Skin Disease and Behavior Changes in the Cat

M Leanne Lilly; Carlo Siracusa

doi:10.1016/j.cvsm.2023.09.004

Skin Disease and Behavior Changes in the Cat

Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract. 2024 Jan;54(1):135-151. doi: 10.1016/j.cvsm.2023.09.004. Epub 2023 Oct 16.

Authors

M Leanne Lilly¹, Carlo Siracusa²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, 601 Vernon L Tharp Street, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: lilly.136@osu.edu.
² Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3800 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

PMID: 37852882
DOI: 10.1016/j.cvsm.2023.09.004

Abstract

The health of the skin and coat of a cat is connected to the behavioral health of the animal. Stressed animals can cause lesions to their skin and coat such as alopecia, ulcers, and self-mutilation. On the other hand, localized or systemic health problems can cause stress, or pain, and therefore can increase overgrooming and poor skin health. When treating overgrooming and related skin lesions, all the physical and behavioral causes must be addressed through a multimodal approach.

Keywords: Cat; Compulsive behavior; Hyperesthesia; Overgrooming; Psychogenic alopecia; Skin; Stress; Tail chasing.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Alopecia* / diagnosis
Alopecia* / etiology
Alopecia* / therapy
Alopecia* / veterinary
Animals
Behavior, Animal
Cat Diseases* / diagnosis
Cat Diseases* / pathology
Cat Diseases* / therapy
Cats
Pain / veterinary
Skin
Skin Diseases* / diagnosis
Skin Diseases* / therapy
Skin Diseases* / veterinary