Does anyone know what she has? (feline acne?)

This is my first time to this site and I was wondering if anyone has/had a cat with the same problem mine is having. About a month ago, we noticed that under her chin, she developed something that looked like "dirt". Most would come off when wiped with a wet towel, but would not completley go away. The problem has become worse. She is now scratching and digging at it, making her chin bleed and it is not going away. We thought this would be something that would pass on it own, but it doesn't seem that way. I would like to see if anyone has dealt with this and what it could possibly be, before taking her in to the Vet. She is a long haired Calico, Just incase that info is needed. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

If it is not flea dirt because that is usually what it is. You need to look into a "condition" called feline acne. One of my cats has it. You can go to the vet and get some medication for it. It is usually not something that goes away. If it is not infected, warm compresses help!!

Yeah, sounds like feline acne to me.

Longhaired cats are more prone to getting this condition. Like in humans, it happens when the hair follicles become plugged by sebum.

I read that canned/wet food is associated with feline acne and also plastic food bowls, so you may want to stir away from these.


I checked "The Purina Encyclopedia of Cat Care" and here's their recommendation for home care of feline acne:

Apply damp heat (a cloth dipped in warm water) to chin daily, clean twice daily with plain water or use cleansers such as benzoyl-peroxide-type solutions.

Click to expand...

They also warn against trying to "squeeze out" blackheads or pustules because this may cause further infection.

Treatment really depends on the severity of the problem. If you say that her chin bleeds from time to time, this could indicate a more serious infection. I would say, get her to the vet for a professional diagnosis and treatment. It could very well be that she needs topical and maybe even oral antibiotics.


p.s. I hope you don't mind but I think I'll add the words feline acne in brackets to the title of this thread.


[Edited by Anne on 12-01-2000 at 04:34 AM]

Wow, I had never heard of such a thing! I guess that is what we are here for, to learn more about our cats and get good advice. (not to mention make new friends) I hope your cat gets better....keep us posted.

Yep, my older long haired kitty got feline acne. See your vet to be sure that's what it is (not a fungal infection or something else) and he should be able to give you a topical that will clear it up. Once I switched to stainless steel bowls, Sally's acne never came back. And remember, your kitty's food and water bowls need to be washed with hot soapy water everyday, just like you would wash your own!

Wow, just wow.  I guess Snowy has this too. We have been wondering howcome her face was always so dirty.  At first we washed her face, but she hated it so much we quit doing it, and sort of turned a blind eye to her little black patch on her chin, but it kept growing and growing so I was like, okay Snowy, l ike it or not, we are washing that chin!  When I washed the black off she had a really big sore there.  It is slowly getting better, but I think she is going to have some scar tissue.  she gets her wet food out of a glass bowl, but their dry food, water, and water pitchers in the bathroom are all plasitc. I guess I will have to check into all glass.

I've had this happen with plastic bowls too.  I have heard that the plastic traps the oil in the food, and can't be washed out of the bowl completely and goes rancid.  May or may not be true.

My cat had chin acne and once it got really infected I had to take her in 3 times for antibiotic shots before it cleared up! I switched to ceramic bowls and she never had a problem again. Good luck!

Daily face washing helps cats just like humans.  Snowy's has all cleared up.  It is starting to take me longer to get my cat ready for me to go to work than it takes me to go to work.

Wake up, feed the cats, have a quick cup of coffee.  Clean litter box.  Start the shower to let steam build up in bathroom.  Take Snowy for two rides around the apartment in her box, and then into the bathroom filled with steam for her breathing treatment.  Quick shower for me, wash snowy's face and brush her hair. (we really need to add toothbrushing too, but its a works in progress).  Two more rides around the apartment for Snowy, another quick cup of coffee for me.  Get dressed, fill the temptations treat mouse, the friskies treat dispenser, and the new disk dispenser we bought this weekend.  Fill travel mug with coffee.

So much for the misconception that cats are easier to care for than dogs!

Ha! Mine was like that also. I had to chase her around every morning to give her a pill, pet her on her favorite cat tree, then put out a huge buffet of different foods in an attempt to get her to eat something while I was at work. After she died, I was lost in the morning with all that extra time. The other one only eats dry, I kept feeling like there was something I should be doing. He's just not a cuddler, I hate that Henry doesn't even want petted that much. I'm basically smothering him with all the extra attention. (He secretly loves it but won't admit it.)

