My 5 y.o. calico's ACNE (chin)

fenya7 · Mar 19, 2017

Hi everybody:

I hope to get some piece of mind from your experience. I left a message with my Vet., but it's a weekend and I am very worried.

My indoors kitty has acne on her chin since her 2 y.o. I got prescription pads specifically to treat it, and I've been following my Vets' recommendation on how and when to use it. Since her 2 y.o. she never was completely without that spot on her chin.

I try not to annoy her constantly and I clean it thoroughly (occasionally) Just recently it really started to look VERY DIRTY, its color is grey-brown. So I started to clean it more frequently. In the course of the last week, I cleaned it three times, and each time it was much WORSE than before. When i clean it with a q-tip with some cat shampoo on it and prior to that, I clean it with her medicated pad, what I now see on the q-tip looks disgusting.

Black stuff is NOT size of a poppy seed, it now looks bigger and some pieces really look like black flakes. last night, when I checked her chin and cleaned it with wet cloth, I freaked out - it now is bigger than ever and I could even see her skin through her wet hair. I immediately stopped and let her go. I now will give her a break until I hear from you and my Vet.

This morning it did not look that bad, but I could not really check it because I did not want to bother her.

Please share if you had a similar experience.

Why it never went away? Is it really acne? What else could that be? Her last Vet visit was in October and she was totally healthy. What can I expect and what should I do?

Thank you very much,

Fenya's mom

donutte · Mar 19, 2017

So sorry you're going through this with your kitty! Do you use plastic food or water bowls? I know that can contribute to / worsen acne in cats.

mysticotala · Mar 19, 2017

I had a cat that had acne and I couldn't get it to go away. I have anither cat that JUST developed it and I'm trying to get a handle on it before it gets worse.
What you are describing does sound like it, and it can sometimes look pretty bad. Do yourself a favour and don't look up pictures! They can get huge bald spots from it and it can actually get very infected, so your vet may be able to give you something else (even anti-biotic type medicines) to treat it. Keep cleaning it and try and find the cause of it. Like Donutte said, plastic is usually the culprit. If it has been going on that long, it might be a grooming issue, which might just mean you are going to have to clean her chin for her. I've also read that some food allergies can manifest in acne.