Autogrooming is the process where an animal cleans itself with its tongue by licking its fur or feathers to remove excess hair and dirt. This is a natural behavior for many animals, including cats, dogs, and birds.

Autogrooming is an important part of pet grooming as it helps them maintain healthy skin, coat or feathers and remove parasites.

However, when routine grooming turns into a compulsive action, it becomes an alarming symptom. The reasons may be different. In addition to obvious physiological diseases such as allergies and parasite infestation, excessive licking can be the result of more serious problems. For example, it may be a signal of neurological diseases. In addition, compulsive self-grooming is a symptom of problems with behavior, anxiety, and stress.

All animals are different in characters, someone is more clean and spend more time to hygiene than others. But in any case, you should pay attention if your pet:

- licks too hard and can't stop himself;

- begins to clean himself for no reason and does it without rest for a long time;

- does not respond to commands to stop and does not pay attention to anything around him

If you notice signs of unhealthy autogrooming, first you should examine your animal skin. If the initial examination did not give any results, it is necessary to consult with a veterinarian and a neurologist.