What's wrong with my cats?

drewcats

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Alright, so here's some background information, maybe it's relevant. We live in a compact three bedroom apartment in Las Vegas. I originally had two cats, but then my sister moved back in and brought her two cats. My two cats were bought as kittens at pet shops and only have whatever basic shots were given to them by the pet shop. I can't say anything for my sisters cats, she got them from friends. The problem described below definitely started after she brought her cats in, but I don't know if they had it when they came in or it developed recently along with my cats, since they're mean and I don't pay much attention to them. They've been with our cats for about 6 months now.

Here's the problem. I noticed that all four of our cats have some weird developments on their chin. They have patches of hair loss or thinning around their chin area, usually with a scab or hardened spot of sorts (which has produced blood upon cleaning) and lots of little black dots around the area. One of them has it really bad with very noticeable patches of hair gone and dark black stuff and dots in the missing patches. The fact that it's happening to all of my cats and only on their chins probably rules out a lot of things, does anyone know what it could be?
 

yosemite

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It actually sounds like cat acne. Are you using plastic bowls or placemats? Also, the bowls need to be cleaned after every use, i.e., do not put fresh food down in a dirty bowl. If you are using plastic dishes, get some stainless steel or ceramic/glass dishes instead. I bought about 10 stainless steel bowls at the dollar store so have plenty in order to put the dirty ones in the dishwasher.

Do a search on this forum for "acne" and you'll find more information and how to clean their chins. It does seem strange that all 4 would suddenly develop it, but maybe with the added cat(s), the dishes are getting cleaned as often as before - I'm just guessing.
 
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drewcats

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Dang, cats get acne? They all share one plastic feeding bowl and... admittedly... it's not cleaned very often. I'll definitely start with cleaning it after every use and replace the plastic dish with something else. Going to give them all baths too (and naturally give my arm a few new scars
).

Thanks!
 

goldenkitty45

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It just might be feline acne. But the cats need to see a vet to be sure its not ringworm or something contagious.

Do your cats eat/drink out of plastic bowls? If so, that's probably the reason for the problems on their chins. Switch to ceramic or stainless steel bowls or use paper plates.

My concern is your statement of your cats being mean and you not giving them attention. IMO if you really don't want to get love and attention to your cats, you might consider rehoming them.
 

nekochan

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

My concern is your statement of your cats being mean and you not giving them attention. IMO if you really don't want to get love and attention to your cats, you might consider rehoming them.
I think the poster was saying the sister's cats were mean, not their own cats.
 

momofmany

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Sounds like acne to me also. Buy 2 sets of ceramic or stainless steel bowls and rotate a clean one in while you sterilize the other bowl. If you have a dishwasher, that is the easiest way to clean them.

In the meantime, call your vet and talk thru it with them. You might only need to bring in one of the cats to get the proper medicines and/or cleaner to treat the acne. Once you have cleaned up the acne, clean food bowl management should prevent it from occurring again, unless one of them is prone to it.
 
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drewcats

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

My concern is your statement of your cats being mean and you not giving them attention. IMO if you really don't want to get love and attention to your cats, you might consider rehoming them.
I give my two cats a lot of attention, and they give me it back. They sleep with me almost every night and I can't even leave my door open because they'll cry to be let in. They come to me when they want food and when they want love and I always answer them with lots of hugging and petting. One of my cats in particular sleeps on my chest a lot and I can swear he tries to give me massages!

With my sisters cats, it's not so much that I don't give them attention but that they seem to generally avoid my cats -- and my cats are almost always around me. They still hiss at each other occasionally even after many months. It seems a lot like my two cats will provoke them if they get near me, moreso with my boy cat who spends the most time with me. I do give them affection when I can though. It's not as bad as I make it seem. But still, I don't feel any real bond with them; they were dumped on me by my sister when she moved in and she does nothing but party all day and night, leaving everything up to me. I raised my two cats from kittens so I naturally like them more. If that makes me a bad person then I guess I'm a bad person, heh...

As for the dishes, I replaced them with glass ones until I can buy a set of stainless steel ones and I'll be cleaning them a lot more often now.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by drewcats

I give my two cats a lot of attention, and they give me it back. They sleep with me almost every night and I can't even leave my door open because they'll cry to be let in. They come to me when they want food and when they want love and I always answer them with lots of hugging and petting. One of my cats in particular sleeps on my chest a lot and I can swear he tries to give me massages!

With my sisters cats, it's not so much that I don't give them attention but that they seem to generally avoid my cats -- and my cats are almost always around me. They still hiss at each other occasionally even after many months. It seems a lot like my two cats will provoke them if they get near me, moreso with my boy cat who spends the most time with me. I do give them affection when I can though. It's not as bad as I make it seem. But still, I don't feel any real bond with them; they were dumped on me by my sister when she moved in and she does nothing but party all day and night, leaving everything up to me. I raised my two cats from kittens so I naturally like them more. If that makes me a bad person then I guess I'm a bad person, heh...

As for the dishes, I replaced them with glass ones until I can buy a set of stainless steel ones and I'll be cleaning them a lot more often now.
Unfortunately, sometimes we don't read as carefully as we should before responding so I'm glad you didn't take offense. I'm happy you take such good care of your kitties and I'd wager the other two will have you wrapped around their paws before you know it.

I do agree that it would probably be a good idea to take at least one of the cats to a vet for a check to ensure it really is just acne and not something more serious like ringworm or such. You can start cleaning their chins with a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide to begin with which should help. Also cleaning the bowls before each feeding should help as well and sometimes even a plastic placemat can be the culprit when it comes to feline acne.
 
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