Lucas has feline acne:(

Hello everyone:

My cat Lucas has acne, the vet diagnosed it last week after treating him for Ear mites for some time. The vet thought he had earmites and he prescribed Tresaderm drops and also told me to get Feline Revolution for lucas, but the problem persisted. The vet examined him again and took samples and discovered that it wasn't ear mites, it is feline acne. Thank God is not very bad, but Lucas is itching a lot and he is loosing a little hair around his mouth and he has some black heads on his nose.

The vet prescribed an antibiotic, an antimicrobial cream that is almost impossible to get on Lucas, he also told me to change his food and water bowls to stainless steel and I did. And also he told me to change Lucas' food to Science Diet Sensitive skin dry food. The problem is I can't find the food, the vet ordered it and it hasn't arrived yet and its been three weeks, I hope I can get it soon.

Does anyone has dealt with this before?? I need to know if someone has had this problem too.

Thanks

Tamar

Radar had a pretty ugly bout of acne when he was younger, it's cleared up now and hasn't returned in over a year. It's almost always caused by plastic bowls or plastic/rubber around the feeding area. Ceramic bowls easily get tiny cracks in the glaze and can also cause problems. The best way to deal with it is to switch to shallow stainless steel bowls, remove any rubber anti-slip rims and feeding mats, keep the bowls and floor around the feeding area scrupulously clean and sterile, and don't leave wet food down for more than 30 minutes. I also wiped Radar's chin clean after he had eaten.

Unless it is really horrendous I don't personally see the need to switch to a prescription food long-term (although your vet would probably like the income from selling it to you, RC prescription foods are only sold through vets), most cases clear up fine using the procedures I detailed above. Radar needed an antibiotic shot because his was particularly bad and got infected, if there is any infection then it may be an idea to feed dry only until it has cleared up to keep the area cleaner while eating, but wet food is generally better for health and you could try reintroducing it once his chin is healthy again Radar eats a mostly wet diet and it has not caused a recurrence.

Chestnut has had that problem off and on since he came home. It got pretty nasty at one point, the vet told me to just use some stridex pads... i didn't... but it has finally cleared up!

for your kitty

Feline acne is quite common.. do you feed them off plastic dishes?? or a plastic water dish??

I would ask for claritfication on the RX food thing

Shasha had acne. I replace all dishes to glass or ceramic and removed the plastic mat. It amazingly cleared up!

Another suggestion: Use paper plates to feed. Your cats chin and face won't touch any surface while he eats. When he's done, you throw the plate away.
The shallow stainless steel bowl you're using for his water will be fine. Just clean it well everyday, as was mentioned.

Feline acne is actually not that rare. As the others have said, stop using anything plastic for his food or water area.

If the acne is red, sore and infected it would make perfect sense for the vet to give him antibiotics.

I also would question why the cat would need a special prescription diet because of acne. You might want to discuss this with the vet and if you are not comfortable with the answers, perhaps get a second opinion from another vet.

Thanks everyone for your help. I don't kknow much about Feline Acne, only what my vet told me, he told me it was rare, I guess he hasn't seen that many cases.

I have donme everything you all have said. As I sai I changed Lucas' plates to stainless steel, I keep it clean and I gave him the antibiotics and I'm giving his the srops and applying the cream. I hope he gets better but what I see if that he is getting worse, he has had this for a very long time, so that is why the vet told me it was better to change his food too. I'm going to do it just in case.

Thanks for all your help.

Tamar

I've had success using "Grandpa's Acne Soap" that I found at Whole Foods. I'm lucky that Moose will sit on the kitchen counter and let me wash and rinse his chin.
I've also tried the Stridex pads but they were too strong for his skin. I also use stainless steel water bowls, paper plates for the wet food and foam bowls for the dry food.

I went to our local dollar store and picked up about 10 stainless steel bowls so that each bowl is ever only used for one feeding and then directly into the dishwasher. Cleaning the bowls after each meal and not re-using them dirty is very important IMO.

When Radar had it bad, he had one antibiotic injection, it's a fairly new treatment and is suitable for treating skin conditions and abscesses in cats. It is called Cefovecin (brand name is Convenia) and just 1 injection is needed, no messing about with creams or pills. It is used for exactly this sort of treatment, so I am surprised your vet did not suggest it instead. My vet is quite on the ball when it comes to newer treatments. If I were you I would give your vet a call and ask about it, if you're finding the cream difficult.

