Cat owners- need advice

[jez]

My nearly two year old cat has always played its his tail a bit. But in the last couple of months he has been biting it to the point of bleeding. It happened a few times sporadically and now its constant. We are forever cleaning up blood as he bites it then continues to play and swish his tail around the floor etc leaving blood in his path. He gets locked in the laundry at night as he jumps on my DD whilst she is sleeping otherwise. The last few days when we open the laundry door of a morning there is spots of blood everywhere! Walls, washing machine, dryer, sink,floor. It's doing my head in. I have sprayed his tail with the bitter lime spray as recommended by a pet shop but it only worked the first time and now he licks it off which leads to him biting his tail again.
Being pregnant I am really concerned about being in contact with his blood. I have a vet appt on Wednesday but was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this or has any ideas for in the meantime. I have had to put him in our garage today because I can't keep cleaning the blood and risking getting an infection or anything from him whilst pregnant.

[MissMuppet]

Ew. Poor cat, and poor you. It could be a boredom or anxiety issue. Have you tried giving him lots of toys to play with so he doesn't get bored? My cats love cardboard boxes taped together into a tunnel. Hours of feline fun.

I hope the vet can help.

[Keerah]

To me it sounds like a mental thing. If you want him to stop biting his tail go to the vet and get a e collar for him, is really the only way you can stop him from getting at it.

[jez]

He has heaps of toys. Balls, stuffed toy things, toy mice, a springing ball tower thing (which he doesn't seem to like) and we play with him with one of those cat wands most days.he also has a huge carpeted cat tower that has a barrel and crows nest.
I have put him (and toys, litter,water etc) in the garage today because I'm really worried about coming into contact with his blood. I know this is counter productive but I don't want to risk my unborn baby either and he won't stop doing it. The vet said I could bring him down today but my car has a flat battery so I have to wait until Wednesday so DH can fix it. It's stressing me out.

[MissMuppet]

Maybe its a skin condition issue? You might want to look up feline hyperesthesia and see if it fits?

[StaceAndHayley]

Has he been treated for fleas recently? Our cat did something similar to that about 2 years ago, and it turned out she had picked up fleas and developed a flea allergy dermatitis.

Good luck, I know how frustrating it can be, I was also pregnant when this was going on.

[jez]

I'm not sure how he could get fleas when he is indoor only and I can't see any but I guess it can't hurt to treat him for it anyway.

[jez]

Maybe its a skin condition issue? You might want to look up feline hyperesthesia and see if it fits?

Thans for this. I googled it and some things fit and some don't. The website suggested videoing the cat biting his tail to show the vet so I will do this on my iPhones before Wednesday.
I just feel so cruel keeping him in the garage but as I said I am scared of risking bub. someone suggested bandaging his tail in the meantime but I think he would just pull it off and would stress him out more.

[CupidsVictim]

Has he been treated for fleas recently? Our cat did something similar to that about 2 years ago, and it turned out she had picked up fleas and developed a flea allergy dermatitis.

Good luck, I know how frustrating it can be, I was also pregnant when this was going on.

I was going to suggest this..

in the meantime, I would put an Elizabeth collar on the cat so he can't get to his tail until you can get him seen to.

Sent from my GT-I9305T using BubHub

[jez]

I can't buy an Elizabeth collar from the pet shops. Apparently a vet fits them. Otherwise that was my first thought too. I have heard you can make them easily but I am not sure how