Cat nose has... a scab?

[gabicards]

Hi all,

So, the title is a question because I don't really know what I'm looking at. My cat's nose bridge has a patch of skin that's darker - curiously, there's fur on it, so it being a scab or not doesn't seem obvious to me.

I traveled for 15 days and left him in the care of a friend, and a few days after I came back I noticed he has a mild inflammation on the skin above his mouth, so I took him to the vet. At that point, it had also caught my attention that his nose bridge seems to be always "wet". He eats soup for every meal, so it's a bit hard to tell whether that's unusual or not... today, I decided to try and wash his nose bridge with a bit of cat shampoo. That's when I noticed the skin there is slightly elevated, too, and there's a tiny bit of it near his nose that isn't, as if it's that's already peeled. It's really hard to tell in the pictures.

I'm asking here instead of taking him to the vet because I took him 3 days ago. Even though I didn't point the nose out (because I hadn't realized it could be a scab), she looked at his face a lot to see the skin above his mouth, and also had a thorough look inside his mouth, and she said he's fine. She didn't notice the nose. The inflammation on his skin is mild and she thinks it will heal on its own - if not, I can go back and get a cream that she's already prescribed. She said it might have been caused by him eating some kind of plant (my friend also has cats, so all her plants are pet friendly, but the vet pointed out that they could still hurt even if they aren't poisonous to a cat), or maybe he got hurt while playing with her cat.

Anyway. Does this look like a scab to you guys? Could a scab have fur on top of it? Also... could a scab even develop if the skin was never "raw" to begin with? It doesn't seem serious in any case, but it did make me anxious when I washed it and realized it's thicker than the rest of his skin. I've been annoyed that I came back to him having things to treat since he was in perfect health when I left.

The first pic is of him now. For comparison, I've also attached a couple of pictures of him before I traveled, so that you can see his nose bridge. You can't see the inflammation above his mouth in today's pic because his fur hides it, and, like the vet said, it's mild (hoping it will, as she said, heal on its own soon).

Update: he was laying on my lap and purring, so I gently rubbed his nose a bit and most of the thicker skin came off. It didn't seem like it hurt him at all since he didn't react, just continued to comfortably purr. I guess it really was a scab? But it wasn't hard, it was just thick. If it didn't have what looks like fur on top of it, and if I hadn't tried to wash it, I'd almost think it was some kind of dirt that dried on his nose bridge.

The skin below doesn't seem to be hurt, to be honest, but it still looks like it's "wet". My dad and I put Vetericyn on it anyway.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. If the skin is damaged and has hair attached it will stay attached until the skin falls off.

I would keep an eye on it and if it changes or gets larger, consider doing a fungal culture. It could have also happened from him pressing his nose against the carrier or a screen.

I would also check him for fleas.

He is a beautiful cat s as nd looks very happy to be home.

 

[gabicards]

Still monitoring, it hasn’t changed at all. Scheduled a visit for tomorrow in which I will ask the vet to have a look at him under UV light + do a culture to check for a fungal infection.

I took a picture with flash and now it’s evident the nose is indeed red, just like the right side of his mouth.They must be the same thing, the question is what.

There have been no other symptoms of anything as far as I can tell. A few days ago, right after his last vet visit, he had a bit of a cough, so I got worried and monitored him, and it hasn’t happened again. I had seen him do the same 2 or 3 times last year, always just once - it lasts a few seconds and then he moves on with his life - and I think it might have been some fur or something similar making his throat itch. There are no discharges anywhere and no more scabs.

 

[RussellsMom]

A scab can have fur on top of it. Our Russell had been severely burned over much of his body when we adopted him - he had horrific wounds and scabbing all over. He spent his first month with us ripping the scabs off and leaving them all over the house. Most of the pieces I picked up had quite a bit of fur growing on them - it was the weirdest thing but normal, as I learned.

 

[gabicards]

A scab can have fur on top of it. Our Russell had been severely burned over much of his body when we adopted him - he had horrific wounds and scabbing all over. He spent his first month with us ripping the scabs off and leaving them all over the house. Most of the pieces I picked up had quite a bit of fur growing on them - it was the weirdest thing but normal, as I learned.

The more you know! With Topaz, I was just surprised at how easily they came off and how unbothered he was. There was very little fur on it as it was from his nose.

