Feline Acne

Feline Acne

Feline Acne


Dealing with Feline Acne

When it comes to your cat, you need to educate yourself on the health issues than may arise from time to time such as feline acne. It is interesting to know that cats can suffer from acne just like their human counterparts. Imagine how uncomfortable it must be for an animal to have feline acne underneath all that fur.

Feline acne occurs primarily under the cat’s chin where excess oils may accumulate. This is the result of poor grooming. Cat’s can develop bumps that will form at the hair follicle on the chin of the cat. The bumps are usually in the form of a blackhead and these can get infected with a sort of yeast that creates a bacterial infection causing swelling, weeping fluids, and they may even loose hair.

Other contributing factors to your cat developing feline acne are:
  • Stress
  • Poor immune system
  • Poor grooming habits
Your cat may appear to be dirty around the mouth and may scratch at their mouth, which will further aggravate the feline acne. This can cause the area to break out in abscesses that will crust over. The area under the chin can also swell and apparently in Persian Cats it is common for it to move to the outer folds of the mouth and neck.

While feline acne is annoying for you and your cat, and there is no real cure, the best way to handle feline acne is to take your cat to the vet and have them looked over. Perhaps they may need to take skin scrapings to analyze to determine that it is actually feline acne.

Once you have determined that this is feline acne, the veterinarian can prescribe a number of things. The first of which would be to bath your cat with an antiseborrheic shampoo. This is basically a shampoo that has small concentration of benzoyl peroxide to break down the oils around the mouth. In cases where the cat has a more severe inflammation, the vet may recommend a brief run of prednisone, an oral steroid.

Some vets may recommend that you change your cat’s water and food dishes because plastic dishes and the dyes used in some dishes may induce the acne in an allergic reaction. Vets suggest that you use should use glass or stainless steel bowls. Cats are, in most cases. groomers, constantly licking and preening, but there are those that simply have poor grooming habits and their owners need to clean their chins regularly for them.

While feline acne can be a real pain for both you and your cat, it is one of the more simply remedied health issues that cat owners might deal with. Pay attention to your cat’s grooming and you will both be happy with your cat free of feline acne.