Grey/Black dot on Cat Chin

[EchoOfCanada95]

I noticed a day ago that my parents' lovely cat has a weird dot on her chin. She is 14 years old and spayed. She doesn't go outside. She doesn't get scratched by animals. She mostly sleeps but is sometimes active and plays or gallops back and forth across my parents' balcony. She eats and drinks and relieves herself as normal. For an old cat she still has quite a bit of energy and she scratches and bites my parents and I sometimes but she has done this her whole life so this isn't anything out of the ordinary. She doesn't appear to have anything wrong with her health. She isn't all that much lazier than their 6 year old cat.
It is under her skin. The closest thing I can compare it to is a tattoo but it is a bit raised like a bump. I am very worried that it is skin cancer.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
Can you send that photo in to your vet?

 

[Dos Gatos]

Looks like it could be feline acne.

 

[EchoOfCanada95]

Looks like it could be feline acne.

Is she not too old for it? Sorry I don't know much about it. A few of my parents' cats had acne but it all cleared up by the time they were 2.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Is she not too old for it? Sorry I don't know much about it. A few of my parents' cats had acne but it all cleared up by the time they were 2.

Feline acne isn’t dependent on age, it’s more to do with their immune systems, allergies and the like. My Phoebe was six years old before she developed it with a change of diet (she has a mild, maybe-IBD gastric problem and cleaning her chin every other day is a small price to payfor the benefits this diet brings).

 

[EchoOfCanada95]

Feline acne isn’t dependent on age, it’s more to do with their immune systems, allergies and the like. My Phoebe was six years old before she developed it with a change of diet (she has a mild, maybe-IBD gastric problem and cleaning her chin every other day is a small price to payfor the benefits this diet brings).

Oh thank you that makes sense. They did start using a different brand of food so maybe that's why she has this.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Oh thank you that makes sense. They did start using a different brand of food so maybe that's why she has this.

Worth keeping an eye on it, too. Feline acne gets absolutely horrible if untreated. I’ve seen pictures of cats whose chins were raw and bloody. It’s simple to manage - my vet suggested very diluted Betadine to clean it (I use gauze wipes) and a flea comb to remove the blackheads. Doing Phoebe’s chin every other day is usually enough, but if I miss it, those blackheads get thick and crusty really fast. So I can’t emphasise enough: check this spot out with your vet, because you need to know what it is and how to treat it, whatever the answer.

 

[Furballsmom]

So I can’t emphasise enough: check this spot out with your vet, because you need to know what it is and how to treat it, whatever the answer.

This is my thinking too.

 

[EchoOfCanada95]

Update I told them it could be the food and they switched back to the old food to see if that made a difference. They're both euro immigrants from farmer backgrounds so cats were never really valuable as individual companions to them, so unfortunately they weren't keen on taking their cat to the vet when their cat is old and they could just get a new one. Very awful attitude towards an animal they've had for nearly a decade and a half but that's how they were raised. Fortunately the cat's acne is almost all cleared up. She had 2 blackheads on her chin but 2 days ago when I last checked in on her they were mostly healed and there are no new ones. So it really was just the food. Thanks all for your help!

 

[Furballsmom]

You're fantastic!! Thank you for the update, and thank you for helping that kitty!