I've arrived home and took new pictures. None of it looks worse (nose and mouth) - if anything, I think the middle part of the nose bridge is a tiny, tiny bit less dark - it seems that the dark spot is less defined now, in comparison to the pic I took yesterday (the one I had posted right before).

Today was his 3rd day on Stomodin, which is the cream his French vet prescribed in case this didn't get better on its own. She had also prescribed prednisolone, which I want to check with her if we can/should get him started on even if we need to wait for lab results about a possible fungal infection. If the treatment for fungus is entirely different, I suppose we could stay with a topical cream until we're sure... let's see. I'll keep you guys posted, as I've noticed there were some posts here about darkening nose bridges that were abandoned. Hopefully this will provide clarity for more people, too.

 

[RussellsMom]

The first thing that struck me when I read your post was that this happened after you went away. Even though I'm sure your friend did everything possible to make an excellent environment for Topaz, 15 days in a new home, without you, and with other people and cats, might have been stressful and confusing. I wonder if the skin flare-up could just be a kind of stress-related dermatitis. Or there might have been something in the new environment that caused a bit of an allergic reaction. Unless you see some sort of cascading allergic crisis, this flare-up might go away on its own.

Russell has mosquito-bite hypersensitivity and related eosinophilic granuloma complex (EGC) that causes all types of occasional skin inflammation for him, even in places not near the contact site. One single bite can result in multiple blistering, crusting lesions all over his nose and ears, and his paw pads also get severely inflamed even when the bite occurs on his face. Even during the worst flare-ups, Russell doesn’t seem bothered at all.

I'm not suggesting Topaz has that - the pictures you sent don't look anything like Russell's occasional nose lesions. But just to suggest that Topaz’s nose flare-up might just be a temporary allergy/sensitivity-type inflammation caused by stress or by something in the new environment.

We spent years desperately searching for answers to Russell’s skin flare-ups. We’ve been suggested all sorts of creams, ointments, even steroids. We tried many (not the steroid), but nothing made a difference and I even feel like some of the ointments just prolonged the healing process and added stress. Frankly now we don’t do anything and the flare-ups always go away on their own.

 

[gabicards]

The first thing that struck me when I read your post was that this happened after you went away. Even though I'm sure your friend did everything possible to make an excellent environment for Topaz, 15 days in a new home, without you, and with other people and cats, might have been stressful and confusing. I wonder if the skin flare-up could just be a kind of stress-related dermatitis. Or there might have been something in the new environment that caused a bit of an allergic reaction. Unless you see some sort of cascading allergic crisis, this flare-up might go away on its own.

Russell has mosquito-bite hypersensitivity and related eosinophilic granuloma complex (EGC) that causes all types of occasional skin inflammation for him, even in places not near the contact site. One single bite can result in multiple blistering, crusting lesions all over his nose and ears, and his paw pads also get severely inflamed even when the bite occurs on his face. Even during the worst flare-ups, Russell doesn’t seem bothered at all.

I'm not suggesting Topaz has that - the pictures you sent don't look anything like Russell's occasional nose lesions. But just to suggest that Topaz’s nose flare-up might just be a temporary allergy/sensitivity-type inflammation caused by stress or by something in the new environment.

We spent years desperately searching for answers to Russell’s skin flare-ups. We’ve been suggested all sorts of creams, ointments, even steroids. We tried many (not the steroid), but nothing made a difference and I even feel like some of the ointments just prolonged the healing process and added stress. Frankly now we don’t do anything and the flare-ups always go away on their own.

Thanks a lot for your reply! I think I had read a post about your cat somewhere in this forum while researching what could be the issue with Topaz - the EGC and mosquito-bite situation sound very familiar to me.

I am inclined to agree with you and hope that's the case. Naturally, when I read about possible causes for skin issues, everything points to cancer and it's hard not to freak out - but the timing is just too important in this scenario. This was the first time in his life that Topaz was away from me for more than a day, and he's 2 years old. He knew my friend's cat because she stayed with me for over a month once, and they got along well. Also, this friend is now living in an apartment in which I used to live with Topaz for over a year, so he knew his cat companion and the environment, which I had hoped would help... however, for added context, her cat ended up having a dental procedure while Topaz was with my friend, and that caused Topaz stress as well - after she came back home, he wanted nothing to do with her, and would hiss when she came close. I told my friend her smell could have changed due to the meds, so, a few days later, she got a nice bath, and Topaz slowly warmed up to her again.

