I'm hoping I can get some suggestions for helping my cat stop licking a raw spot on his back leg. I think it might be a chronic pain management problem.

Full story: My cat committed the crime of jumping/falling off something while fat. He's not crazy fat, just a heckin' chonk (the three-year saga of attempting to get him thinner is another story...it's slow going). I came downstairs for work one day and he had a bad limp, back right leg. Hundreds of dollars later at the vet, there wasn't anything broken, just soft-tissue damage. She doped him up and sent him home, the limp faded after some time, but then I noticed a raw spot on that leg, and took him back. Caught it in time, no infection, and she doped him stupid again (the pain med that last something like four days). He stopped bothering it while that was active.

But, after it wore off, he went after the spot again. At this point, I've resorted to The Cone Of Shame while it heals. He tolerates it well enough (it's a soft cone, he can eat, drink, sleep, and user the box fine), but he can't live in it forever. It comes off when I'm home to monitor him, but when I left it off for a few days, he licked that spot back down to skin again.

All trace of the limp is gone, he tears around the house like the little idiot he is, jumps on things, plays, etc. But I have a suspicion it's chronic pain in that leg. Ligaments, tendons, muscles...sometimes they never stop aching. Ask me how I know (I've got plenty of aches of my own). I'd like to try some form of long-term chronic pain management for him, see if that keeps him from going after that spot. I have zero idea what the options are for that, and the vet is kinda hard to get in touch with (I live in VERY rural MT, she has two different clinics she runs in two different towns a ways away). I know you can't just give him aspirin or ibuprofen or OTC human meds.

What are my options, or does anyone have any other ideas? I'd like to be prepared with some ideas and information when I manage to get him back to the vet. At this point, I'm even considering some vetwrap and black tape over the spot, but I have a feeling he'd just chew it up, if I could even get it in place.

Thanks in advance.

Could you spray it with apple bitters until he gets out of the habit of licking it? It probably wouldn't work, at least not long term, if it is actual pain causing him to lick the area, but maybe it would let you know if it's habit or pain. Good luck with him.

Chewy.com is our go-to for cat medicines. We recently took a senior cat off of gabapentin, and replaced it with a 'joint stress' solution they sell.

Thanks. I did get some spray from the pet store that's specifically supposed to prevent them licking, but he didn't seem to mind it. I mentioned it to the vet, and she told me she didn't recommend sprays like that because they often make that cat lick that area even more (they're trying to clean the spray off). We used to put hot stuff (chili paste and the like) on the wraps we put on the legs of the horses to keep them from biting at them, but I don't think I want to torture him that way quite yet.

I might try the apple bitters...as you said, to see if it's habit or actual pain.

Hmmm...I'll do some searching over there. Any other products you can recommend?

Anxiety relief, joint stress and (for another cat) nose relief is what we've used.

Homeopet line at Chewy

Give 'em a look and see if there's anything else that will work.
Best of luck!

Thanks. I'll check out the joint stress stuff. On another board there was a second suggestion for apple bitters, so I'll likely give those a try too.