Poor Cheshire Cat! He seems to have acne. Unfortunately, I have NO idea why. My cats have ceramic bowls, which I wash every time I run the dish washer, so that can't be the problem. My other cat doesn't seem to have a problem at all. I would change his food, but he won't touch anything else (I've tried changing before by mixing the foods together, and other methods).
It's been staying steady for the past two weeks or so, and I haven't taken him to the vet yet. I wash his chin every other day (he's kind of neurotic; he can't deal with that every day). I use warm water and a soft children's tooth brush (I was using a wash cloth at first, but it didn't seem very effective).
Today, I noticed that he has one area that looks slightly infected, so I plan to take him to the vet ASAP for some sort of ointment.
Question #1 is what the heck could be causing this?! The only other reason I could think of could be stress, which I've read can cause problems. I got him at a shelter when he was about a year old, and I've had him for two years now... he is ONE STRESSED CAT. He needs lots of love and affection, and pretty much everything totally freaks him out, even though I live in an extremely quiet home. He hasn't had any major life changes or anything lately, and he doesn't SEEM more stressed out than usual... so I don't know.
Question #2 is, if the vet gives me an antibiotic to be mixed with food (no way he's taking anything any other way), how can I keep the other cat from eating it? Cheshire is ENORMOUS (about 25 pounds, and it's not all fat), so he can't get to a lot of places. Plus he's scared to jump on things AND he's clumsy. My other kitty is TEENY; she weighs about 4 pounds on a good day, and she's super nosy. She can get to everything.
Question #3 is, if I'm given an ointment for Cheshire's chin, how can I keep my other cat (Dinah) from licking it off?! Her favorite activity of all time is licking Cheshire Cat, especially when there's anything ON him (like hairball medicine, etc). She even tried to lick ear mite medicine out of his ears once (that stuff CANNOT taste good).
Thanks for any advice!!!
It's been staying steady for the past two weeks or so, and I haven't taken him to the vet yet. I wash his chin every other day (he's kind of neurotic; he can't deal with that every day). I use warm water and a soft children's tooth brush (I was using a wash cloth at first, but it didn't seem very effective).
Today, I noticed that he has one area that looks slightly infected, so I plan to take him to the vet ASAP for some sort of ointment.
Question #1 is what the heck could be causing this?! The only other reason I could think of could be stress, which I've read can cause problems. I got him at a shelter when he was about a year old, and I've had him for two years now... he is ONE STRESSED CAT. He needs lots of love and affection, and pretty much everything totally freaks him out, even though I live in an extremely quiet home. He hasn't had any major life changes or anything lately, and he doesn't SEEM more stressed out than usual... so I don't know.
Question #2 is, if the vet gives me an antibiotic to be mixed with food (no way he's taking anything any other way), how can I keep the other cat from eating it? Cheshire is ENORMOUS (about 25 pounds, and it's not all fat), so he can't get to a lot of places. Plus he's scared to jump on things AND he's clumsy. My other kitty is TEENY; she weighs about 4 pounds on a good day, and she's super nosy. She can get to everything.
Question #3 is, if I'm given an ointment for Cheshire's chin, how can I keep my other cat (Dinah) from licking it off?! Her favorite activity of all time is licking Cheshire Cat, especially when there's anything ON him (like hairball medicine, etc). She even tried to lick ear mite medicine out of his ears once (that stuff CANNOT taste good).
Thanks for any advice!!!