Why is my cat chewing her tail constantly? Is amputation her only hope?
Posted on | November 16, 2008 | 16 Comments
Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:
My 3-year-old cat has been chronically chewing her tail for two years. Initially the vet said the chewing was due to allergies and treated her with steroid injections. Now he says she has so much nerve damage in her tail she has little sensation, only tingling. He said the only option is to remove her tail, because she’ll continue to chew it due to the nerve damage. Please, do you have any other suggestions?
~Lee
Siouxsie: Although tail chewing can be caused by allergies, this behavior can be a symptom of a few other conditions. Because of the chronic nature and the severity of your cat’s condition, we think you and your vet might look into the possibility of feline hyperesthesia syndrome (FHS).
Thomas: Hyperesthesia means “abnormally increased sensitivity of the skin.” FHS is more common in Oriental breed cats (Siamese, Abyssinian, and the like) and Oriental breed mixes.
Dahlia: FHS generally manifests itself in cats between the ages of 1 and 4 years.
Siouxsie: Some vets believe feline hyperesthesia syndrome may be a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder that begins as a reaction to stress and anxiety in the cat’s life.
Thomas: Others believe FHS is a form of seizure disorder because of the symptoms that precede an episode of self-mutilation including hallucinating, yowling, skin rippling, running and jumping, and muscle twitching.
Dahlia: Cats with FHS may show strange behaviors if touched, such as tail chasing or biting at the tail, flank and sides, to the point of self-directed aggression.
Siouxsie: FHS can cause extreme self-mutilation such as biting, licking, chewing, and plucking of the hair, primarily on the back and the tail.
Thomas: This illness is usually a “diagnosis of exclusion,” meaning that your vet has to rule out any other physical illnesses that could cause this behavior. These other illnesses include allergies, skin diseases or external parasites (some cats react very strongly to flea bites, for example), and internal problems like back pain, arthritis, spinal problems, muscle diseases, nutritional deficiencies (particularly the B vitamin thiamine, which is very important to a healthy nervous system), or problems with the thyroid, kidneys or liver.
Dahlia: We don’t know if your vet has tested for any of these other conditions or simply treated your cat’s tail chewing as allergies. If your kitty hasn’t been tested for these conditions, it might be a good idea to do so.
Siouxsie: In any case, because your cat’s tail is now so damaged that her nerve function is compromised, we do think the only viable treatment is to amputate the tail. If you don’t do this, she will continue to chew her tail, and the behavior may even increase because of the constant tingling sensations she feels.
Thomas: Cats generally recover and adapt very well to amputations. They don’t have the same kind of psychological issues humans do when they lose a limb. In fact, your cat will probably be quite relieved to be free of her pain and discomfort.
Dahlia: There are some breeds of cats that naturally have very short or nonexistent tails, such as the Japanese Bobtail and the Manx.
Siouxsie: Mama knows another cat that lost her tail due to an accident. She’s quite happy and doesn’t mind the absence of her tail at all.
Thomas: In any case, if your cat does have feline hyperesthesia syndrome, it’s possible that the behavior may continue even after the tail is removed.
Dahlia: If this is the case, your vet may choose to treat her symptoms with anti-anxiety drugs such as clomipramine or fluoxetine (Prozac). These medications can reduce the psychological triggers that cause self-mutilation behavior.
Siouxsie: If these medications don’t work, your vet may try anti-seizure drugs like phenobarbitol.
Thomas: The good news is that there are some things you can do at home to help minimize your cat’s self-mutilation. We recommend these steps even if your cat does stop self-mutilating after her tail has been amputated.
Dahlia: First, provide the highest-quality nutrition you can afford. Give her several small meals a day to reduce her food anxiety.
Siouxsie: Take some time each day to have a couple of really good aerobic play sessions with a feather wand or a “thing on a string” toy. Exercise can help to control depression and anxiety because of the endorphins released during exercise. It also helps your cat to use her natural hunting instincts so that they won’t be redirected toward parts of her body such as her tail.
Thomas: Make life more interesting for your cat by spending more quality time with her. Make her environment more cat-friendly by providing a three-dimensional environment with a variety of perches and maybe even a cat tree.
