Mattie has had feline acne I think ever since I brought her home. I brought her home on 10/3/07 and the vet noticed it at her first visit which was 10/22/07. I wouldn't have noticed it before having it pointed out to me because it just looked like dirt and I had no idea what feline acne was, so it's very possible she's had this from the moment I brought her home (or earlier).
At the first vet visit the vet gave me Chlorhexidine scrub (the blue liquid, it's basically an anti-bacterial anti-septic) that I was putting on her chin 2x a day. It would remove some of that black debris but not completely. She is a long-haired kitty, the acne at this point was just a bunch of black spots (blackheads) on her chin and in her fur. This was just supposed to be for 3-4 days, but after 2 weeks it still hadn't gone away so I brought her in on Wednesday (11/14/07).
At this second visit, the vet shaved the hair on Mattie's chin and cleaned it for me. There wasn't a spec of the black spots, BUT you could tell how much waxy buildup Mattie has. Vet said that some cats are just larger produces of this waxy stuff that plugs the follicles. She gave me a liquid wax remover (Cerumene, it's typically used to remove wax in pets' ears) to use on her chin right before I use the Chlorhexidine. I also have 4 days worth of amoxicillin antibiotics for Mattie that she's almost done with.
The acne comes back every single morning. Her chin was clear after coming home from the vets, and the very next day it was all black and red. It's not forming actual red blisters yet but it is red and irritated.
Poor thing
I use all stainless steel bowls, and I always have. I did buy a plastic Drinkwell fountain but the acne was there before that ever came around. I really don't want to get rid of the fountain because Mattie is drinking so much more water because of it. She has only been home for 1.5 months and during this time she has had a new kitten enter the picture (even though this was not until 11/10/07), so it's possible that she is a bit stressed out but I don't think that's the cause of this.
So I have a couple of questions:
1) for those of you with cats who have had feline acne, how long did it last? How bad was it? How do you help it?
2) is there something safe/natural/homeopathic that I can try to help it?
3) do some cats just have this problem forever?
Mattie eats Nutro Natural Indoor Cat Dry food and then a variety of wet foods (Nutro Natural Indoor Pouches, Natural Balance, By Nature Pouches, and Solid Gold). She eats all types of flavors - beef, fish, chicken, turkey, etc.
At the first vet visit the vet gave me Chlorhexidine scrub (the blue liquid, it's basically an anti-bacterial anti-septic) that I was putting on her chin 2x a day. It would remove some of that black debris but not completely. She is a long-haired kitty, the acne at this point was just a bunch of black spots (blackheads) on her chin and in her fur. This was just supposed to be for 3-4 days, but after 2 weeks it still hadn't gone away so I brought her in on Wednesday (11/14/07).
At this second visit, the vet shaved the hair on Mattie's chin and cleaned it for me. There wasn't a spec of the black spots, BUT you could tell how much waxy buildup Mattie has. Vet said that some cats are just larger produces of this waxy stuff that plugs the follicles. She gave me a liquid wax remover (Cerumene, it's typically used to remove wax in pets' ears) to use on her chin right before I use the Chlorhexidine. I also have 4 days worth of amoxicillin antibiotics for Mattie that she's almost done with.
The acne comes back every single morning. Her chin was clear after coming home from the vets, and the very next day it was all black and red. It's not forming actual red blisters yet but it is red and irritated.
Poor thing
I use all stainless steel bowls, and I always have. I did buy a plastic Drinkwell fountain but the acne was there before that ever came around. I really don't want to get rid of the fountain because Mattie is drinking so much more water because of it. She has only been home for 1.5 months and during this time she has had a new kitten enter the picture (even though this was not until 11/10/07), so it's possible that she is a bit stressed out but I don't think that's the cause of this.
So I have a couple of questions:
1) for those of you with cats who have had feline acne, how long did it last? How bad was it? How do you help it?
2) is there something safe/natural/homeopathic that I can try to help it?
3) do some cats just have this problem forever?
Mattie eats Nutro Natural Indoor Cat Dry food and then a variety of wet foods (Nutro Natural Indoor Pouches, Natural Balance, By Nature Pouches, and Solid Gold). She eats all types of flavors - beef, fish, chicken, turkey, etc.