Is this... Dandruff!?

Sophie87

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Hello!

I was petting Kiara, my almost 3 yo bengal/savannah, and I noticed something on her fur that looks like dandruff, I only saw it in her back, but it's more "concentrated" near her tail, this is the first time I've seen it on her, she grooms every day, several times a day (she's actually cleaning her face right now).

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We live in a city right in the middle of Mexico, dry heat, we're currently at 29ºC (84ºF) and both of my cats have been shedding a lot of their winter coat, so I'm not sure if this has something to do with it. I feed them Diamond chicken & rice dry food, which they really love, (I know this doesn't sound great, but Kiara eats it so so so fast sometimes she barfs, and the food looks like she just swallowed it and didn't chewed it, I tried putting a rock in the bowl and nothing changed).

We're currently on lock down so going to the vet is kinda difficult at the moment, is there something I can do? Should I just wait for it to go away alone? Should I wash her? Help!
 

Mamanyt1953

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I concur. And yes, cats get it, too, and no, I can't do a thing better than what LTS3 LTS3 suggested in that link.
 
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Sophie87

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Yes, that's dandruff. I posted suggestions to help the dandruff in a recent thread: Dandruffs?
I don't feed then wet food, I think I should start, thing is there aren't a lot of brands here in Mexico, and the few ones in Petco are hella expensive, I've been reading and supposedly Fancy Feast is good, but I'm not sure.

Should I give her a bath to see if that works or should I wait until I can take her to the vet?

Thank you!
 

verna davies

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If your cat willl let you, try putting a little coconut oil on the tips of your fingers and massage into the skin on the area. It leaves the coat greasy for a few days but it cleared the dandruff on one of mine.
 

cat mom 8

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Just wet a paper towel and wipe it off. If you have a human comb with the teeth close together, you can comb it out
too. All animals can have the same problems as humans. I feed my cats moist food, a premium dry food and have
3 water fountains for them. Most have the little flakes. When a cat grooms, they collect saliva in the cups on their
tongue which enables them to wet their fur to get in place. When the saliva dries and they move, it breaks up and
looks like flakes of dandruff.
 
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Sophie87

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I've been brushing her daily and I just see a couple of flakes on her coat now, but it is mostly gone. I'm going to keep an eye on her and order wet food so I can add it to her diet.

Does someone know if Fancy Feast is good? Very few options for wet cat food in Mexico, the options are Whiskas, Purina's Felix, Fancy Feast and Science Hill (which is SUPER expensive), don't get me wrong, I don't want my cats to have dandruff but I also don't want to drain my bank account :p
 

cat mom 8

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Of the moist food you mentioned, Fancy Feast would be the best. I don't know if Chewy delivers to Mexico, but you
can go on-line to get their phone number. It's a toll free number. www.chewy.com
If you have friends in the states, perhaps they can ship some moist food, of your choice, to you.
Brushing will get the dried saliva off the kitties fur, so will wiping her fur with a wet paper towel.
 
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