New Member

Posts: 2
From:Providence Rhode Island USA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 01-14-2004 07:17 PM         

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Hello,
I have a cat that recently started to go crazy. She has been biting her tail so hard that she screams. I know she doesn't have flees because she is an indoor cat. Does any one know what it can be?

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Rachel

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Posts: 1591
From:NY, USA
Registered: Oct 2002

posted 01-14-2004 08:40 PM         

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Indoor cats can still get fleas...you can bring them into your home on your clothes, ect. You can use a flea comb to find out for sure.

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Member

Posts: 123
From:Vancouver, WA USA
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 01-14-2004 10:59 PM         

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I wish you luck.

My cat chases his tail, but I think your situation sounds more serious.

I agree with nern. Flees can seem to appear out of nowhere.

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Posts: 84
From:Hull, UK
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 01-14-2004 11:39 PM         

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She may not have fleas but she might have some kind of mite.
Your vet can do a skin scraping to see if this is the cause and then treat it.
If she doesn't have this it could be behavioural but it would unusual

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New Member

Posts: 1
From:Eyota, MN USA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 01-15-2004 07:39 PM         

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Hi -

I have 4 indoor cats and 3 outdoor "stray" cats that I feed. One of the outdoor cats does the exact same thing that you described. She attacks her tail and sometimes she gets so nervous and upset that she screams and hisses and snarls - at her own tail. I have no special education in this area, but I was thinking that my outdoor cat had some kind of stress disorder. She is a very nice cat and I don't believe that she would harm anyone. But sometimes I wonder if she will harm herself. She usually only goes after her tail for 5 minutes or less at a time and then she is calm and back to normal, besides a few snarls when she sees her tail sneaking up behind her. It will be interesting to see if you find somthing else out. I hope this makes you feel better that your cat isn't the only one who has "gone crazy" - I know I feel better now.

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New Member

Posts: 2
From:Providence Rhode Island USA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 01-22-2004 07:29 PM         

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That's great I thought She was the only one.I have taken her to the vet she doesn't have any flees or mites. next time I take her I should ask about the crazy tail thing

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Rachel

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Member

Posts: 75
From:Sydney,NSW,Australia
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 01-23-2004 12:37 AM         

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Reading this post just jogged a memory.
this may sound weird and I am NOT saying this is the cats problem, but there is such a condition that is recognised in the human medical world called
" "apotemnophilia" the overwhelming desire to amputate a perfectly healthy limb.
The sensation of a limb as being alien, or foreign to the body, has been described by Dr. Oliver Sacks. Sacks experienced his own leg as alien after an injury, and described his experiences in A Leg to Stand On."


I have seen a dog who injured its forelimb and after being completely without sensation in the limb for several days, began to attack and tear apart its own leg.
The easiest option here was to amputate the leg and the dog returned to its normal calm self.
Can there be such a thing with cats and their tails ? could a cat, perhaps after an injury, think and feel the tail is not of his own body ? Proceed to attack it like it of another cat ? Would this cat feel better if the tail was amputated ?

Again I am NOT SUGGESTING this is what is wrong with your cat.

its just food for thought.

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