Bad case of feline acne

So we are off to the vet tonight for what appears to be a case of feline acne gone insane.

Max has been getting bouts of acne since he was 4 months old. I know that seems young for a cat with acne but he also has other skin problems that pop up from time to time. Each time he would get an episode we would treat it at home with just a daily cleaning with a mild anti bacterial soap and Tresaderm if he decided to scratch the area. Well this time it is really bad. The washing seems to have no effect and the poor guys entire chin is scratched up and inflamed. The Tresaderm also seems to be worthless this time around not to mention that Max absolutely hates it and will do everything in his power to get away from us when we try to put it on. He never used to do this so we think that this time its hurting him and when he seems in pain its vet time.

I have dealt with feline acne in the past with my RB kitty Maggie but her episodes were very mild and usually washing her face a few days would get rid of it. For Max he has never had a "mild" episode they have always been extreme and it normally takes a couple of weeks for it to clear up only to have it come back a week later.

I really have no idea what to ask the vet for or to try. What sort of vet treatment should we be looking for or asking to try. We already wash food bowels daily and have switched to a dry food with no corn or wheat and we feed grain free wet. We have no plastic food or water bowels except the auto feeder which he doesn't use and the fountain which he only drinks from the stream and never the well area. While we need to treat the current flair up we really want to prevent the acne from happening. The normal methods of trying to prevent are failing (face washing ect.) and we want to ask the vet about possible RX preventatives but we just have no idea what to ask for.

Any advice would be appreciated.

hi,

don't know if you've thought about this, but i have a cat liza, and she has really bad allergies. just like max since she was a baby. we had to put her on zd by science diet. that has cleared up most of skin problems (except in the spring) one thing, you have to be very diligent in feeding nothing but zd at least for 6 to 8 weeks, to see if the skin problems get better. no treats, no nothing. we didn't in the beginning and learned our lesson. liza use to chew at every part of her body to the point she had hairless areas and she is a long haired cat.

now, besides the couple of times a year prednisone shot, liza doesn't have skin issues.

they also make zd treats too.

just food for thought,
cyn

Well now we have a new course of action. Our vet gave him a shot of Depo Medrol to help with the itching and the inflammation. We need to clean his chin with Stridex pads which I haven't had to buy since I was a teenager . We are putting Neosporin on the scratched up areas twice a day for a few days and hopefully that will heal up nicely. After that its washing his face once a day with the Stridex pads to hopefully prevent the acne completely.

I hope this works cause it just breaks my heart to see him itchy and miserable.

Some cats are just really resistant to treating for acne - guess like humans ay? Where I work, we have tried Chlorhex flush, Iodine, H2O2, warm compresses, OxyDex Gel, Tribiotic, natural remedies, shampoos and other stuff I can't even remember, in all combinations with varying results. What works for one cat does not work for another and one cat we have, it just doesn't matter what we do so we just stopped treating it and it seems about the same. *shrug

I DO know that the cheap plastic flea combs work wonderfully to scrape off all the "dirt".

Hope he is all fixed up soon!

Originally Posted by laureen227

you might try adding lysine to his food. i know this is used for herpes, not acne - but it's also supposed to strengthen the immune system... anyway, it couldn't hurt, & it might help!

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I was considering this. I figure it couldn't hurt. He has so many other little issues like chronic ear infections. I feel so bad for him with all the things we have to wipe him with and squirt down his ears. Maybe a boost to the immune system would do him some good

If this doesnt clear it up I would also look at it being an allergy. Cats can break out around the chin from allergies.

Mattie had really bad acne and everything we tried seem to make it worse.

Chlorexhidine was a nice liquid to clean it daily with, but Stridex alcohol-free pads work too. I also bought the <5% benzoyl peroxide (Neutrogena makes one, most are 10% and too high). The vet shaved her chin and that made it a million times worse. She was on antibiotics and Animax ointment (which turned her fur yellow). Hers was the inflamed and bumpy kind, not just the black specks.

The only thing that seemed to help was to just leave her chin alone, other than daily cleaning.

If you cut back on dry food, it might help. Dry food is sprayed with a ton of oils and is so greasy.