weird mouth thing going on, cat madly licking mouth and then trying to pull out toenail Options

[sidney]

Has anyone seen this weird behaviour before. Our Sid who is recovering from a broken pelvis, and just barely limping now, has started a very strange mouth thing. At different times of the day for no reason he will madly do a licking thing with his mouth as if he has something caught in his front teeth, he gets quite cross with it. But now he has added to this repertoire, trying to grab his little toe nail and pull it out! He sits and licks and pulls at his toenail. We have inspected his mouth (appears to be pain free , no inflammation or obvious tooth problems) and inspected his toe and nothing seems amiss. Help, is he going mental?

[Herbert]

It sounds to me like sudden twinges of nerve activity in the mouth that might be related to damaged nerves in the pelvic area.

Perhaps it's a sensation of sudden itchiness.

My cats occasionally sit on their rump and start plucking away with their teeth at their claws. Their claws 'molt' by shedding old nails as new ones come through, and no doubt this causes some itchiness.

My guess is that Sid's current behaviour will pass as he becomes fully recovered from his injuries.