I have a tame feral cat that sleeps in the basement every night, haven't tried introducing them yet. So I still play musical cats in the morning, it would be so nice if she could just come into the house with us. I'm terrified that they will fight so I'm taking it slowly!

Have you done any scent swapping with them?  Does resident cat know there is another cat in the basement?  Have they ever seen each other? Our previous kitty had chronic renal failure for a couple years before she died, so yeah, I know how empty it is once you get used to doing all those duties of love - thats how we ended up with Snowy.  My daughter and I both said, we want a baby, a kitty that will enjoy good health for  years before we are faced with ginormous vet bills and time consuming care... we just want a kitty to play with and love and cuddle. Snowy is only two, but she was sick when we adopted her, and has been sick half the year we have her, but we wouldn't trade her for the world!

My RB cat Ghost use to get it all the time. The best thing I found to treat it was Listerine. I would use the original Listerine and use a cotton ball and wash it twice a day for several days. It took less than a week for it to go away.

I also used to use it on my horses when they had rain rot. It's a fungus like the acne and that works better than anything I found.

I'm so sorry that Snowy isn't well- what is wrong with her? You said she needs breathing treatments? I think even though you wanted a young, healthy kitty we always end up with who we're supposed to have! Maybe someone else wouldn't have taken such good care of her. I always thought that about Hannah that passed away recently- she may not have made it so long if someone else had her.

It's a long story, but I learned the hard way- don't pet a feral cat unless you want to keep it! So now this feral has been sleeping in my basement every night. Yes, Henry has run into her outside a couple of times (hissed and growled) and I have a screen that they can see each other between the hall and basement that I try to use. He definitely knows a cat has been down there, I've been using the sock trick to swap scents. Usually when I have the screen up Henry doesn't happen to walk by and see her. I'm thinking about just bringing her in and see what happens on my next vacation. I'm hoping he'll hiss and growl at first and then get used to her, she's a sweet cat.

How does she act towards Henry?  It usually works out better if one cat is dominant and the other is okay with it.  There is a feral we are caring for that has been in our apartment for almost 2 months now, but hasn't graduated from being locked up in my daughters bedroom.  We are waiting until her kitten is weaned to get her spayed, so that, and the fact that she has a kitten, are both part of it, but her biggest problem is she is scared to death and thats why she acts so mean.  At first my cats tried to be nice to her, but she doesn't know what nice is and met them with flying fangs!  Now, she is a little more docile and just tries to avoid eye contact, etc., but they are sick of her crap and if she even looks at them they are hissing and growling...

Snowy?  Well, apparently she is prone to feline acne.  She also has allergies, both contact dermitiis type, and seasonal airborne types.  We adopted her from the Shelter who rescued her from a lake.  When she was rescued, she had mange really bad (which I now think was more her allergy to fleas) and had lost most of her fur and was very emancipated and near death, Her fur is still growing out and looks 100 percent better than we got her, but she still has an iffy coat, on the thin, side.  She grooms and grooms, and still seems to have fur sticking every which way and if we don't bathe her regularly, she tends to get greasy (and she HATES the water - I wonder if she had a near drowning prior to coming into the shelter?).  Our other cats (including the feral) tolerate bath time better than Snowy. .  When we brought her home from the shelter, she had a bad URI/eye infection.  We believe she probably has FIV but the Shelter says she does not, and our vet only says he is hesitant to diagnose it until everything else is ruled out.  She does not have FLV and all of her blood work for everything they test her for comes back normal.  We have battled a URI almost since we adopted her.  Our vet says he believes it is the same infection that has just never cleared up, but when we saw improvement we thought she was better, and she was better, but maybe just not well.  This last time her treatment consisted of two convenia injections 10 days apart and a cortisone shot.  She has been on all sorts of antibiotics, can't even remember all the names of them now.  Also had the gel for her eye infection, and when that didn't work, the drops.  I clean her eyes for her everyday with a warm wash cloth and so far no more eye infections, but they are matty every day.  Her nose also needs cleaned twice a day and she plugs up.  The steam treatment helps with her nasal congestion, but can't wait until it cools off enough I can turn the humidifier on her when she sleeps - the steam helps in the morning but by the time I am home from work she is all snuffed up again.  Currently, she is only on Lysine and a high calorie nutritional supplement.  We are still trying to help her build up her own immunities so she can fight things off better by herself, but at some point, I really think she can benefit from some type of allergy med...Will ask the vet about it at her next check up.

