Kitty Dandruff

[S.Smith]

Hi all,
My kitty has bunny like fur. Sometimes it’s greasy but I’ve noticed he’s got flakes now when I brush him? Any advice would be appreciated. I’m thinking about getting salmon oil to add to his food?

 

[abyeb]

Dandruff can sometimes be caused by skin mites, so I'd advise you to take him to the vet just in case.
Skin Conditions In Cats

Does your cat have any difficulty grooming himself? That can cause dandruff to build up as well. Regular grooming and fish oil can help to reduce dandruff. There were some great suggestions in this thread: Really bad dandruff

 

[CommonCatOwner]

My cat had some pretty bad dandruff. He was downright ashy on the lower half of his back. I am pretty sure the issue was dry air. I purchased a cheap hygrometer and found out that the humidity in my home was only around 14%. After running a humidifier for several days and getting the humidity in the 30-40% range consistently his dandruff issues stopped. Of course this was during the earlier Winter where I live. I thought it might be some type of malnutrition and considered adding an omega supplement but the food I was feeding him seemed to have a sufficient amount. It seems that the dry air simply gave him dry skin. This may or may not be relevant to your situation but if the air in your home is very dry it might be something to consider. Just an idea.

 

[Dendi]

Hi all,
My kitty has bunny like fur. Sometimes it’s greasy but I’ve noticed he’s got flakes now when I brush him? Any advice would be appreciated. I’m thinking about getting salmon oil to add to his food?

I'm going through the same thing with my cat right now (he's very greasy, and has brown flakes on his tail). I took him to the vet two days ago, and was told he has seborrhea. Sometimes it can be a symptom of an underlying illness so the vet did blood work, and urinalysis to rule illness out (his blood work came back normal thank goodness). Now it seems we will be doing a skin scrape test on his visit next Wednesday to check for mites, and fungal infection and so on . If the skin scrape doesn't show anything he will just be given a special mousse, and shampoo. I would suggest taking your kitty into the vet to make sure there isn't more going on other than dandruff.

 

[posiepurrs]

I'm going through the same thing with my cat right now (he's very greasy, and has brown flakes on his tail). I took him to the vet two days ago, and was told he has seborrhea. Sometimes it can be a symptom of an underlying illness so the vet did blood work, and urinalysis to rule illness out (his blood work came back normal thank goodness). Now it seems we will be doing a skin scrape test on his visit next Wednesday to check for mites, and fungal infection and so on . If the skin scrape doesn't show anything he will just be given a special mousse, and shampoo. I would suggest taking your kitty into the vet to make sure there isn't more going on other than dandruff.

I have 2 questions: Is your boy neutered? and Is it just on his tail? It sounds like stud tail and although it is more common in whole cats, neutered and spayed can have it. Yes, both sexes can have stud tail.

 

[lalagimp]

Tom has butt dandruff because he was too fat. We used to shave him from the bottom of his ribs to the base of his tail. He was 21 lbs. When he got to his ideal weight, it wasn't really a problem. He can appropriately groom everything. His little sister has some flakes, but she's a medium hair and about 10 lbs. She isn't near as bad as Tom was.

 

[Neo_23]

You’ll want to figure out the cause of the problem but supplementing with omega 3 can help if the issue is dry skin.

 

[susanm9006]

Willow had dandruff until I put her on grain free cat food. I have tried reintroducing grains several times but in each case her dandruff returned.

 

[S.Smith]

Dandruff can sometimes be caused by skin mites, so I'd advise you to take him to the vet just in case.
Skin Conditions In Cats

Does your cat have any difficulty grooming himself? That can cause dandruff to build up as well. Regular grooming and fish oil can help to reduce dandruff. There were some great suggestions in this thread: Really bad dandruff

Update: I have gotten the oil additive

I have 2 questions: Is your boy neutered? and Is it just on his tail? It sounds like stud tail and although it is more common in whole cats, neutered and spayed can have it. Yes, both sexes can have stud tail.

Yes he’s neutered and yes just on his lower back. It is winter and very dry here too.

 

[S.Smith]

Willow had dandruff until I put her on grain free cat food. I have tried reintroducing grains several times but in each case her dandruff returned.

Oh that is interesting. I had switched his food but now he’s back on his normal food, and I hadn’t noticed it before.

 

[S.Smith]

Dandruff can sometimes be caused by skin mites, so I'd advise you to take him to the vet just in case.
Skin Conditions In Cats

Does your cat have any difficulty grooming himself? That can cause dandruff to build up as well. Regular grooming and fish oil can help to reduce dandruff. There were some great suggestions in this thread: Really bad dandruff

Thanks for the advice and yes he’s kinda overweight so grooming isn’t his specialty. I try to brush him a lot but it seems to make him greasier?

 

[S.Smith]

Hi all,
My kitty has bunny like fur. Sometimes it’s greasy but I’ve noticed he’s got flakes now when I brush him? Any advice would be appreciated. I’m thinking about getting salmon oil to add to his food?

Update: I did get the salmon oil but I’m going to brush him and look over him really well this morning .. maybe call the vet if he’s still really flaky?

 

[S.Smith]

Update: I did get the salmon oil but I’m going to brush him and look over him really well this morning .. maybe call the vet if he’s still really flaky?

Also thank you all for the advice and replies.

 

[lacy2000]

When my girl had dandruff, I would add more wet food to her diet and would feed her a tiny bit of coconut oil as well as rub coconut oil into her skin. She would try to lick it off, but I believe it did something. Eventually after her diet change the dry skin disappeared.

 

[S.Smith]

I'm going through the same thing with my cat right now (he's very greasy, and has brown flakes on his tail). I took him to the vet two days ago, and was told he has seborrhea. Sometimes it can be a symptom of an underlying illness so the vet did blood work, and urinalysis to rule illness out (his blood work came back normal thank goodness). Now it seems we will be doing a skin scrape test on his visit next Wednesday to check for mites, and fungal infection and so on . If the skin scrape doesn't show anything he will just be given a special mousse, and shampoo. I would suggest taking your kitty into the vet to make sure there isn't more going on other than dandruff.

I hope your kitty is ok and thanks for the advice. The salmon oil seems to be helping but I’m taking him into the vet Wednesday just to be sure.