Cats groom themselves a lot but is your kitty doing this in excess? Some cats will groom so much that they start to go bald in areas. If you’re looking to stop overgrooming in cats, this short blog is for you.
Animal behaviorists say that cats will groom themselves up to 50% of each day. I feel like that’s excessive in our home, as most of our kitties spend more time playing or sleeping than they do grooming. Because cats are clean animals, however, they do spend a good chunk of their day cleaning themselves.
If your cat is licking herself to death, it’s important to first get her checked by a veterinarian. There are many reasons why cats overgroom and skin infections, allergies and flea dermatitis should be ruled out first. The most common reason, however, that cats overgroom themselves is stress.
There are plenty of ways to help reduce stress in cats, but here are 3 of the easiest ways to stop overgrooming in cats and make them happier and healthier.
- Routine Exercise. Housecats do not get nearly the amount of playtime and exercise that they would in the wild. This leaves them bored, and a bored cat is a stressed cat because boredom is not part of their instinctive nature. Find a time in your daily schedule that you can dedicate to spending 20-30 minutes engaging in playtime with your cat. Wand toys are great for this, but there are other interactive toys you and your kitty can play with.
- Routine Feeding & Litter Scooping Times. Routine is a key, can you tell? Cats like routine, so feeding them and scooping their litter at the same times each day greatly reduces anxiety in kitties.
- Natural Calming Formulas. Some cats just have higher anxiety genetically and need help to take the edge off. We don’t want to drug our cats up and most chemical anxiety medications will transform our cats into a shell of their former selves. Using a natural calming formula can help take the edge off and reduce the overgrooming issues in kitties.
Natural Calming Formula for Cats
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