Any cat psychologists that can help explain this?

[Seymore]

My family has 4 cats. I wish I could take one for myself, but I'm very allergic to them. When I lived with my parents, they grew very fond of me, so I act like they're my own.

 

Anyway, they have one cat - his name's Noob. He was an alley cat, and my parents took him in. He has this almost nervous reflex where if you scratch his back, he'll start licking himself, mostly his paws. I used to do this trick for friends where I'd pick him up and say "Lick yourself", and then I'd secretly scratch his back. It was so odd. Often if you scratch near his tail he'll get violent and attack whoever's scratching him or whichever cat is nearby.

 

He sometimes has these moments where he'll start licking his stomach until the fur comes off. My folks chalk it up to him being "wired" wrong, but is this behavior odd? Is there something more to it?

[Cognitive_Canine]

Take him to the vet and get him checked for allergies. The licks may be his attempt to scratch at irritants or hives.

[Seymore]

Cats get allergies?!? Hm...I'll have to look into that. Thanks!

 

I forgot to mention that he was diagnosed with a thyroid problem a couple of years ago. Could that be a culprit as well?

[Cognitive_Canine]

Cats get allergies?!? Hm...I'll have to look into that. Thanks!

 

I forgot to mention that he was diagnosed with a thyroid problem a couple of years ago. Could that be a culprit as well?

 

Yes, I would look into it. He may have an immune disorder.

 

I had a beautiful labrador that was in perfect condition. However, every fall he would get allergies that would result with sores on his neck. He had to have his neck shaved every fall.

 

The fur for a cat would make these sores and rashes hard to see.

 

However, these sores were actually the result of him having an immune disorder that eventually led to his death. There was no other indication of this disorder.

[JadedStar]

Either that or he has a sensitive spot (from a former injury) that might hurt slightly when you do that, that would explain the violent reactions when you scratch that one spot near his tail. Animals tend to do that if you hit a spot that hurts a little (lick it). If he was an outdoor cat he might have suffered an injury that healed but is still sore, you touch one spot and it only slighlty hurts so he licks it (animals instinct to lick a wound) and you scratch it closer to the actual injury and it HURTS causing the violent reaction.

[Seymore]

Interesting.

 

Debaser - it wouldn't happen to be whatever the equivalent of FIV is to dogs, would it?

 

I know one of the cats we used to have died last year from complications due to FeLV/FIV, as it's easily spread among outdoor cats...

[Cognitive_Canine]

Interesting.

 

Debaser - it wouldn't happen to be whatever the equivalent of FIV is to dogs, would it?

 

I know one of the cats we used to have died last year from complications due to FeLV/FIV, as it's easily spread among outdoor cats...

 

He had a freak genetic disorder. He was from a very prestigious breeder (hunting dogs) and his liter ended up all having this immune disorder. It was just the lining up of his mother and father's genes that went wrong. Him and all 6 of his siblings died before the age of 4 due to complications. It was just a natural tragedy.

 

His mother and father had no problems and were champion show dogs.

 

We didn't know he had it until we took him to get him fixed. His heart failed him due to the allergic reaction with the anestesia.

[JadedStar]

He had a freak genetic disorder. He was from a very prestigious breeder (hunting dogs) and his liter ended up all having this immune disorder. It was just the lining up of his mother and father's genes that went wrong. Him and all 6 of his siblings died before the age of 4 due to complications. It was just a natural tragedy.

 

His mother and father had no problems and were champion show dogs.

 

We didn't know he had it until we took him to get him fixed. His heart failed him due to the allergic reaction with the anestesia.

 

As often can happen even with champions is a latent gene from their line they were bred from.

 

My mother had puppies out of two championed weimeraners. The entire litter had hip dysplasia. There was a latent genetic disorder that wasn't detected because the parents were not properly health tested (my mom's fault). Happens a lot. She had a hard time even giving them away because even tho they got along very well and fast, they all HAD TO HOP like bunnies to get around! It was the darndest thing i had ever seen, but then again i was only 11 LOL.

[LBP]

Every cat I've ever known does that thing where they freak out from scratching at the base of their tail. So I'd say it's just a common cat thing.

 

the other stuff, couldn't say, but it also sounds fairly typical.

[Seymore]

He had a freak genetic disorder. He was from a very prestigious breeder (hunting dogs) and his liter ended up all having this immune disorder. It was just the lining up of his mother and father's genes that went wrong. Him and all 6 of his siblings died before the age of 4 due to complications. It was just a natural tragedy.

 

His mother and father had no problems and were champion show dogs.

 

We didn't know he had it until we took him to get him fixed. His heart failed him due to the allergic reaction with the anestesia.

 

I'm sorry for your losses. Thank you to everyone for the advice.

[Seymore]

I spoke with my folks about the advice you guys gave me - Noob does have sores here and there from time to time. They took him to the vet and he didn't notice anything, but gave them ointment for them to apply. He licks it like crazy - I think he hates it.