Dahlia: So, Lee, even though it looks as though your cat is going to need to have her tail amputated, we hope we’ve provided you with some ideas for helping her to enjoy her life even more once her condition is under control and she’s no longer feeling that constant discomfort fromher damaged tail. Please let us know how things turn out.
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16 Responses to “Why is my cat chewing her tail constantly? Is amputation her only hope?”
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February 8th, 2009 @ 10:54 pm
I felt compelled to write here because I too, am going through the nightmare you’ve described. I’d given up on the internet research before you posted this, and here I am today, researching again because I’m still going through it.
My cat was adopted from a local organization here in North Carolina, and he’ll be 2 years old (human years) come this March. He has a brother too, which we also adopted as they said they couldn’t be separated (and he was too adorable not to hehe). So we have 2 boys, and they’ve grown up together. I failed to neuter them early, ended up getting them neutered at 1 years old, right after their biggest fight. I don’t know exactly what happened but when I came home from work, they were both stand-offish, and when I had my back turned they were on each other fighting. Then one chased the other to the window, and I can’t remember if he fell or got bitten, or if it was just the stress of the fight, but ever since that day, he’s not been right. Ever since he was a kitten, he’s always been a bit compulsive on licking people and himself, especially when being petted, but never ever mutilated himself (until after him and his brother had the big fight). But ever since that fight, when he licks, he also gets so distressed, his back twitches and rolls, and he starts licking really frantically from his haunches to his tail, runs around like he’s running away from something or his tail, and sometimes he violently attacks his tail (biting, etc). One time, he even bit the tip of his tail clean off, and bone was exposed!!! This has been going on ever since that fight and we’ve been through 3 amputations, he now has about 2 inches of his tail left and he still has these “freak outs”. I have to leave an e-collar on him when I’m gone, and mostly when I’m home, because as soon as I take it off, he’s licking himself and it always evolves back to the frantic licking and attacking of his backside/tail. We’ve ruled out fleas, they’re strictly indoor cats, used flea medication/repellants. I’ve been doing a good regimen of playtime, lots of toys, etc to try to keep him stimulated and, when he’s in the middle of his “freak outs”, it’s impossible to distract him from doing so. I tried using some organic drops I bought from a local vet to “calm” him, 5 drops max for his weight & size, and they have no effect on him anymore. I do have a few tranquilizers left that the vet gave me but it’s heartbreaking to watch him when he’s been given a tranquilizer. My local vets cannot seem to help except to keep amputating and bandaging. The hair has grown back to his tail, some of it feels different than the rest though (more stiff like a porcupine). But I’m not sure if that’s even bothersome to him. His pupils are usually halfway (or more) dialated, unless he’s in a really bright area of the room. He’s never vocal while “freaking out” though. But his back does twitch and roll, he licks frantically at his sides, haunches and butt/tail, which eventually leads to attacking the tail, and frantically running & jumping around like he’s trying to escape or run away from something. Usually he’ll run to a windowsill and hide for awhile, sometimes it bothers him enough he’ll run back out of the window and the process repeats.
I also tried keeping little shirts made for dogs on him, it might have made a little difference in keeping him from freaking out, but not noticeable if there was any difference, and same results with the ecollar, although he freaks out more when he doesn’t have the shirt or ecollar on, might just be because he has no restrictions.
Sometimes when I take the ecollar off, he kinda looks like he’s trying to crawl back in it, kinda like he finds comfort in it, but maybe I’m wrong.
But to make a long story short, I’m at my wit’s end. I’m not sure if it’s affordable but I’m thinking about taking him to the vet for a full blood panel and exam to see if it’s a hyperthyroid (can’t feel any lumps in his neck though), although he used to have a lump right under his chin, under the tongue (but it has gone away). He also had a lump right above his shoulder blade, which I think has gone away too (dunno if it’s a cyst or what). He does seem to always be hungry, every time I go to the kitchen he’s at my feet wanting food. The last time the vet weighed him, (back in August I believe), he weighed about 10lbs.
I hate to see him on those tranquilizers, unable to move or anything, but I hate to see him suffer like this because I don’t know if he’s in pain, or if it’s an itch or what it is. I’ve run out of informational help and don’t know where else to turn to. Vets around here say they’ve never seen anything like this.
If you need anymore information, or if you have any information on what could be going on, or suggestions, please, please send me an email, anytime! I need all the help and resources I can find! I really do appreciate your time and feedback, and I’m really sorry this post is so long, hehe!
