Feline compulsive behaviors including excessive grooming, wool sucking, and repetitive locomotion reflect underlying stress and anxiety requiring both behavioral and environmental interventions.
Feline compulsive behaviors are welfare signals reflecting psychological distress. Cats that groom to the point of self-induced hair loss or skin trauma are not doing so by choice - the behavior provides temporary anxiety relief through a cycle that becomes self-reinforcing. Wool sucking behaviors that are harmless in themselves can become welfare concerns when they involve ingestion of fabric that risks gastrointestinal obstruction. The underlying anxiety driving these behaviors causes ongoing suffering that persists regardless of whether the compulsive behavior is prevented. Treatment must address the underlying anxiety rather than simply preventing the behavior.