Black crust at corners of nose?

[kara_leigh]

Sebastian has hard black crusty stuff at both corners of his nose. I can't pick it or rub it off. Do you have any idea what it is? Is it snot that has just dried there? Is there any way for me to get it off? Can I try putting a wet wash cloth against his nose (as much as he'll let me) to loosen/wet it up so I can try to wipe it off?

Could he had just had a cold and has some left over boogers? lol Could anything else cause this?

 

[strange_wings]

You could try a damp q-tip. It could be any number of things, from a low level infection, to moderate allergies to something in the home, or just some sinus issues left from a past URI that could have effected his nose. You'd have to look at his past medical history to get an idea.

If you notice more symptoms, obviously have him in to see the vet.

 

[kara_leigh]

He doesn't have any other symptoms at this point, and he's had the crust since we got him, so I just assume it's from before he came here. Their "medical" records really don't say much, other than they got a couple shots, when they were wormed, and when they were neutered.

 

[strange_wings]

No mention as to whether he's ever had an URI? Lots of kitties that end up in shelters or were stray at some point have.

If it keeps up, see if you notice him sneezing after sniffing around certain things. Anything dusty: household dust, litter box, carpet, etc - or anything scented. Maybe there's an allergy. It will give you some direction to discuss with a vet and some ideas as to what to do.

I have one here that has issues with dust. If I don't keep the house dusted well enough (or he finds some dust under something) he'll sneeze and get a bit of a stuffy nose from it. More specifically it's dust mite poop which is irritating to pretty much everyone animal or human.

 

[ruthyb]

Have no idea what it is but Candy has this, I have noticed a few cats with white noses with this and my vet has seen her alot and never mentioned it.x

 

[clpeters23]

When Rocky was a kitten he had the same thing. I gently removed it and it's never returned. He had no symptoms of respiratory issues or any other health problems requiring a vet visit.

 

[kara_leigh]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

No mention as to whether he's ever had an URI? Lots of kitties that end up in shelters or were stray at some point have.

They were never strays or in a shelter. They went straight from their mothers' owners house to foster care as young kittens when they were about 8 weeks old. They were born on May 14th, and were neutered while in foster care on July 22nd, (our 10th wedding anniversary haha!) I'm assuming right after they received them.

 

[jenwales]

My Boo had this when we first got her and there have been a couple of minor black gunk sightings since then. Our vet said that it is common for cats with the herpes virus.

 

[fabrite]

One of my cats had this problem.  He also had a chronic weepy eye infection. Finally he was treated with oral antibiotics for another reason; his eye infection cleared up, and the black crusts disappeared!  I deduced that he was wiping his eyes with his paws and dragging the black mucus from his eyes into his nostrils.  Elsewhere I read that the mucus is black because it has red blood cells in it, which makes sense considering that his eye was very inflamed.