My email address is:
gurlandagun.at.gmail.com (just remove the periods and put in a @ symbol, I just typed it like that to protect my address from webcrawlers, hehe)
March 5th, 2009 @ 3:12 pm
Amanda,
I am dealing with an almost identical situation with a two year old male cat. He was abandoned by his first family when he was 7 months old. I adopted him when he was one. About a month after he moved in with me and my older cat, he began this tail mutilation. He was on Clomipramine initially and did okay for awhile. I adopted another male kitten after I had this boy for 5 months. They were inseperable. Then I adopted an 8 month old female. The other boy now plays mostly with her. I did notice that his mutilating behavior escalated after her arrival. Then the Clomipramine stopped working so we tried ellavil which had no effect whatsoever and the same with prozac. Now we are trying Gabapentine (an anti-seizure medication). If this doesn’t work, then I believe amputation is the only viable option. I am really dismayed though to hear that amputation may not resolve the problem. I am about at wits end as well. He has been tested for allergies, etc and nothing significant was noted. I feel so bad for him and I hate having the collar on him all the time. Even with the collar, he still can get to the tip of his tail. I am open to suggestions and feedback as well. Thank you.
March 15th, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
I have perfect sympathy for everything I have read here. Our 2 year old beauty is going through a living hell.
He started chasing his tail about four months ago. At first we thought this was cute. Currently however, he has about six to ten bad episodes every day. The worst episodes involve him freaking out so bad that he bites down, and locks on to his tail. He holds onto his tail for about ten seconds, the whole time, screaming worse than you can imagine. We’ve seeked veterinary advice several times, but things are looking bleak. It is without a doubt looking like FHS, brought on by obsessive/compulsive disorder.
We have tried the most expensive grain free high protein food, so as to rule out food allergies. We have tried more attention and stimulation. Organic calming drops don’t really have an effect. Tail amputation doesn’t seem to be a solution. Other people have reported that their cats simply turned their fit on their hind quarters or legs. When he has these episodes, his pupils become dilated and he runs from one end of the house to the other.
It hurts us so much to see him go through this trauma. We are considering euthanasia, but we aren’t giving up hope yet.
If anyone has any similar experiences or advice, we are open to any ideas. This is truly a heartbreaking affliction.
May 6th, 2009 @ 8:42 pm
One of our cats does this but not very often. I would say about three or four times a year she is all bloddy on the tip and it seems as if she is the one doing the damage.
June 15th, 2009 @ 5:53 pm
Just wanted to send an update. I took my cat to a holistic vet for acupuncture but when he shaved the tail to examine, he fould a long scar running down most of the tail indicating that there had been some type of physical trauma. He opted to amputate the damaged part (most of the tail) and then treat with floral essences to keep him calm. The surgery was done a month ago and thus far he has made no attempts to go after his “nub” or other parts of his body. He is so much happier…plays with toys and with the other cats. This vets wife is a floral essence practitioner and made-up three different calming combinations. Two he takes orally twice a day and the other gets rubbed into his ears and face area four times a day. As I said, so far so good. He’s much calmer and much happier.
June 26th, 2009 @ 3:04 pm
this website has been a God-send. I didn’t know what to do with our cat. I adopted this neighborhood stray and loved that she was so vocal and friendly. At first we thought her tail chasing and spazy behavior were funny. Now it has turned into a violent tail chase and utter paranoia. I’ve seen blood all over bedding and stairways from her chewed up tail. The kitty prozac is our last resort and I hope for the best. Thank you for all your input.
July 1st, 2009 @ 6:22 am
[...] some research on the web about cat obsessive-compulsive behaviour and feline hyperthesia syndrome and I am not convinced either to to be the issue. At this stage we are monitoring his behaviour to [...]
July 9th, 2009 @ 3:39 pm
I’m going through the exact same thing you are, Amanda.
Two years ago (Spring of 2007) I woke up one morning to find a massacre all over my apartment. Blood everywhere! The vet figured my cat, Emma, had bitten Chloe, our other cat’s tail. I took her in to the emergency vet and they sewed her tail up and put her on antibiotics.
Well, the next day, she manged to get her cone off while I was at work, and I came home to another massacre scene. She had chewed her tail to the bone, and had to have 2 inches of it amputated as a result.
