Animal Welfare Professionals

My cat has been having very aggressive tail chasing, starting about a week after a trip away. He has a small scratch/cut about 1-2cm long now. The vet cleaned and wrapped his tail and put him on gabapentin for 30 days. When we unwrap his tail he starts chasing it violently again. We are concerned that this plan isn't addressing the real issue of why he's doing this. We have tried redirection and it doesn't seem to work. It's as though the tail is bothering him some how. Is there such a thing as a cat behaviorist? Any suggestions?

I'm sorry you experiencing this issue. How old is the cat and what breed? How much interaction are you giving her per day?

In your case seems that it is related with stress, 

Stimming is the term we use in behavior healing. 

Cats who are hypersensitive, or overly sensitive to stimuli, may engage in stimming because they want to reduce their current level of stimulation, whether they perceive their environments as too intense, loud, bright or crowded.

Biting, scratching or excessive tail chasing would be a good example for these cats.

Thanks for your thoughts. He is a year old, white short hair rescue. No particular breed. He is one of 4cats we have and they all get along fine. I had seen him chase his tail before, out of play, but never viciously like it's turned out to be. I play with them through out the day as well. I have thought about getting a wheel for him to run, I wonder if he's bored at times. I also wonder if this is separation anxiety since it got so bad just after returning from a trip. He even does it when I'm out of the house, oh, and he chews up cardboard boxes(which I quit giving them to play in because of that). I feel this is all an emotional response to something, I just don't know what kind of action to take. I fear leaving him for any amount of time 

Yes I feel you’re right. Animals get in survival mode if there is trauma involved and some have difficult with transitions 

I did a FB post yesterday about a this, even though it’s dog related it still applies to cats. 

I recently saw this article in an issue of Catster magazine. I took a pic of the title for a friend, but thought I'd share the name with you just in case you want to read about it later. It refers to some similar behaviors related to tail chasing/biting.