Scabby chin

ruthyb

ruthyb

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Hi there
,
Candy has a bit of a problem, she has a flea allergy and its really important that I flea her reguarly as she comes out in alot of scabs all over if she is to even get a single bit off a flea. She used to have flea injections at the vets but it seems she became immune to them and the scabs happened anyway, so the vet recommended frontline, well thats been fine the past couple of times I've used it but its been less than 2 weeks since the last treatment and under her chin is full of tiny scabs and black dirt, what on earth is it? Could the frontline not have worked?She isn't scabby anywhere else just there, I am wondering if she the frontline hasn't worked so good this time? x
 
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strange_wings

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I looked through your cat pages real quick... Candy has a white chin. For some reason, maybe simply because we can notice it easier, cats with light colored chins get acne easily.

You need to make sure you're feeding her from only glass and stainless steel dishes that get washed after every single meal. The build up of fats on the dishes can encourage bacteria growth, then that can get on your kitties faces as they eat. Some cats react more easily than others and end up with acne.
Washing her face with a damp cloth after she eats can help, too, as some cats get the fat from dry foods (and gravy from wet foods) stuck in their facial fur.

But yes, do consider proper flea treatments for her with her sensitivity to fleas. With her nearing senior kitty age you may want to get some blood work to check her liver out before you do, though, as there is a slight risk of some older kitties not being able to clear flea topicals out of their bodies as well if there's a liver problem.
 
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ruthyb

ruthyb

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

I looked through your cat pages real quick... Candy has a white chin. For some reason, maybe simply because we can notice it easier, cats with light colored chins get acne easily.

You need to make sure you're feeding her from only glass and stainless steel dishes that get washed after every single meal. The build up of fats on the dishes can encourage bacteria growth, then that can get on your kitties faces as they eat. Some cats react more easily than others and end up with acne.
Washing her face with a damp cloth after she eats can help, too, as some cats get the fat from dry foods (and gravy from wet foods) stuck in their facial fur.

But yes, do consider proper flea treatments for her with her sensitivity to fleas. With her nearing senior kitty age you may want to get some blood work to check her liver out before you do, though, as there is a slight risk of some older kitties not being able to clear flea topicals out of their bodies as well if there's a liver problem.
Click to expand...
Thankyou, thats very interesting, I feed from plastic bowls but I do wash them after each meal. Candy is 8-9 so middle aged really and she has alot of problems which she is under the vet for which I don't ever really discuss, its not life threatening or anything but she has to be monitored reguarly. Could plastic bowls cause this problem with the scabs? I will phone my vets in the morning, some of the scabs look a bit sore. x
 
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strange_wings

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Definitely have the vet take a look. They can advise as to what you can get locally, or from them, to use for cleaning her chin besides water.

And do toss out the plastic. If it doesn't solve the problem it certainly won't cause any harm to have dishes that you can sterilize.


I have one kitty that I tried stainless on, but they don't make stainless steel plates and bowls were just getting too much food onto his face. For him I have to use paper plates, tossed after every meal (tossed in the compost heap, to be exact
). He also needs face washes since he sometimes gets his wet food gravy all the way onto the top of his nose and seems unable to wash it off himself.


I hope the vet can help and that it's actually just acne that can be taken care of with a few changes at home. That's much more preferable to a bad allergy.
Discuss flea topicals, too. It may be that her health makes using any of them too risky. Though, by proxy, treating the other cats can help.
 
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ruthyb

ruthyb

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

Definitely have the vet take a look. They can advise as to what you can get locally, or from them, to use for cleaning her chin besides water.

And do toss out the plastic. If it doesn't solve the problem it certainly won't cause any harm to have dishes that you can sterilize.


I have one kitty that I tried stainless on, but they don't make stainless steel plates and bowls were just getting too much food onto his face. For him I have to use paper plates, tossed after every meal (tossed in the compost heap, to be exact
). He also needs face washes since he sometimes gets his wet food gravy all the way onto the top of his nose and seems unable to wash it off himself.


I hope the vet can help and that it's actually just acne that can be taken care of with a few changes at home. That's much more preferable to a bad allergy.
Discuss flea topicals, too. It may be that her health makes using any of them too risky. Though, by proxy, treating the other cats can help.
Click to expand...
Thankyou, that is very helpful advice. I have always used plastic bowl but I have often thought that they could hold bacteria. I will switch. Candy is a messy eater and yes gets alot on her chin. I will phone the vets tomorrow and bathe her chin with water. I treat all the cats reguarly as its a must with Candys allergy but she is so sensitive. x
 
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crazycatlady8

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I also wanted to second what has already been said about the bowls. I had the same problem with two of my cats - both with white on their chins. Our vet said it was cat acne (we call it catne to be silly) caused by the bacteria on the plastic bowls we were using for their food and water. We tossed the plastic and use only glass and ceramic bowls and the chin scabs (which looked black) went away and have not returned since. Switch the bowls and hopefully you'll have the same results.
 
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