All in all, I think this is either bacterial acne due to my friend having used a plastic dish more often than I normally would, and possibly not cleaning it well enough because she's not used to handling oily cat food. Hers eats mostly kibble. When I picked him up, the automatic feeder was "clean" - when I opened it, pretty much all meal parts (it has 4) were oily. If he was frequently eating out of that, I can see how he would have a skin reaction, and am surprised (yet grateful) that it's not all around his mouth, just on the right side and on his nose. It could be a lot worse. I also think it makes sense because the automatic feeder is not elevated, which means that, differently from his elevated ceramic bowl, when he eats out of it, I can see how it would get more on his mouth and on his nose as opposed to his chin.

Anyway, today we will hopefully do some testing to rule out a fungal infection. I need to know if I should be disinfecting my apartment within an inch of its life or if I can continue to do my regular cleaning... plus, the medication then would be different. I assume this is like human infections, in that if we don't use something specific for fungus, it won't go away and will likely worsen.

Once we know for sure it isn't fungal, I'll be more patient with the healing process. Looking back on pictures, I can see both his nose and mouth have been like this since I picked him up, which was 20 days ago. I think it's a good sign that it hasn't gotten worse, but it also makes me think that it would take a really long time for it to go away on its own, if it does. He probably needs meds.

 

[gabicards]

Okay, follow-up from the vet!

There was no evidence of a fungal infection in the UV light exam, but the vet added some of his fur to a tiny vial of liquid that's supposed to react and change color within 5 days if there are any fungal traces on it. Unfortunately we'll need to wait to know for certain.

She said she's not concerned at all about his nose, that it doesn't look bad, but she thinks the inflammation above his mouth got worse... which is curious, because to my eyes it's looked that way for the past 20 days - the difference now, to me, is that I've been applying a cream to it (prescribed by the vet), which makes the fur stick together and the skin underneath becomes more visible. Regardless, he was finally given an anti-inflammatory and antibiotic shot.

I'm nervous about the possible side-effects of the shot, and confused as to why the vet was so sure nothing would happen other than possibly him drinking more water ("Are there any possible side-effects I should watch out for?" "Not at all, he might just drink more water than usual"). I didn't know which substance it was, so I looked it up online when I got home and it's called "Convenia" - it works for 14 days. "This medication is well tolerated in small animals. Adverse effects therefore rarely occur. The drug can nevertheless cause some toxicity to the liver and kidneys. Your pet may also have a decreased appetite, vomiting, decreased activity, depression, or an anaphylactic reaction, which is a serious allergic reaction." This is scary to me because of how horribly he reacted to a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication last year (he vomited 15 times in less than 20 hours) - this isn't the same class of medication. I have since been wary of anything that isn't prednisolone, so I'm nervous to anything new, despite this not being the same class of meds.

I also asked her to have another thorough look at his mouth and once again she told me there are no signs of inflammation anywhere. I've had a good look at his whole body over the course of this past week and there's nothing - he hasn't lost fur anywhere, and he doesn't seem to be scratching himself anymore than usual (some rare neck scratches). Litter box behavior and appetite are still normal today... so, all in all, still no reason to believe there's anything going on beyond his skin.

Please cross your fingers that this really isn't fungal and that the shot is going to be enough. The vet finally mentioned acne today, though she compared it to human acne as opposed to diagnosing him with feline acne, so I was a bit confused (could also have misunderstood, since I'm still not fluent in French). The first thing I asked when I took him in last week was whether it was acne, and I'm pretty sure she said no, so I don't know what exactly made her bring it up today... specially because, once again, we discussed the plastic feeder, and once again she agreed that could be the cause.

She also mentioned that, because we suspect he has food allergies (to kibble), this could be an allergic reaction to something random. "If he's allergic to something, he has potential to be allergic to many other things"... He loves to rub his face on things, so I can see how that could happen.

Anyway... in summary, we're working under the assumption this isn't fungal. We'll know for certain that it isn't by Wednesday.

 

[fionasmom]

Convenia is used for skin conditions and I do have to say that it cleared up what appeared to be stud tail (on a neutered indoor cat) almost before my eyes. There is a great deal about Convenia here on TCS, including the extreme lethargy that my cat experienced from it, but it is widely used in the cat and dog world. Feral cat caretakers often use it as the only resort for antibiotics in ferals who cannot be dosed otherwise. Some of the more serious side effects were found in studies in which test animals were given hugely increased doses, not what your vet administered. Don't panic and just continue to watch for a reaction.