I'm confused, is the acne in his ears? How else could you confuse it with ear mites? I ask because typically it shows up on a cats' chin.

Science Diet is not a great food and I don't see why you would need to switch foods for feline acne unless the vet thinks it's a protein-based allergy. That's not normally the first step vets go to when acne is involved. Vets get a lot of compensation for pushing Science Diet. What are you currently feeding and what is available where you live? Science Diet could actually make the problem worse. Your vet is pushing it because of $ reasons.

My cat Matilda has suffered with very serious feline acne. The most common culprit is using plastic food bowls, so that's an easy change. Use stainless steel ones and wash them in between each use. Sometimes the grease that is sprayed on dry food can contribute to feline acne, so I would feed more wet food if you can (but don't leave it out for a long time). When Mattie first had it, we were cleaning it with chlorhexidine scrub. It sort of helped the blackheads. Clean the acne affected area after each meal.

When normal cleaning wasn't helping the blackheads, the vet clipped it with a razor and it was the worst thing EVER. Clipping it made it 10x worse, she got a bunch of ingrown hairs and the blackheads turned into full blown zits with tons of fluid. Gross.

Clean it with whatever your vet gave you to clean it with. If they turn into zits, the cat might need antibiotics and a topical ointment. We have tried a lot with Mattie.

Now, her acne is mostly under control. She is just prone to it. She gets blackheads in the corners of her mouth and along her lip line. It's not really on her chin at the moment. I try to clean it with the alcohol-free stridex pads. You can also use diluted iodine. I've just accepted that she will always have a little bit of it and I just try to keep the blackheads from getting out of control. When I can afford to feed her only wet food, I will. I sometimes put benzoyl peroxide (made for humans, the Neutrogena On the Spot Acne Treatment) on her chin. The Neutrogena one is a 2.5% benzoyl peroxide cream, which is the highest % you want to go with (actually, 5% might be the limit for cats but I'm not sure).

Thanks everyone

Hi Sakura, I will answer your question. Yes, the acne is in Lucas' ears, that is why it was confused with ear mites, I've been treating him for ear mites for months know, in fact I had to change vets to find out what was happening to Lucas. It is also in his chin and around his mouth. I've been using the stainless steel bowls and I've been cleaning them and I've been aplying a benzoil peroxid cream that the vet prescribed, and the oral antibiotics, I mean, I've done everything, but the problemn is still there, that is why we decided to change his food. The vet prescribed Science Diet for Sensitive skin just to cover all areas and see if he gets better. It is an expensive food, but I'm desperate and I want him to get better.

I started him on the food yesterday, so I will see how it goes Thank you all for your advice

Tamar

Originally Posted by Momto4kitties

Thanks everyone

Hi Sakura, I will answer your question. Yes, the acne is in Lucas' ears, that is why it was confused with ear mites, I've been treating him for ear mites for months know, in fact I had to change vets to find out what was happening to Lucas. It is also in his chin and around his mouth. I've been using the stainless steel bowls and I've been cleaning them and I've been aplying a benzoil peroxid cream that the vet prescribed, and the oral antibiotics, I mean, I've done everything, but the problemn is still there, that is why we decided to change his food. The vet prescribed Science Diet for Sensitive skin just to cover all areas and see if he gets better. It is an expensive food, but I'm desperate and I want him to get better.

I started him on the food yesterday, so I will see how it goes

Thank you all for your advice

Tamar

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Do ask your vet about a cefovecin injection - this is exactly the sort of thing it is designed for (it's the equivalent of a 7 day course of antibiotics for skin problems, as long as your cat doesn't have kidney or other health problems there is no reason why he can't have it) and you won't need to pill him or put cream on his face.

New to this site, but have been fighting an acne problem with my 8 yr. female cat. This is the first outbreak any of our cats has ever had. After a visit with my vet, a shot of antibiotics, and oral antibiotics and topical ointment, she is better, but not completely. It has been about a month of treatment. Am I expecting too much?? We use ceramic bowls and change them daily, but I am going to buy stainless from the posts I have read here. I did have a plasitc tray under the food dish, thought she never ate off of it, but found out otherwise, so I got rid of that.I think that might have slowed her healing. I am just concerned because it seems to be affecting her overall health. She isn't herself, is more shy, she just isn't feeling well. How long do you think is too long??
Thanks for any advice.