Vet-recommended calming for cat over-grooming

Your vet has already done the hard diagnostic work here — stress-related over-grooming in a 9-year-old Tonkinese is a real and specific finding, not just a vague concern. Tonkinese cats are unusually people-oriented and emotionally sensitive, which makes them more prone to internalising stress in exactly this way. The good news is that pheromone-based products have a solid track record with stress behaviours like this, but placement and consistency matter enormously — a diffuser stuck in the wrong room does very little. Before I point you toward the right product, can you tell me: do you have a sense of what's driving the stress — any recent changes at home, a new pet, building work, a shift in your schedule? And where does your cat spend most of her time?

That timeline makes a lot of sense — cats often take two to three months to fully process a move, so a stress response appearing at the four-month mark isn't unusual at all. She may have been managing fine on the surface while the underlying anxiety was quietly building. The fact that it's her belly and inner legs is a classic pattern for stress-induced over-grooming, and your vet is right to want to address it now before it becomes entrenched behaviour. One more quick question: is she the only pet in the house, and does she have consistent access to both the living room and bedroom throughout the day?

Perfect — that actually makes this more straightforward. My recommendation is the Feliway Classic Plug-In Diffuser. This is the product most vets reach for first in exactly this situation, and for good reason: it releases a synthetic version of the feline facial pheromone that cats use to mark their environment as safe, which directly targets the kind of background anxiety that produces stress grooming. Because your cat splits her time between two rooms, you'll want two diffusers — one in the living room, one in the bedroom. Plug them in at low level, away from windows and air vents, and leave them running continuously. The key thing people get wrong is turning them off or moving them around. You should expect to see a reduction in grooming frequency within three to four weeks, though the full effect builds over a month. Feliway Classic Diffuser Starter Kit is the right starting point — it comes with 30 days of coverage and is widely available on Amazon UK. Pick up a refill at the same time so you're not breaking the habit mid-course.

The diffuser is the core intervention and where I'd focus first — layering too many things at once makes it hard to know what's working. That said, there are a couple of low-effort things that complement it well without complicating the picture. Make sure she has at least one elevated resting spot in each room — cats feel significantly more secure when they can observe from height, and this is especially true after a move where the territory still feels uncertain. A consistent daily routine also helps a lot with Tonkinese specifically; they're highly attuned to their owner's patterns. Beyond that, give the diffuser a proper four-week run before adding anything else. Keep a simple log of how often you're noticing the grooming — it helps you and your vet assess whether it's working. If there's no meaningful improvement after six weeks, go back to the vet before trying additional products.

That's exactly the right approach — two kits running consistently will give you a genuine trial rather than a half-measure. The refills matter more than people expect, because the benefit compounds over time; stopping at 30 days is one of the most common reasons people conclude the product didn't work when it actually needed longer. Good luck with her — stress grooming is very treatable when caught at this stage, and your vet flagging it early puts you in a good position.