 

[gabicards]

Convenia is used for skin conditions and I do have to say that it cleared up what appeared to be stud tail (on a neutered indoor cat) almost before my eyes. There is a great deal about Convenia here on TCS, including the extreme lethargy that my cat experienced from it, but it is widely used in the cat and dog world. Feral cat caretakers often use it as the only resort for antibiotics in ferals who cannot be dosed otherwise. Some of the more serious side effects were found in studies in which test animals were given hugely increased doses, not what your vet administered. Don't panic and just continue to watch for a reaction.

Thanks for the message!

I've been nervous all day - but he seems normal so far. He was given Convenia 10 hours ago, and has eaten his 3 meals normally since then. We played as usual as well. I've read here about adverse effects that showed up after 24 hours though, so I'm still scared...

I contacted the clinic in which he had his hip surgery last year and confirmed that he was given Convenia after the procedure as well, pretty much exactly 1 year ago. There were no reactions then, so hopefully there will be no reactions now. I also really hope it clears up this skin situation, as the fact that it has become infected is worrying me. I really really hope it doesn't spread, he was doing so well... I think more than anything I'm sad that my trip resulted in this after several months of peace. His gut health seemed to be okay too, after a whole year of struggle, and now we've gone and bombed his microbiome with a shot of antibiotics. I could cry.

 

[fionasmom]

There were no reactions then, so hopefully there will be no reactions now.

That is a very good sign. I have a friend who is a hypervigilant, even obsessive, dog owner and she gives Convenia to her labradors whenever they need it with no problems.

 

[gabicards]

That is a very good sign. I have a friend who is a hypervigilant, even obsessive, dog owner and she gives Convenia to her labradors whenever they need it with no problems.

I think side effects are so rare... it's just that Topaz's horrible reaction to oral metacam last year legitimately traumatized me. The vet at the surgery clinic told me she's never seen an adverse reaction to Convenia, and that they also use it to treat acne over there. She also clarified that at some point during/after the surgery Topaz got an injection of metacam, too. I had no idea, and told her he had a bad reaction to it when given orally, to which she replied there could have been some stomach sensitivity going on at that time that prompted the reaction, rather than him having some type of allergy to the medication.

Well, nothing to do now but wait and see.

Also, I'll be honest, I'm a bit iffy about this Stomodin cream I've been applying for 4 days. She's told me to keep applying it, but the issue seems to have gotten worse, not better... I wish I could wash it with chlorexidine shampoo, since that would also help if there's anything fungal going on, but now I'm scared of doing anything.

 

[fionasmom]

I would wait and clear anything else with the vet, especially over the weekend. The vet who gave Convenia to my cat did tell me first that he wanted to do it. I have known him for years and he did say that most cats have no reaction. I still have no reason to doubt that he was telling me the truth.

 

[gabicards]

I would wait and clear anything else with the vet, especially over the weekend. The vet who gave Convenia to my cat did tell me first that he wanted to do it. I have known him for years and he did say that most cats have no reaction. I still have no reason to doubt that he was telling me the truth.

I believe that, too... Topaz's vet seemed confident when she said there would be no side effects except maybe some thirst. She's probably never seen a bad reaction.

We're nearing the 24hr mark, Topaz seems okay. I thought maybe slightly calmer/sleepier - he slept with me, on top of my arm, all night. Last night I noticed his ears would oscillate between a normal temperature and cold, but during the night they were warmer. He's nowhere near lethargic and seems alert, also had his breakfast as normal.

I'm monitoring his skin situation, too, and following vet instructions to continue applying the Stomodin cream. Fortunatelly the affected area hasn't gotten bigger, even if it looks more irritated than it did last week (it's easier to spot it now from further away from him, whereas before you had to hold him and pay attention to his face).

 

[fionasmom]

Topaz seems absolutely fine! The reaction my cat had started almost immediately. When I called Zoetis, they said that most reactions begin in the early days, so you have probably cleared the bar.

 

[gabicards]

Topaz seems absolutely fine! The reaction my cat had started almost immediately. When I called Zoetis, they said that most reactions begin in the early days, so you have probably cleared the bar.

