A Viovet customer asked:-
My cat keeps grooming her belly all the time until she has no fur left there this only seems to happen in the summer and then it grows back, i use frontline so i know it is not flees can you recommend what to do or what to use
Viovet's reply:-
Cats tend to groom themselves for 2 reasons. One is if they are itchy or dirty in some way. The other is as a self-comfort activity. Its perhaps a little bit like a person sucking their thumb or biting their nails. It is a sort of silly habit which serves no useful purpose, but you want to keep doing it. Cats lick their belly more if they are stressed than if they are relaxed. The most stressful thing to cats is usually other cats, in or near their territory. This can be other cats in the house, or neighbours' cats.
If you can organise your cat's environment to reduce stress, particularly from other cats, then that can help. Otherwise the stress treatments like Feliway and Zylkene can help.
At all times be extremely diligent about flea control. I would regularly use Frontline or something similar (like fiprospot which is a bit cheaper) as well as spray the house at the start of the warm weather with a household insecticide (like RIP Fleas or Acclaim). Cats like this will tend to over-groom at the slightest excuse. So an occasional flea bite which would not bother most cats, becomes the reason to lick excessively and remove hair with their rough tongue.
All the products mentioned are on the website. You can find them by putting the name (or part of it) into the search box.
If in doubt, see your own vet about it as sometimes there are other factors involved.