We've have a beautiful rosette Bengal girl called Nala. She's 7 years old and we've had her 3 years. She has the most amazingly loving temprement quite unlike any other cat I've know, she's a total softy.
The first two years we had her her coat remained normal and she was calm and relaxed however the last 12 months she's started scrating round her ears and top of her head, also she grooms herself so much I'm surprised she has any coat left. She has two almost bald spots the back of both ears through scratching.
Both me and my hubby work full time and have done since we adopted her so her environment hasn't changed. Vets have confirmed no fleas, ear mites, skin issues, ringworm a etc. her only behavioral issue is she sits on the window ledge all day staring out of the window. Last year a new cat (big black and white moggy) started visiting our garden. Nala had several fights and it disappeared for a while, but has recently appeared again.
So, I'm thinking she is stressing which is causing her to scratch and groom as a stress reliever but I don't know what to do to help her calm down. It breaks my heart to see her so wound up cos she's such a beautiful little girl.... Please help me!

it could be food sensitivities or an environment allergy. Your vet can put her on a prescription single protein food that she has never had and see if there is an improvement. They will usually give a steroid to stop the itching initially and see if it comes back after the special diet.

My cats had itching around their necks and eyes. They have been on a venison only diet for over a year. They no longer itch...but they do lick the fur off their abdomens. We thought that was food related but it doesn't seem to be.

Flea medication can also cause the itching. I have not given my cats the medicine for 6 months but now that it is getting hot out, I will have to start up again.

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The little monsters 3

If Nala's diet hasn't been changed, it's probably not a food allergy. I would guess it's more "stress" related. Bengals are territorial and even seeing of smelling another cat can bring on stress. You stated Nala had several fights. Fights with this cat? Those can be stressful! It sounds to me like perhaps her routine has been changed -- cats love schedules and routines, so if that gets out of whack, anything can happen. I do know when my bengal would see a neighbor's cat in our yard, he would get extremely agitated! Some cats react differently. Since there is nothing medically wrong, then it's definitely environmental.

I think allergies can develop over time (just like with humans), plus even with the same flavor and same brand, formulations and ingredients can change. The stress or behavioral cause (pyschogenic alopecia) is considered to be sort of the "cop out" diagnosis, and it is the most over-diagnosed cause. Unlike the others, you can pretty much never prove or disprove it as a cause, so usually you want to try to rule out the other things first if you can.

Here's a chart that might be useful:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... 41&aid=195

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The little monsters 3

Can you try one of those plugins to see if it helps at all as they are supposed to help stress but not all cats do respond perhaps worth a try?

Hi, thanks for the replies. She's on a very bland diet of fresh white fish with occasional tins of Felix tuna. When we re-homed her she was eating a more varied diet so it could well be that changing her diet has done it as I only changed it 18months after rehoming her. I might just revert to her old meals and see if it works.... thing is tho, she just loves her fishy. My Vet gave me some medication that made her violently sick to the point of dehydration so I took her off that. I always have Feliway plug ins in the house. The window thing.... I have a bungalow with big wide windows (almost full length) so I can't really block them all out. I honestly think its the other cat(s) that visit. The back garden is huge and I was out there yesterday and the big black and white cat she fights with was just brazenly sitting watching me playing with Nala, my hubby came out and chased it away quickly followed up by Nala chasing him down the garden. It appears to have a spot in the garden it uses as where it was sitting was brown and obviously used at a regular occurrence. Apart from reverting to her old diet with the fish as a treat now and again I really don't know what to do. It's out of the question trying to stop the other cats coming into the gardens as both back and front are big and fairly open, the one at the back was an old coach run, so is long and wide.

Have any of you used those relax spot on things?

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The little monsters 3

I'm not sure an all-fish diet is best for a kitty! It's a nice change for them, but I do think meat is more to their taste.

Hi all.

Well, a week into her new/old diet and she's loving it! She has a complete mixture of flavores including beef which her previous owner couldn't get her to eat. She is still scratching and so watch this space for an update alittle down the line. I guess a month or so before any improvement will be seen if it is her diet... I'm crossing everything that this will help her.

Thanks for all your replies and help... I'll keep you posted.

Lisa.