Black scabs on face?

I picked up Maddie from the pound about 2 months ago. I immediately took her to the vet and got all her shots and fecal sample taken care of. She has been in good health until about 2 weeks ago. She started to develop a little rash by her left ear. I cleaned it with soapy water and monitored it closely. It looks like dry skin. She also started to develop hair loss by her whiskers and black scabs around her face and other ear. I talked to the vet who thought it might be ringworm and told me to put Lotramin on it. The vet also gave me some shampoo to put on Maddie as well as my other kitten and my dog (I forgot the name of it and the label has fallen off due to it being in the animals shower) I have been doing this for 2 weeks now, and it appears to be getting worse. She now has patches of hair missing from the area between her ears and eyes, and black scabs above her eyes and on her mouth. She doesnt itch it at all, and it doesnt appear to be bothering her from what I can tell. Does anyone have any idea what it might be? Here are some photos:

Any time I've heard of 'black scabs' I've often thought of feline acne. They can get blackheads and such just like humans. Often caused by food and water dishes that are plastic as plastic is porous and can harbor bacteria so best to switch to glass or stainless steel. What kind of bowls do you use?

Here's a picture of a cat with feline acne under the chin:

http://www.catloversvet.com/acne3.jpg

You usually see it around the mouth or under the chin (where face makes contact with the plastic food/water bowl) so not sure about this for your cat, due to the location of it on the face but I guess a cat could get it there too? I have read that if a cat is grooming their face excessively, the bacteria in their saliva can cause acne, too. Maybe the use of the shampoo was causing her to groom more? (cats often groom a lot after a bath)

Kitty definitely has fleas, right? (you'd think she'd be scratching up a storm, along with your other pets, if that was the case).

I have heard of some types of pet food causing feline acne, too...........I guess just like in humans if the quality of the food isn't great it can cause this?

Originally Posted by the_food_lady

Any time I've heard of 'black scabs' I've often thought of feline acne. They can get blackheads and such just like humans. Often caused by food and water dishes that are plastic as plastic is porous and can harbor bacteria so best to switch to glass or stainless steel. What kind of bowls do you use?

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I do use a plastic bowl, but when I read about that causing feline acne 3 weeks ago I cleaned the bowl completely with hot water and alcohol, then rinsed it with soap until it was immaculate.

Originally Posted by the_food_lady

You usually see it around the mouth or under the chin (where face makes contact with the plastic food/water bowl) so not sure about this for your cat, due to the location of it on the face but I guess a cat could get it there too? I have read that if a cat is grooming their face excessively, the bacteria in their saliva can cause acne, too. Maybe the use of the shampoo was causing her to groom more? (cats often groom a lot after a bath)

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I was thinking feline acne, but the scabs aren't individualized like black heads. Up close it looks like dry skin, which made me think ringworm except for the fact that the hair isnt completely gone and the cat isnt scratching.

Originally Posted by the_food_lady

Kitty definitely has fleas, right? (you'd think she'd be scratching up a storm, along with your other pets, if that was the case).

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The kitty got a clean bill of health from the vet for fleas and lice. I checked her very throughly when I got her and she has no lice or fleas. No flea residue on any of them.

Originally Posted by the_food_lady

I have heard of some types of pet food causing feline acne, too...........I guess just like in humans if the quality of the food isn't great it can cause this?

Click to expand...

I have given her 3 different kinds of food since ive had her. I was thinking it might be food also, but I didnt know if someone else has had their cat display these exact symptoms to give me a better idea of what it is. I just want my poor kitty to be better!

Usually feline acne is on the areas that come in contact with the food/bowl/dish, etc....My one cat who has gotten it had it on his chin. Not sure about the spots above your cats eyes... You might want to take your cat to the vet just to be sure...Have you seen him/her scratching at his face, etc?

As for the plastic bowl...I read somewhere that plastic can never fully be cleaned. Since my cats acne breakout, I switched to all stainless steel and/or glass bowls. I run them through the dishwasher after every meal of wet food (once a day) and every two days for the bowls I feed dry food in.

You might want to go by your local thrift store and pick up some used stainless steel or glass bowls (I got some of mine for 25 cents each...) and see if it helps. Of course, you can always use human ceramic bowls, etc.

