skin condition and/or vet visit?

My cat has a small spot under her chin that is like small scabs and black, her hair is missing in this spot and it doesn't heal...this is the first time she has ever had any skin condition, other than dry skin, which i think is normal. Also, her hair falls out contnually...is there a way i can brush her more efffectively so she isn't still shedding as soon as i get done brushing her??...i use a wire brush and give her a bath every three months. Please advise and thanks ALOT!!

Unfortunately shedding season is upon us, and no matter how much l brush them with a brush or the furminator they still get furballs.

Were no experts here so it's always best to have a vet look at it, but it sounds like a Rodent Ulcer?, or it could be acne?

My Sophie has started getting them 2-3 times a year,  and the vet said unless they don't dry up after a few days to take her in otherwise there's nothing to worry about, but hers always have.

This is what hers look like

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated!

Sounds like feline acne.  If you use plastic dishes, switch to ceramic or glass. 
 

stephanietx said:

Sounds like feline acne.  If you use plastic dishes, switch to ceramic or glass. 
 

Click to expand...

Yes, that is what it sounds like.  An ulcer as Rosie suggested might be another possibility.  If it's acne keep the area clean and switch plastic out for stainless, ceramic or glass.

I thought Patricia had acne when I saw black spots on her chin, but switching to stainless steel bowls did not help. Does that mean acne does not go away or it is something else?

I am positive this is acne. You should wash daily with Hibiclens http://www.hibiclens.com/ Three of my cats had acne last summer - a severe case for Pipsqueak. It starts out small and you must keep up with the cleanings or it can advance to deep tissue infections and large pustules. I would also recommend shaving or trimming the hair off of the chin so you can get right down to the skin for cleanings. I would suggest looking at the diet of your kitty - that is what started the acne on my cats. There are also environmental allergens that can cause the acne. As well as plastic bowls - use ceramic or stainless. Most people blame dirty bowls as the culprit and a lot of the time - it is from food allergens or environment allergens. There is also Mupirocin ointment http://www.medicinenet.com/mupirocin-topical_ointment/article.htm that you would get from the vet if the acne is severe and the chin has infected large pustules. Much, much luck!! You just have to keep the chin clear and clean of the black dirt daily.

EmilyMayWilcha said:

I thought Patricia had acne when I saw black spots on her chin, but switching to stainless steel bowls did not help. Does that mean acne does not go away or it is something else?

Click to expand...

It may not be but I'm pretty sure that's what it is from the pics.  Clean it good with hibiclens or even plain old soap and water.  I used hibiclens and switched out all of the cats bowls to stainless and have had no issues since.  But, I did take Swiffer to the vet to confirm it was acne.  The acne should eventually go away.  With Swiffer it was pretty much gone within a week if I recall correctly.  I just used cotton balls and cleaned the spots with it.  I did it daily and it worked.

Thanks for all of the response...i am taking my Alley to the vet for a check up and will let u know what he says too...

EmilyMayWilcha said:

I thought Patricia had acne when I saw black spots on her chin, but switching to stainless steel bowls did not help. Does that mean acne does not go away or it is something else?

Click to expand...

Emily,

It could also be a food allergy or something stress-induced.  I have a kitty who is very sensitive to stress and changes in our schedule.  She breaks out with chin acne when she's stressed.  Very strange, but this is what we've figured out.  We feed her out of stainless steel and ceramic bowls.  The stainless steel bowls are washed after each feeding and the ceramic bowls are washed nightly.

Another thing I did that helped Curly's chin acne was to feed him on a large flat dish. A glass pie dish might work well too. Curly is the kind of eater where he gets food on his chin, so this helped him. Also he is FIV+ which predisposes him to skin conditions. 

For food dishes, I've read that cats don't like to use any kind of dish that is narrow and deep where their whiskers have to touch the sides. So any flat-ish shallow dish and as the others said, stainless steel, and non-ceramic.

I don't know what caused it, but Flowerbelle had acne above her upper lip about a month or so ago. She already eats from a glass dish. I think it was from licking the plastic their dinner food was in while I was getting their meal ready. :dk: Anyway, I treated it with colloidal silver (500ppm). Just dropped it on my finger, rubbed it in. It was gone in a day.

The vet said i could try Stridex pads like people use for acne, or even just witch hazel.

   Maia gets these type of skin breakouts, scabby red, hair falls out on her chin and between her ears and eyes. The last chin breakout was right after she had ringworm and it was a bacterial skin infection which she had to go on antibiotics for a couple weeks. I started giving her pet probiotics to help her immune system while on the antibiotics, and decided to keep her on them as part of her daily diet. She hasn't had a skin irritation since! I really feel they have helped her skin, and shes as soft as a bunny .

My adopted cat had the same thing, but one flair up was extremely bad. After a visit it was discovered that it was severe allergies. We treated him with an allergy medication. And it is now under control. He still breaks out once in awhile, but it is not like it used to be.

That little spot on her chin is most likely a pimple. My 17 yo female had it too. It left, then came back and now is gone again. I'd check with the vet to make sure she does not have a tumor in her mouth, but you would have noticed her not eating. That all said, she is a white cat, and white cats can develop skin cancer. So, like I said, I would check it out. But it looks exactly like what my Molly had. Good luck.