Kitty acne ?!?

[kuhio98]

Okay, now I've heard of everything. Miss Pepper has been diagnosed with acne on her chin. Anyone ever heard of this?

We adopted her 6 weeks ago and named her Pepper because of the "moles" on her chin. Turns out, her chin is a mass of blackheads as you can see in this photo (that's not dirt). She has been scrubbing her chin on any rough surface she can find and scratching her chin bloody to get the blackheads out. The oil glands in her hair follicles have gone into hyperdrive and are getting plugged up.



She's on Clavamox for the next 10 days and she gets a "facial" twice a day. To do this, I saturate a washcloth with hot water and hold it to her chin to steam open her pores. Then I gently exfoliate the area to get out the blackheads. After 10 days, we'll see if it gets any better.

The vet said he's had some patients so bad he's had to do surgery. That won't be happening for Pepper due to her profound heart murmur (on a scale of 1 to 6, hers is a 6).

It's never a dull moment...

[jazzcat]

Wow, I've heard of it but never seen it. The only thing I had heard about it was it can cause hair loss. I had no ideas it would cause blackheads like that. Poor Miss Pepper.

I'm sure someone on here can give you more info. I'm going to have to search on Google and find out more.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Although Edwina would be furious to know I shared such details....she occasionally has feline acne on her chin. Although, since getting the water fountain she has been all clear!

[jazzcat]

That is interesting about Edwina and the water fountain because I just read that plastic food and water bowls could be the culprit because scratches and nicks in the pastic can harbor bacteria which will keep reinfecting the cat when their chin brushes against it.

I also discovered after researching on Google that feline acne tends to occur mainly in white or light pigmented cats. It also appears stress can make it worse, but doesn't stress make everything worse?

[Kona & Oreo's mom]

Kona also gets feline acne on her chin. Hers started when we adopted her dog-sister, when Kona was 7. Perhaps that lends credability to stress and overactive/clogged scent glands as causes.

We visited the vet when it first appeared, as I was terrified she had chin tumors or something. Since they were just pimples thankfully, he suggested warm compresses as a first treatment. She is much better now, just an occasional pimple so minor that it heals itself. Good luck to Pepper.

[Nomilynn]

Tilly is a zitty kitty too. I have a special soap that has peroxide in it. When she get a flare up, I do the hot compress, wash the area with peroxide, then with her soap, then more hot water. I also have prednisone if it gets REALLY bad, but since thie first time I noticed it I've been able to control it with this washing routine. She sometimes gets little puss pockets and they will pop.. and she also has the black krusty stuff.

[kuhio98]

Thanks everybody. Maybe the stress of coming home with us and all the vet visits for the heart murmur have aggravated the situation. We have a water fountain but recently gave up on it because all the kitties are scared of the motor sound. We tried for 6 weeks, but they wouldn't go near the thing.

The vet did mention that "sloppy" drinkers tend to have this acne problem. I've been watching her to see if she sticks her whole chin in the bowl but haven't caught her doing that yet. I'll keep watching. In the meantime, we're going to throw out all the plastic water bowls and buy some new ones.

I'll keep you posted.

btw Edwina, your secret is safe with us. Your beauty regime has been very successful. When is your signature line of products coming out?

[boscibo]

Bo (he's WHITE!) gets acne badly. My vet gave me some cream called Oxxydex (that he hates) to stick on his chin. That seemed to clear it up fast. I use stainless steel bowls for dry, and flat porcelain plates, (they're actually saucers) for his canned food. I had bought some small cupped china bowls for canned food, but even that aggravated it. The flat dinnerware seems to work best, his chin doesn't come in contact with anything while he eats.

It got really bad when Hanna was a kitten, then I realized he was sneaking in and eating out of her plastic kitten food bowls!

Anyways, now that I have Bo's feeding dishes all sorted out, he hasn't had a flare up for a long time. It looks quite painful when he breaks out. Bo has a heart murmer too. He's 14 and has had it for quite a few years now, but apparently it isn't bad enough to warrant any special treatment.

[krazyaboutkatz]

My Sunny also has feline acne on his chin. He gets the black heads too. Sometimes he even gets them on his lips.

I used to use ceramic bowls but have switched to stainless steel bowls. This cured it for a while but it flared up again. Now I wash his chin with antibacterial soap and then rinse it. Then I use a q-tip and dab it in "Hibiclens",which is an antiseptic/antimicrobial skin cleanser, and then I rinse it off with more water. It really seems to work. This contains chlorhexidine which is supposed to help feline acne. I was able to buy it at Rite Aid without a prescription and it cost about $10. Since I only use a little bit, it should last me a long time.

Good luck with Pepper.

[felinefanatic]

My oldest Cat "Skootch" used to get acne on his chin frequently.I would just dab a little antiseptic on his chin.He is a shorthair grey tabby so I guess all types of cats can get chin acne!Now that skootch is 16 years old he doesn't get acne any more, Guess he out grew it!

[Cataholic]

Wow..I didn't know the china/glass bowls would cause it too! Tex has occasionally suffered from it. I do think the flat plates would work the best..though, with dry food, I see a mess.

Do you clean the bowls frequently to cut down on bacteria? I am going to start cleaning them every few days instead of the once every 2-3 weeks. Wow..I am not very fastidious, am I?

[Edwina's Secretary]

I clean the water fountain once a week. Why should I wash their dishes more often than mine?????

[Kathleen]

I have this everyday cat calendar and it says Feline Acne, commonly found on the chin, is less likely to occur in two-cat households. The raspy tongue of a feline companion can clean away the remains of a meal before they clog the pores.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Originally posted by Kathleen
I have this everyday cat calendar and it says Feline Acne, commonly found on the chin, is less likely to occur in two-cat households. The raspy tongue of a feline companion can clean away the remains of a meal before they clog the pores.

I've heard this too but unfortunately in my 4 cat household, my Sunny still gets feline acne.

[kuhio98]

Originally posted by Kathleen
I have this everyday cat calendar and it says Feline Acne, commonly found on the chin, is less likely to occur in two-cat households. The raspy tongue of a feline companion can clean away the remains of a meal before they clog the pores.

I hold out hope that Halo and Cammie will come around and accept Pepper as part of the household. However, we're still thrilled if they are all in the same room at the same time. It's going to be a loooong time before they accept her enough to give her a bath (if ever).

I have high hopes for Halo though. She and Pepper are closer to the same age and have been play fighting. Cammie (typical tortie) doesn't care what they do as long as they leave her alone.