Another good thing to do is to clean the affected areas. I used a warm wet cloth and gently wiped his chin once a day. I have also used the nature's miracle pet wipes (that I use to wipe down their coats ocassionally) on his chin and it seems to help.

Good luck!
Art

If it's just dry skin patches, doesn't sound like acne. One of mine has it under her chin, and I treat it from time to time with antibiotic ointment.

Might be worth a visit to your vet with you little one before it gets really worse. Cats can have skin conditions, too, just like dogs and we humans.

Well, I shaved Maddie everywhere there was scabs or irritated skin, and kept putting Lotramin on along with ringworm bath medicine 2X weekly. Today I took her to the vet. the vet said they just look like scabs (made no mention of feline acne), and she couldnt be certain if it was ringworm or not. she tried using a blacklight, but they didnt light up. However, my girlfriend has what im pretty sure is ringworm under her arm. Luckily, the Lotramin is working for her. I told the vet to give me something for ringworm anyway. She gave me Miconosol for use 2x/day. Does anyone have any experience with this medicine?


Also, my other kitten Mia has had goopy eye and sneezing for a couple weeks. The vet gave me Clavamox which I have been giving her for two weeks. It looked like it was going away until yesterday, when the goop came back. Today I picked her up and her right eye is swollen, red, and her 3rd eyelid is noticeably visible. Im taking her to the vet tomorrow (If theres an opening). does anyone know of anything that I can try in the meantime?

Jack had weird scabs like that when i first brought her home, she was a banrn cat before my Oma took her. I make a mixture of vitamin E, aloe, neem, and a tiny and I mean tiny bit of tea tree oil mixed into a small amount of vaseline. I figured it was a fungal thing, my goats get fungal rashes all the time and this was the same kind of scabs. I soaked the scabs with warm water and with a face cloth I scrubbed all the scabs off and then rubbed some of the lotion in really well over all the scabby areas. It cleared up in around two weeks and never came back.

I am really into treating things holistically and my animals see a holistic vet. I have treated everything from rashes, cuts, scrapes and general skin irritations with that mix on myself, horses, goats, my dog and my cats. It is like miracle cream!

I would wait and talk to your vet though and see what they say first before trying to treat it yourself.

Just a word of warning!!!!! Tea tree oil is very toxic to cats. It is not recommended to use anything containing tea tree oil on cats.

Holistic is good - as long as you are working with a vet and know what you are doing. Most people do not know and take big risks by diagnosing and treating without the input of a vet.

Ive been using Clavamox and switched to Lamisil as Lotrimin was doing absolutely nothing. Still giving all three of them baths twice a week. Scabs are not going away and appear to be spreading. Mia (My youngest kitten) now appears to be getting them above her eyes and the bridge of her nose. Im trying to think out of the box here because the two cats have not had direct contact with each other in two weeks. Im going to try to change my laundry detergent, as im hoping theres something in it that is bothering them. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

If I were you, I'd request that the Vet do a 'skin scraping', to clearly try and identify what's going on here; that way you should be able to get a definitive diagnosis; whether it's really ringworm or some other type of fungus or whatever. I'd do this sooner than later because the meds you're giving and the frequent bathing, they could either be making things worse OR they're just doing nothing but stressing kitty out. If your Vet seems lax and hasn't even suggested a skin scraping, I'd seriously consider going to another Vet, for a second opinion. In all the years I've had cats, there's been times my regular Vet will be stumped by something (or maybe isn't very aggressive in getting to the bottom of something) and I'll try a different vet for a second opinion and maybe that 2nd Vet will have dealt with the very same issue and will know immediately what is going on......... I would seriously do this before you continue to put all these meds into your kitties, and particularly because the problem seems to be worsening. From what I've read about ringworm in cats, the black scabs you describe don't really sound like ringworm.

The fact that both cats have it, that at least tells you that it's either something that's spreading or it's something they're both coming into contact with. Of course it could be a food allergy, too.......and I've read that cats can sometimes eat the same thing for years but then develop an allergy to one of the ingredients. Have you considered trying a hypo-allergenic cat food?