I thought that was the end of it. She still had a bit of a tail, but it just wasn’t as long as before. She would still have those twitchy moments where it seemed like she thought something was chasing her, and she would frantically bite/lick at her tail and sides. Very strange, I thought, but I never mentioned it to the vet.
Fast forward to recently, May of 2009, and Chloe, the cat with the amputated tail, was getting pretty fat and had a few mats on her fur at the back of her body. So I took her to the groomer to get shaved, and everything seemed ok. 2 days later, she emerged from her hiding spot in the storage room with a bleeding tip of the tail. I’m not sure if she had bitten her own tail, or if our other cat had gotten at it, but off we went to emergency again.
They sewed it up, banadged it, and sent me home with more medication. She seemed fine, but would still have urges to go at her tail again (she couldnt’ get it with the cone on, thankfully!)
One day I came home to find her hiding in my closet, and she had somehow managed to get the bandage off her tail, tearing a chunk of skin off in the process.
Back to the vet we went, where he mentioned she might have a form of kitty OCD when it came to her tail, and that might be the cause of her twitching and frantic biting/licking. So we tried to put her on Clomicalm as well, but she turned into a WAY different cat! She would hide with her face to the wall ALL day, and she just seemed depressed and like she hated her life.
We went away for 4 days, and when we got back (last night) we changed the bandages on her tail to find that there was another large gash further up from the originally open tip area. I took her to the vet this morning first thing, and we opted to have her tail amputated.
I just got a call from the vet to say the surgery went well, and that I can pick her up later. I’m crossing my fingers that this is it for the tail saga! I’m going to try to keep her off of any psychodrugs, as I don’t like to see her so ‘doped’ up…
I’m glad to hear someone else in this world has gone through a similar situation. Good luck with yours! I’Ll keep you posted on the progress with my kitty!
August 10th, 2009 @ 12:42 am
My cat it doing the same thing. Totally psycotic behavior. My major issue with this is that she has 4week old kittens and I am concerned about them too. The mother cat has always been a little strange, but never selfmutilating. Does any one have a sugestion(besides seeing a vet, because it seems like there is no real effective treatment to this problem.) Thank you!
August 29th, 2009 @ 8:00 pm
My poor cat Muffin has been going through the worst that everyone here has decribed. It started about 6 months ago. He acts like he is possessed, chasing his tail like it is the devil. He bites it, hisses at it screams at the top of his lungs and his tail is a mess. I have tried Gabapentin and Phonabarbitol. He is worse than ever. Excessive Licking, biting hissing and chasing his tail for hours every night. I took him back to the Vet this morning and she told me the only solution was to amputate his tail. I scheduled the surgery for Monday but I feel just awful doing it but his tail is a mess.
Why does this happen? I have had cats all of my life and I have never heard of this.
I just don’t know what to do and if this doesn’t work, I don’t know what I will do. Muffin is so beautiful and sweet. Say a prayer for the little guy please.
November 12th, 2009 @ 5:40 pm
I have just read all these posts. I have been going thru the same thing with one of my cats who has had her tail amputated twice. Had her on prozac which just made her so wierd she was like feral. Im flabergasted about all this going on this year. There has to be someting going on with the cat food. How can so many of our cats being going thru the same thing?
My cat is back at attacking her tail and its raw again, she is misrable, Im thinking its a nerve thing that just wont let her be, and may have to put her down. Although Its hard to make that decision. I love her so much.
My vet said she doesnt know of anything else to do for her.
December 29th, 2009 @ 3:31 pm
Hi everyone,
I’m writing from Sweden, (pardon my english)
I am having the same problem as all of you are.. Me and my boyfriend lives in an apartment in the city but we take our cat with us when we leave for our house out in the country, to his parents and my brothers house so she is used to be outside as well and always comes back inside.
