be allergic to other things. We keep having to take her back to the vet's though as she is still doing it, we de-flea her regulary, she doesn't eat biscuits anymore but she still over-grooms. We know it isn't stress as she leads the most pampered, peaceful life (she is spoilt rotten). When she goes to the vets she has antihistimine and antibiotic jabs in the bum, they have also given us some fucederm gel to put on her when it gets bad, I can now put it on her without her even struggling. We have come to the conclusion though that for her now it's more of a habit and that she may suffer from OCD.

He's too warm maybe and overgrooming his winter coat? I know my friend's cat in Cyprus does this when it's overheating.

^^^^this is exactly what a sterotypical behaviour is. She was probably stressed due to the allergy, and as you said got into a pattern of pulling out the fur, so has continued to do it.

Most sterotypical behaviours reduce over time, but may reoccur in times of stress - don't forget a cat's stresses are different to ours, she may well live a pampered life with you, but an itch might upset her, or a new smell, new routine etc etc etc. Its not anything you've done, all animals face stress in their lives, captive and wild - its the norm!

The one I used was Vetzyme skin cream made by Seven seas.
http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/pro...ent_CA0610.htm

Could be stress. about 2 years ago I had my house completly redecorated and refitted, literally stripped every room to the floorboards.
My poor cat(14 at the time, lived there all his life, indoor cat) lost all his familiar smells etc etc and wasnt used to all the toing and froing from the workmen.He wouldn't eat and also started excessive grooming(ie tearing his fur out). The vet said it was probably stress induced and gave him a course of Amitriptyline, which seemed to settle him down. By the time the course ended he'd got used to the 'new' place and has been fine ever since. (although lately he has a different problem but thats in another thread)

Hope your cat is ok soon Mrs Spoon!
(btw are you related to the DS fm 'Spoon;?.)

Thanks. I'm using something else at the moment, when I can catch her that is! If current one doesn't work I'll check Vetzyme out.