I agree with you completely. I got this new medicine from my 2nd opinion vet. She suggested a skin scraping but said that she couldnt do it because I had been giving the cat meds. She suggested I either find a new spot that has cropped up and not apply meds or stop applying meds to one of the spots. Im going to take one or both of the cats back in on Wednesday to get looked at, so im going to stop all meds today. Might as well, as they are doing a whole lot of nothing for either of them. Will also look into the hypo-allergenic cat food. At this point I will try anything to get these two better, they look very miserable.

Hello esmith,

How are things going with your kitties? Any improvements or new developments? I sent you a private message which included a link/picture...an article I came across last night re: a type of mange in cats that can present with scabs on the face.

Not too much, I took Maddie to the vet again on Wednesday, they did a skin culture and found nothing as far as allergies are concerned. They also took a skin scrape for fungal culture, but said it takes a couple weeks to find out. In the meantime they told me to continue what im doing, medicine 2X a day, baths twice a week. Also said the cat has some upper respiratory congestion and gave me more Clavimox. I have been giving Mia Clavimox for a month and she is still coughing and sneezing. I have an appoint this Wednesday, I think the vet and I are going to have a long discussion about Notoedric Mange. Her ears got extremely dirty the same time all this happened. I had the vet look at them, but she said she saw no ear mites and it was just wax.

hi i know your message is two years old but your cats scabs look identical to the scabs that have recently developed on my cat and im really worried!

I took in the cat two weeks ago and ive never had a pet before - hes been treated for fleas and worms and now these scabs have formed on his face and ive been lookin all over the internet trying to figure out what they are -

could you please help me and tell me what they were? Id reeeeally appreciate it

p.s. i hope your cats healthy and happy

Hello my cat has the same problem. will someone PLEASE tell me what could be going on ??? please I'm really worried my vet also said it could be ringworm but if it wasn't ringworm in your case then what could it be? What if it's cancer?

Deah - I couldn't see the scabs very good on the OPs cat, what do yours look like?  I don't want to be an alarmist, but one of the things Cindy had when she had the tumor before we found it was a lot of itching and black scabs on her face.  We thought it was just allergies because she's always had problems and scabs, but once we had the surgery and had the tumor removed (which we had to because we couldn't get a good diagnosis otherwise) and got her on chemo, so far she hasn't had the scabs back.  But Cindy had a lot of other unusual (for her) behavior, so if your kitty is normal otherwise, it's probably not that.  I would still take her to the vet for a look see.  Maybe some antibiotics would clear it up.

It could also be something as simple as feline acne. Years ago my cat had black spots on his chin. The vet said it could be caused by using a plastic food bowl because they can grow bacteria. I switched bowls and his chin cleared up.

A vet check is best to be sure. In the meantime make sure you aren't using a plastic bowl.

Yes, I agree about the acne, but in Cindy's case it was on her face, not her chin, and she looked like she had been in a back alley brawl for a while.  I figure it might have been because of the tumor her immune system was weakened.  They did clear up with antibiotics when we were still thinking it was skin allergies, but I now believe it was associated with the tumor.  The tumor was mast cell cancer, which I understand releases histimines into the system.  Which, to my thinking, was what had her itching so much.  I only posted because I would not have made the connection from scabs to something bad like colon cancer before Cindy's issues.  Not trying to be an alarmist, but just in case is it something more than just acne, better to have it checked quickly.

I heard that Sulfinex is better!  and it's less toxic.  For ringworm - and it's in their system, so you will most likely have to get the internal drug that you give them for about a week, then stop for 2 weeks, then give for a week, then stop....  Apple cider vinegar(just a couple drops) is good in their water, and it can be used to compress on the site(not near eyes).  Also" food grade diatomaceous earth or DE", a powder, can be touched to the spots and dusted lightly in the area where they are-avoid eyes totally (just when they are not there and let it settle, then put them back...)  Iodine drops are good topically....  The ringworm spores travel in the air so keep everything isolated, including not wearing clothing that touched the ringworm cat, anywhere else in the house.  Maybe try to just pet it and wash hands after.....    There is a bedding spray by Vet Recommended brand, that you can get...