One day we left her outside at our house and we went to see some friends over the day. When we came back her tail was hangning down and she was in pain. We went to the vet. she didn’t have any bitemarks but they gave us cortisone and antibiotics and soon her tail was up again and working fine. Soon after she got well her back started rippling and her tail was going fast from one side to the other and she started to chase, bit, hiss and growl at it. We put an e-collar on so it would be harder for her to reach it. We had her outside at my brothers house mon-fri and home with us on the week-ends. We are not sure but when she was outside we think she had so much going on so she got distracted and didn’t chase her tail but as soon as she went inside to eat or sleep it started again. It was at its worst when she was laying down cause she would see her tail and the chase began. Things got worse and she started to chase her tail even when the e-collar was on and she scratched, bit a wound on her tail. It was hard to leave her alone and we could tell she was both in fysical and mental pain as she would lay on her chest and stare apathetic out in the air and her tail would swift frenetic! We decided to amputate her tail, a week ago, now she got 2″ left and she is on morphine. She got a patch on her arm, it lasts for 3 days but we have been forced to renew it 2 times cause as soon as it ends her pain is too much and the chase begins again…. The vet. gave her an x-ray of her spine and tail. But they couldn’t see anything.We have tried acupuncture 2 times and some kind of relaxing vitamins but it didnt work.. We are desperate! We’re going to take the stitches out friday and after that we can take her outside agian and hopefully there will be an improvement. On monday we’re going to the vet. again to start a complete fysical exam, bloodtest and so on. In Sweden this seems to be an unexplored subject! Nobody knows anything!!!! Yet I have read on english, american web pages about this problem. Next step is a magnetic x-ray to see if there is something wrong with her nerves. We have changed her food to allergy management and bought a felliway adapter. We knew it wouldn’t help to only amputate her tail or has that helped for any one of you? I belive there is some kind of nerve damage combind with some kind og Obsessive compulsive disorder….. I would really like to know how things are going for you now. I really feel for all of you! I want to find the sollution to this problem!
January 16th, 2010 @ 1:08 am
I have read all these and many accounts so heartbreakingly, frustratingly similar to what’s going on with my orange tabby. But we think his problem is constipation. The vet thinks he is associating the pain in his gut with his tail. I have been researching FHS and wonder if constipation could be a cause. At this point, I plan to administer the meds to soften stool and the amitryptiline as indicated and hope he calms down before he hurts himself again. This page was a good resource, and it’s comforting to know others are dealing with this thru therapies or surgeries. Thank you all for your contributions.
January 19th, 2010 @ 9:14 am
An update.. Billies blood test came back normal.. and the vet. told us to try phenobarbitol. He suspected some kind of Epilepsy. Before we tried phenobarbitol we found a cat expert and she thought Billie suffers from a nerve damage in combination with stress and pain from it.. So now she is on temgesic (buprenorfin) 0,3mg/ml and we started on 0.13 ml 2 times a day for one week and now 0.1 ml 2 times a day, it is for her pain, metacam (meloxikam) 0.5 mg/ml 1 time/day based on her wieght which is also for her pain and klomipramin mylan 10 mg (klomipraminhydroklorid) 1/4 of one pill 2 times a day for stress.. she sleeps alot and does not use her toilet as often.. but she is still very hungry!
and so far it is hard to see if the medicin works.. i try to activate her when she is awake with play and “clicker” training and we are making progress! 
I try to use it when her bad behavior starts when she tries to hit her “tail” i say no and when she looks up and ignores the twitching I click and give her food. If she hadn’t hurt her tail from the begining, we probobly would have suspected epilepsy… so maybe this is something for other people who have a similar problem to look up.. also constipation..
When she gets of Temgesic I will try to let her outside but I know I will be nervous… still I think that could be an important part of her recovery. Good luck everyone! Again, excuse my english..
January 25th, 2010 @ 3:49 pm
Try phenobarbital. Our cat was biting his tail. We separated him from other cats that were bullying him. He stopped biting his tail, but still has “fits” of growling and chasing his tail for no apparent reason. A veterinary expert said he has “psychomotor epilepsy” in other words a type of seizure disorder. Sometimes the skin ripples on his back near the tail, or he jumps as if startled by a sensation there. Now that he’s getting phenobarbital daily, his fits are milder and less frequent, and if we stop giving the drug, he has more fits and they are more intense. The drug caused him to be drowsy at first, but not now. The vet tells us that the risks of phenobarbital are fairly low, for example it’s unlikely to cause liver damage.
I hope this helps.
January 26th, 2010 @ 3:04 pm
Thank you for writing and for telling your story… My cat has had 2 bad days now and I’m starting to think phenobarbital is the sulotion.. I