Snowy also has a very sensitive stomache, and we went through many kinds of food before finding MaxCat, which she seems do be doing well on.  I think the stuff stinks, but she likes it.  Her appetitie comes and goes which I guess is par for the course if her nose is always stuffy and she can't breathe (smell food) but at least she doesn't throw this up when she does eat.  Many of the foods we tried did end up making her throw up.  It was hard at first because we werent sure if she was throwing up because of the infection, or because the food.  I mean you go out and spend $1 or more a can for food, you kind of which she would at least take two bites, so we woudl leave it sit out, but she always made me feel bad because I would get home from work and there would be a pile of vomit beside her half eaten dish of food.  Glad we are past that!

On top of those issues, she is deaf, and when we brought her home, lacked all manner of social skills... she didn't understand play with humans, or with other animals. She is 100% better about NOW but I still mention it becasuse the shelter said she was in cage because the other cats picked on her....My patatootie she was picked on...she tore me to shreds the first time, and for the first weeks really, that we tried to play with her.    

I think my little feral will be very submissive, she seems to get along with the other cats outside and really just wants to be friends with everybody. Henry will be a crab, he's 14 and only knew my previous cat Hannah for the last 13 years. So I'm hoping the little girl knows to give him space. On one hand, he is really enjoying the extra attention of being the only cat and I don't want to make his life worse, but he is also bored and just lays around all day and she would keep him busy!

Wow, what made you being the feral in? Are you going to keep her and the kitten?

Poor Snowy! That is so much worse than I imagined! No wonder you're so busy in the mornings! I think it's awesome that you've done so much for her, she might not have made it otherwise. Is FIV the one that's contagious for other cats? I had mine tested once but will test her again before she gets introduced. Thank goodness you adopted her, not many people would want to take that on. That's so sad that she's deaf as well, such a hard life for a young kitty. She is SO lucky to have you and your family! I really hope that she keeps getting better.

Yep, cats and humans... being single has its ups and downs, and so does being a couple!  I think in the long run though, everyone likes having a friend.  Maybe having a younger woman around will put some pep in Henry's step.    I wish you good luck on the introductions.

I didn't bring the feral in, my daughter did.  At first someone had put a crate out, and now I think that someone was trying to TNR her, but then I thought she was my neighbors cat so at first we were just trying to catch her to  help him out.  Then my other neighbor saw us trying to catch her so they started putting food out trying to catch her.  Before long, there was always 2 or 3 dishes of food out for her and she decided she LIKED out building.  The crate disappeared, and the cat remained.  My daughter gets home from work at 6:30 a.m and the cat would be there waiting to get fed, and they started bonding.  Everyone else quit feeding her and my daughter kept on.  By the time she got to where she could pet her, she was already pregnant.  The plan was to only keep her long enough to have her kitten, get both fixed, and then rehome them.  Noone seems to want a semi feral dilute calico momma and half striped, half spotted little mackerel Tabby boy.  The baby is only 6 weeks old though.  He is a wild little thing. Despite being handled since birth, he still doesn't really care for it and if he sees you before you see him he will run and hide.  If we had a house, and not an apartment, it would be easier to keep them...

Yes, FIV is contagious, generally transferred through blood, i.e. bite wounds.  Being deaf is not such a big deal for her... but at times it causes her stress in new situations because she can't hear things.  She also likes to be up where she can see stuff.... I have a box in the kitchen and when I am in there she comes running and gets up on her box so she can see if I am cooking, or doing dishes, or whats going on up there... She reminds me of a 2 years old alwasy coming running to see what I am doing.  My hearing cat only comes running if it sounds like a toy or a treat sack, but Snowy can't hear, so she has to come check it out whenever she sees alight come on in a different room!

Keep us updated on the ferals and how Snowy is doing! I'm going to try introductions by the end of October, hopefully I will have some good news to report! [emoji]128522[/emoji]