How to Stop Your Cat From Over Grooming

There are two main reasons why a cat will overgroom itself and it’s usually either medical or behavioural.

If a cat is in pain, they can’t really tell you where it is or how they feel so they will usually try and soothe the area by licking. A cat’s coarse tongue can strip away their fur after a period and can cause irritation and soreness of the skin. Some cats will groom themselves to the point of creating sores that can become infected if left untreated.  Similarly, if they have any skin issues like allergies or a rash that causes the skin to become sore, they can clean the area and make it a whole lot worse without realising it.

For more behavioural reasons a cat might over groom, stress and anxiety are common causes.

When your feline friend is feeling worried, they will often turn to something that usually feels good and helps them feel calm again. Grooming can be a self-soothing behaviour, but it can become an issue if they’re stressed over long periods. If practised for a long time it can become a stereotypic behaviour where the feeling of worry is no longer there, but they continue to groom out of habit.

Over grooming can also be linked to boredom. If you work long hours and your moggy is left without much to occupy themselves with, they can groom just to pass the time.

An adult cat can spend anywhere between 30-50% of their day grooming which is considered very normal. Cats are finicky creatures and like to be spotless, so having a quick clean here and there is normal but there should still be plenty of time to do other things like play, eat and push things off counters.

If a cat is over grooming themselves, this means that a substantial portion of their day is being consumed by obsessively cleaning so you are likely to notice it more.

If you think your beloved pet might be over grooming because of sore skin or hair loss, knowing where these areas are typically can help you identify if they are. Cats can have hair loss in areas for other reasons. An allergy to flea bites will often cause hair loss and their skin to become sore.

If you suspect over grooming, the sore areas have to be parts of the body they can lick. Though they’re flexible they can struggle to reach the fur along their spide of high up on their back.

Common areas of over grooming are places like their belly or the inside of their thighs. The fur already tends to be a little thinner in these areas, so you may notice hair loss quicker. Along the joints of their legs are also common areas and can be a hint towards them being painful in those joints.

If you suspect your feline friend of over grooming check these areas. You may not see any obvious hair loss but if they’re grooming a lot the hair will be sharper and shorter from being broken away.

Since seeing your moggy groom is perfectly common, working out if they’re over grooming can be a little bit challenging. Signs that usually go hand in hand and point directly towards over grooming include:

A good indication towards over grooming is also when grooming interrupts other activities. If they stop mid meal to groom or abruptly stop playing to lick themselves instead, this is a good sign that they’re either uncomfortable or the behaviour has become compulsive.

If you see these signs or suspect they are spending a lot more time than usual grooming, asking a vet to at least rule out some options never hurts. The Community Pet Clinic is always on hand to help get to the root of your beloved pet’s medical upsets.

Sometimes if a cat is over grooming because of a medical issue, just treating that issue is enough to stop them from grooming too much. When it’s behavioural you may need to treat the cause of the issue first before they reduce the time, they spend cleaning themselves. If they’ve becomes stressed, they need time for their cortisol levels to come back down so anything you can do to help soothe them in other ways will help to distract them from the need to groom.

Making sure they have plenty to do will keep their brain busy, so toys and fun activities should be on the menu. Toys like the Hexbug Remote Control Mouse Cat Toy will have them running around and forgetting all about licking themselves or if you can’t watch them then an activity feeder can keep them occupied.

If they have sore areas, then your vet may recommend they wear a collar to prevent them from grooming themselves and making any issues worse so it’s even more important to give them plenty of things to do.

Over grooming will often become a habit they no longer think about doing, they just do it.  By giving them other outlets, it can help to reduce the behaviour, but it won’t just go away overnight. Avoid any punishments as this could only exacerbate any stress responses and could just make them groom even more. Give them time, patience, and lots of love as you work with them through it.

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