I hope so! 2nd day has been fine too, there are no noticeable changes. Appetite is great and he's alert. Poop might have been delayed, but blaming the meds for that would be shameful of me at this point lol

Also, I might regret this, but after talking to his brazilian vet again I am stopping Stomodin. It hasn't helped and his skin got worse after I started, so I've ordered Duoxo S3 wipes, and until then will be cleaning the area with a diluted chlorexidine antiseptic I've had here and used on his chin before. That vet doesn't like anything that makes the skin greasy because it blocks the pores.

I also have a feeling she really thinks this is a fungal issue, but is too professional to say it since that's not what the French vet thought, and she saw it in person. It sucks that it will take us a few days to know... either way I've read that it's often *both* bacteria and fungus, so I guess the shot wouldn't have been useless. I'd just worry since I know the vets here would resort to oral medication immediately if he turns out to have a fungal problem too, and that'd be at least a month of treatment. That's a lot of meds for a boy that already has intestinal/gut sensitivities.

 

[fionasmom]

You did get the input of the Brazilian vet, so there is some reason giving for stopping the medication. Blocking pores does not sound like a great idea on a skin condition. She does not want to overstep her boundaries which is professional of her. Bacteria and fungus can coexist, so the shot was not uncalled for, but I see your point about continually giving him medication.

 

[gabicards]

Finally cleaned Topaz's nose and mouth with chlorexidine 4% shampoo - applied a tiny bit of it on a wet cotton pad and gently rubbed both areas, then left the solution on for 10 minutes and rinsed. The pads came out with a brown tint to it, as well as lots of tiny brown dots.

Interestingly, when I tried cleaning Topaz's nose with regular cat shampoo about 10 days ago, the cotton pad had come out clear. Since the skin on his nose is grey, it's so hard to tell if there's acne or anything else going on, because it just looks like there's a black patch over it. I can only see that the skin is irritated by positioning him to face a window, or (to a lesser extent) taking a photo with the flash on.

It was reassuring to me to see that cleaning the nose results in the same type of gunk as his mouth, because now I'm more confident that both parts have the same issue. I feel like his mouth is also less irritated than yesterday - although the skin doesn't look like it's healed yet, I don't see the tiny red areas anymore, it all seems a more even shade of pink.

No pictures for now because the fur is still moist, but hopefully tonight.

 

[gabicards]

So, nose and mouth are dry, both look better than they did yesterday. Naturally, the inflammation hasn't vanished - it's been 2 days since the Convenia shot, and 1 day since I stopped using the cream that I suspect contributed to the worsening of the problem. I think we're on a good track...

The dark patch on his nose is still very much there, but it seems that it's more blended to the rest of his skin now, and it's possibly the lightest it's looked since I picked Topaz up on the 8th. You can see it well depending on the angle/lighting, but this past week it was very defined anyway you looked at it. As for the mouth, it's clear to me that he's lost a bit of fur in the area (not too much, though, seeing as without flash and in natural light you can't really see the problem anymore, just like before it got infected). I'm sure the acne will continue to come back until it's completely healed, but it honestly doesn't look bad to me anymore.

My current plan is to clean the affected areas with Duoxo S3 (which is Chlorexidine 3%) pads once a day, and wash it with Chlorexidine 4% shampoo 2 or 3 times per week, depending on how it looks. Essentially, I'd wipe his face with Duoxo S3 after his last meal of the day, but after the other meals I plan on using a more diluted antiseptic (also Chlorexidine, but very little of it in comparison to Duoxo and the shampoo), in order to keep the areas as clean as possible without being too harsh.

I found Duoxo S3 online, though my understanding is its well known, after his brazilian vet mentioned that Chlorexidine won't do anything for a fungal infection unless it's 3%. That was literally the only product I found that isn't a shampoo that has that high of a concentration. I mentioned it by name yesterday and she told me she knows it and considers it an excellent product, so we'll see. I hope we're covering all basis here in case this ends up being fungal as well... might even avoid oral medication, since I've seen that some vets try to treat that with topic creams before jumping straight to oral meds like his French vet told me she would - if it looks better this week I suppose I could hold her off a bit for us to see. Cross your fingers for us, please.

(I think his skin looks a bit redder in the pic than it does in real life, possibly due to the exposure)

 

[fionasmom]

Well, he still looks very handsome! I have DouxoS3 on a dog with pressure sores, prescribed by his vet, and I was happy with it. They do sell slightly different products, but similar as I recall, and I believe that the pads you have are for fungal conditions so hopefully they will work. Can you tell the French vet that you want to give this a trial period?