Oily Under Cat’s Chin

[Dreamyraynbo]

Hi all! First time posting here, but I’m a long time lurker.

My long haired kitty, Tali, is almost 2 years old, healthy, and has a beautiful coat. We’ve had a few armpit mats, but seems to groom well. However, under her chin often looks oily. I assume this is just because it’s a difficult area to groom? She’s my first long haired kitty, so I’m learning coat care as we go. Brushes and combs are an ongoing battle, although she’ll let me comb her there with my fingernails. Little dork.

 

[Brian007]

Do you mean on her breastplate area or her actual chin?

If she were oily on her chin and the area became speckled with black 'dirt' then that would be cat chin acne caused by bacteria. The main culprit for this is using plastic feeding bowls, which have many micropores where bacteria lurk. To rid yourself of it, change bowls for ceramic, glass, or metal, and wipe the chin area with an antibacterial solution until the acne clears.

If she were oily on her breastplate soak a new microfibre cloth in water and wring out. Then 'polish' her coat with the cloth, which will magically lift off oil.

Also, think about using a 'no water pet shampoo', which is a foam substance that you massage in then towel off. I've used some on my cats before and they put up with the experience quite well, and it does a good job. Do an Amazon search for it.

I have two ragdolls who can look tatty at times. It's a constant battle. You just need to get into a routine of brushing her regularly even if you're only managing a couple of minutes at a time. Then give her a treat to reward her good behaviour. Although my two absolutely hate it, I try to use a 'rake' comb on them as it gets masses of loose undercoat out. I also use a 'slicker' brush, which they like much better. And a normal human paddle brush as it has nice soft rounded ends.

You'll need to watch out for hairballs. I give my two regular hairball treats. But even with them, Dudley vomited a wee bit of clear liquid and wouldn't eat the other day, which is a sign of hairballs (the telltale unproductive cough is another sign). So I smeared a dollop of vaseline into his nose to lick off, much to his dislike, to lubricate his insides to help shift any blockage. I did this the next day also as he was still being picky with his food. Anyway, it did the trick and he's now back to normal, the hairball must have eased its way out his back end. It's much better to be on the ball with such things as prevention is far easier than cure.

I have Parker as well as Dudley. I took this photo yesterday, Dudley is looking a wee bit tatty on his breastplate (suspected vaseline overspill), he's the brown one:



If you were feeling like it you could introduce yourself and Tali to TCS members on the new cats forum:

New Cats on the Block

 

[Dreamyraynbo]

Thanks for the welcome and your response, Brian! Your babies are absolutely gorgeous!

The problem area is specifically her throat. Her chin is fine, no kitty acne (I had a kitty who had that, once), and her ruff is always stunning. But right on the front of her throat gets oily looking and spiky. I'll try the microfiber cloth and will definitely keep working on her with the brush(es).

Do you brush Parker and Dudley daily? Are there any hot spots you try to focus on? Tali absolutely 100% will NOT let me brush her tummy. For the rest, I can usually get in a few good licks before she starts growling and biting. I've been backing off and doing much shorter sessions, trying to keep her from getting worked up, and always give a treat when she cooperates. I worry that I'm not getting all the areas I should, though.

 

[Brian007]

I'm ashamed to admit that I don't brush my guys daily. Neither do I have a regular routine - that advice was as much for me as for you! I try to brush them when I remember is all that I can truthfully say.

At the moment the focus is all on Dudley as he's the shabbiest. Brushing him with the slicker brush just doesn't do the job and so we're trying with the rake at the moment, but only getting in a couple of minutes at a time. And a storm of fluff! He used to like being brushed but has clearly gone off the idea. I guess the area I focus on are his fluffy breaches, well, I'd like to focus on them anyhow. I'd also really like to get a good going over on his tummy as he has a small dreadlock at the top of his inner thigh that I can't get on my own, and think I'll have to wait til when my mum comes to visit soon.

Parker and Dudley play rather energetically together, so my house is always covered in fluff, predominantly Parker's white fluff. Parker is the younger and gets the most pastings, much to his delight. Parker has a slightly different type of fluff to Dudley's but I'm not sure why he doesn't seem to need as much brushing. Unless, of course, the carpet brushes Parker!

Here are pictures of a slicker brush and rake in case you don't know what I mean.


I used to use a Furminator on Brian, who had short hair but the long haired versions seem to pull too much, so I switched to a rake as it does a similar job. Now then, I got a Kong Zoom Groom fairly recently, which has nice soft silicone teeth. It works wonders with Parkers's fluff but doesn't make a dent on Dudley's.


I might try some pet wipes for Dudley's breastplate that starts to look scruffy. I'll definitely be giving him a blast of the foaming shampoo soon. I recommend your getting something like this for Tali.

As an extra tip, baby wipes are invaluable when you have a fluffy cat for bottom overspills and feet etc. Plus they're very cheap.

I'm glad to see you introduced yourself. I've not read it yet though, so will go do that now....