Wasabi has.....

Posted on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | 2 comments

....FELINE ACNE!?!!
  Who knew. But cats can get it, too. It usually doesn't develop into full-blown zits (or abscesses, yikes!), but instead takes the form of blackheads. Wasabi's little bout of acne is under her chin, where most cats get it. It basically looks like she just has a dirty chin. The exact cause of acne in cats isn't really clear, but underlying factors include: stress, a suppressed immune system, poor grooming habits, the presence of other diseases, contact dermatitis, etc. I don't think she's all that stressed, but who knows? And she's been screened for all diseases and given vaccines, so we can rule that out. We've seen her washing quite often, check. Which leaves contact dermatitis, but she has a glass water and food bowl, whereas plastic is usually the culprit in these cases. So much for an easy solution!


 Based on everything I could find online, mild asymptomatic cases aren't usually treated anyway, but we can take her in and get a special benzoyl peroxide shampoo if we really want to. So far, it doesn't seem to be bothering her, and my guess is that it'd cause much, much, much more trouble than it's worth to try and use a shampoo on the little weasel! Still, we're going to take her in after work on Friday and see what the vet says. Or else maybe I'll just rub some zit cream under her chin! (Joking, joking).


Wasabi and her 5 o'clock shadow

2 comments:

strwberrryjoy said...

We had 2 cats...Snuggles and Yoda. Whenever we gave Snuggles something in a plastic bowl, her chin would get funky, almost to the point of bleedy/weepy. I'm not sure if it's the same thing or type of rash that your cat has, but our vet said some cats are allergic to plastic, so we had to make sure to use ceramic bowls. It would clear up within a few days.

Kristel said...

Yoda, what a cute name!!
Wasabi's had a ceramic bowl for at least 3 months now, so unfortunately it's not such an easy solution. We took her to the vet today and he confirmed that it's feline acne, but not really bad enough to do much about. So for now...she's got a 'dirty' chin! =)