Feline Acne

[luvdemabys]

Our Li'l Guy, the one with 26 known allergies, has now developed feline acne. A couple of weeks ago his chin swelled up, then "broke out" into lumps like blackheads, that gushed black goo. GROSS!! WHAT WORKS??? He's scratched his skin raw, and the vet gave us some antibiotic cream against secondary infection, but it doesn't seem to help the itch. He's miserable, and so, of course, are we. The regular anti-itch gel apparently stings on the raw skin, so that doesn't help.

[K & L]

Do you have his water in a plastic bowl? If so, you might try switching it to stainless steel or ceramic. Plastic can promote or aggravate the situation.

[luvdemabys]

Thanks, our vet explained that to us too...so everybody now has ceramic dishes...and Wynki is being weird about eating out of hers. 'Tis to be hoped this may prevent a recurrence...but meanwhile the little one is itching and twitching something awful.

[cr7clark]

We had to deal with kitty acne with our old orange boy Valentine. After we switched to a ceramic dish, it took a while for the lesions on his chin to clear up. Just keep treating him with the medicine and give him time. Also, you might want to make sure that his water dish is cleaned regularly, and make sure it's sort of "flat" so he doesn't have to put his face all the way into the bowl.
Best wishes for your furbaby!

[Tom Horn]

My cat Ingrid has had occasional trouble with feline acne. She's very embarrassed about it & objects to my looking under her chin when she has a bump there. Poor girl!

The bumps need to be drained by direct pressure (the vet showed me how), which is kind of gross & makes Ingrid pretty mad--but better than the alternative of festering into an abscess (maybe even calcifying), which can happen really fast.

Once the bumps are empty, she's actually pretty good about letting me use alcohol on them (which seems as if it would sting quite a bit). Then I apply a little dab of antiseptic cortisone & we're done!

[zippy-kat]

Welcome to PetTalk Tom!
Yes, we ladies are very sensitive about our complexions. Poor, sweet Ingrid...can't blame her for bein' a bit embarrassed!

[tatsxxx11]

Hi Ingrid....Mr. B here. Us guys don't much like those nasty outbreaks either! I've never eaten from anything but a ceramic bowl. Still, every once in a while I get a flare up under my chin. Dr. Paul gives me some cream to put on it. But he says it's really to make my Mom feel better! Mommy keeps it clean and dry, and although it takes a while, it always clears up nicely! But Ingrid, I'm sure your face is booooooo-tiful even with the boo-boos!! Love, Buddy (a.k.a Mr. B)

[Tom Horn]

Yup. . . . I've used the term "feline acne" with a couple of people who've never encountered it, and they expect Ingrid to have an awful Frankenstein face (like that Baron Harkonnen in "Dune" or something). Then when they meet her, they're pleasantly surprised at how pretty she is.

If you didn't know her & didn't stroke her under her chin, you wouldn't even realize that she has it. Ordinarily she's very happy with that & stretches out her neck & closes her eyes & purrs--but if she jerks her head away like "Whoa, Buster" & wants to go hide, she's telling me "Be careful under there--little problem today." What surprises me (I guess because of her metabolic rate) is how *fast* those things can swell.