bitter apple spray

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PeterDevonMocha

PeterDevonMocha

Member Since 2009
My civvie twix constantly licks and pulls at her fur on her front paws .. it's to the point where now the fur loss is going higher up, nearly halfway up the top of her front paws when she is standing straight (if that makes sense?) I tried to take a photo of it, but it's not clear enough to show the damage .. Has anyone ever tried the bitter apple spray directly on a cats "hot spot" they like to chew on? If so, was there any type of negative reaction to the spray? Did it help with the situation, or any other suggestions out there on how to handle the situation?

PS, this is not new behavior, she has done it for years .. we snap our fingers at her when we catch her doing it, but quite often I think she does it at night when we are sleeping .. she can be VERY determined to chew her paws!
 
I haven't used it for a cat, but wanted to share... I had a dog years ago, when he was a puppy he chewed eveything. So, I used the bitter apple stuff and wouldn't you know it... He Loved it. It was very funny to watch.

Did you ever mention it to the vet? I wonder if maybe Twix has allergies that makes her paws itchy. My civie licks and pulls fur when she,s stressed. I used feliway, which helped a little, but it takes a while to build up. She also licks a lot in the winter when everyone else gets dry skin too. The vet gave her a couple of pred shots for it, but warned about not doing it often.
 
Thanks guys .. I read some reviews that some animals loved the stuff and others stopped right away ..

We took her to the vet for it before, a few years back .. she couldn't find anything wrong with it .. its almost like twix get's fixated on stuff and won't stop before causing damage .. she'll be taking a bath and get to her paws, then she just picks and picks and picks at the fur on them .. I can her paw away from her mouth repeatedly telling her no, then finally she looks at me, huffs and starts washing somewhere else .. Now I see she has a tiny little scab on the top of her paw, probably from picking at the fur, plucking it right out ..

I'm not sure what to do about it .. I've thought about dressing her paws in the bandage type stuff the put over IV's and what nots at the vets, but not sure if that is a good idea?
 
Sounds a bit like OCD. I don't know about using the dressing, probably wouldn't hurt as long as you change the dressing if it gets dirty or wet, and obviously not leaving it on for days and days. I'd try the feliway too, can't hurt. Other than that I'd talk to the vet again to see what they recommend... Maybe a feline shrink, :-D I had to take my dog to one for behavioral issues. Ok it wasn't really a shrink, but she did analyze all of his behaviors and told me how I should be reacting, or more to the point how I should not react. He was awful during thunderstorms, and I apparently made it worse by hugging him and telling him it was ok.
 
I think she is OCD at times .. I wonder if an animal communicator might be able to help us .. I can see her picking the wrapping off her paws .. she was able to wiggle out of a wrap around her entire body and front legs within a half hour of it getting put on ..
 
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