I am worried about my cat's strange behaviors!

My cat, Winston, is 9 years old. I've had him since he was 4 1/2. He's always acted a little strangely. He had some compulsive behaviors. He likes to bury his head in my arm pit, and sometime will start licking, until I stop him. He obsessively kneads my living room pillows with all four paws. These are just a couple of examples. He is almost always by my side. He scares easily, to the point where he scares himself. Like, he'll jump off the sofa, and if he hits the floor too hard, the sound will scare him. He also has what I think are panic attacks.

He has had a chronic skin infection problem for a while, and has recently been diagnosed with a food allergy. We changed his diet, and he seems to be getting much better. The only problem is, that with feeling better, he has become much more demanding about his compulsive behaviors.

I guess my question is, what can I do for him? He doesn't seem sick, but I can't imagine that he's happy, and I feel like I'm at a loss.

Asked by Member 1075241 on Dec 4th 2011 Tagged behavior, anxiety, obsessive, compulsive, foodallergy in Behavior & Training