Cat has developed a suddenly sensitive back

Question:
 Hi all. New here so I will try to keep this short, but to the point. My 5 yr old cat Cleo (female, spayed, reasonably healthy but a couple pounds overweight) has suddenly developed some sensitivity on her back. When I start to pet her, she makes an inquisitive sound in her throat and starts to lick her paws, my hand, the couch, or whatever is convenient. My other cat does this also when you scratch near the base of his tail, but he has always done this and the vet said it is just a quirk of his behaviour—nothing to worry about. But this just started about 5 days ago with Cleo. She doesn’t seem to be in any pain—there is no biting, crying, or fighting to get away, just the licking. When I looked through her fur this morning I found little black crunchy pieces of stuff (hopefully not flea turds, but I think they may be) and what looked like pieces of dried skin/dandruff. I searched the rest of her body and there are no black crunchy pieces or dried skin anywhere else—just her back. Could it just be dry skin that is making her itch like this, or should I contact my vet and take her in? If it is dry skin, is there some type of kitty moisturizer to help the problem? Thank you all for your help! Christina
Answer:
 Hey Christina. Both of my cats have exhibited similar behavior. They are brother and sister. My female is a short hair. She was going thru phases of licking all of her fur off. The vet told me I had a nervous cat. Then her brother, a long hair (who had never licked his fur off, but has always had little "fits" of licking like yours) started having (for lack of a better word) spasms. During one of them, he bit me pretty badly. I had to pry his mouth open so he would release my arm. That seemed to happen when I touched a certain spot on his back. Lately, he has been having these seizures/spasms without anyone or anything touching him. I took him to the vet and was told that he had Feline Neurological Disease (more common than you would expect apparently). They gave him a shot to "calm him down"...but I can't help but worry...since he had another seizure last night! I am going to take him back in, but in case you haven't taken yours to the vet lately, you may want to look into that. I will let you know if I find out more...pls. let me know if you find anything else...I would really appreciate it! Thanks, Staci
Answer:
 I'm on my second cat with a similar behavior... and they are from 600 miles apart in origin. Rubbing the area in front of the tail causes the cat to gnaw on a front leg. It appears to be extreeeeeemely pleasurable to the cat. Both were/are mature spayed animals, "American Shorthair" (i.e. not pure anythings). I was just searching through the net with a sudden curiosity about how common this might be. So I guess there are several of us with similar critters. Anyone else?