Black dry skin on mouth?

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heddafish

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My Peyton has what looks like little flakes of black that is on her chin and in the hair around her whiskers. It almost looks like dried blood like when a cat has fleas, but she is not bleeding, her teeth and gums aren't bleeding. She eats dry food and her skin there is white. SHe does not seem to be in pain and its been there as long as I have had her about three months. Could she have localized black kitty dandruff? Anyone seen this before or know what it is? She doesn't itch it and her ears get really dirty too but she doesn't scratch them or show signs of ear mites. I clean them occassionally with ear wipes. She grooms herself regularly. Could she just be a dirty girl? Not too concerned just curious.
 
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appleseed_1

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judging from your descriptions i think it has happened to uno before when he was very small. for uno his fur fell of on affected areas of the face and turned black, whisker areas, above eyebrows, nose areas.
there was no itching. we took him to the vet and it was some sort of rash and infections. he had a cream and some medication to help. now its completely gone.im not certain about your situation though, ask your vet.
hope this helps
 
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skoshkie

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Sophie had that same problem-acne. When we noticed it, we just washed it up a few times with a gentle acne wash and then made sure to clean out water and food bowls thoroughly every 2-3 days. This helped significantly. Also, if you have plastic food/water bowls, replace them with porcelain. Plastic bowls can harbor bacteria that might be contributing to the problem. Hope this helps!
 
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yosemite

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Sounds like acne. You can use a diluted hydrogen peroxide solution to cleanse the chin (undiluted hydrogen peroxide will burn tissue so please dilute).

If you are using plastic bowls or even a plastic placemat please throw them away. Porcelain can be used as one poster above has claimed, but porcelain can get hairline cracks which will hold bacteria which is what the plastic also does.

The best bowls to help prevent acne are stainless steel and all food bowls should be thoroughly washed after EACH use. I bought about a dozen of them at the dollar store and they go in the dishwasher after every use and I always have clean dishes for the next meal.

If, after trying all the above, the acne doesn't go away you may have to get antibiotics from your vet.
 
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gingersmom

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

Sounds like acne. You can use a diluted hydrogen peroxide solution to cleanse the chin (undiluted hydrogen peroxide will burn tissue so please dilute).

If you are using plastic bowls or even a plastic placemat please throw them away. Porcelain can be used as one poster above has claimed, but porcelain can get hairline cracks which will hold bacteria which is what the plastic also does.

The best bowls to help prevent acne are stainless steel and all food bowls should be thoroughly washed after EACH use. I bought about a dozen of them at the dollar store and they go in the dishwasher after every use and I always have clean dishes for the next meal.

If, after trying all the above, the acne doesn't go away you may have to get antibiotics from your vet.
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For some reason, kitties with white chins seem to be more prone to it.

Ginger had a case when she was about a year old, and I used hydrogen peroxide on cotton balls, scrubbed her chin twice a day (gently) for about 2 weeks. It went away, never came back again.
 
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heddafish

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I will give what you posted a try. She doesn't appear to have serious acne because there are no bumps just the dirty chin. I will change her water bowl and try the hydrogen peroxide. She'll love it I'm sure.
(said with a tone of sarcasm.) It doesn't seem to really bother her, not like my acne bothers me anyway. Ha Ha. THanks you for all your help.
 
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yosemite

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Originally Posted by heddafish

I will give what you posted a try. She doesn't appear to have serious acne because there are no bumps just the dirty chin. I will change her water bowl and try the hydrogen peroxide. She'll love it I'm sure.
(said with a tone of sarcasm.) It doesn't seem to really bother her, not like my acne bothers me anyway. Ha Ha. THanks you for all your help.
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You need to change ALL her bowls, not just the water bowl.
 
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sakura

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Originally Posted by heddafish

I will give what you posted a try. She doesn't appear to have serious acne because there are no bumps just the dirty chin. I will change her water bowl and try the hydrogen peroxide. She'll love it I'm sure.
(said with a tone of sarcasm.) It doesn't seem to really bother her, not like my acne bothers me anyway. Ha Ha. THanks you for all your help.
Click to expand...
It doesn't have to have bumps to be acne, the dirty chin is just the beginning stage of it. Mattie had just the blackheads at first and when they aren't taken care of, they become infected and then you get the red bumps. You need to make sure all the bowls are stainless steel and change them in between each feeding (this might require buying a few new bowls).
 
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