Kitty is pulling his fir off

Question
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The past 3-4 weeks our cat has been removing 1/2 x 1" sections of fur & skin. We have not seen him removing fur, only scratching & licking skin scab area. Once the fur has been removed a dry flesh area is present which he: 1)- leaves the exposed skin area along, or 2)- Licks the fur-less skin area into a bloodly scab.  He will remove the scab every few days until the area has healed & fur is growing back. His food is 80 % DM for diabetic cats. One vet has said he has become alergic to the wheatgrass we have been growing for him for the past 5 years. Also recently he has had to be pulled away from a glowing hot space heater.  He cleans close to it then seems to treat it as a tropical spa until we discover him becoming about 100 degrees hot on his outer fur. Of course we always now turn the unit off, but he just goes right back to the heater when it is turned back on. He has sat by the heater many weeks without this skin problem.

Thank you in advance,
Bob, Grace, & YZ in Minneapolis, MN

Answer
It sounds like he could be peeling from possible thermal injury to the skin. Food allergic cats tend to itch intensely around their face and neck, but they do not lose hair and skin.  He may also have an allergic reaction that itches and he is self mutilating.  Ask your vet if a shot of cortisone might help.

You have a terrific veterinary dermatologist named Dr. Patrick McKeever in your area.  If your vet cannot get this problem corrected, you might ask for a referral.