Cat chin acne...

[Rosemary28]

So, Ida has a horrible scabby chin, poor love, and is scratching it like crazy. It turns out to be a case of feline acne, which I've never had to deal with before. The main problem is she is constantly scratching so keeps taking the scabs off! We've bathed it with salty water (when we finally managed to catch her)... does anyone have any experience of treating cat acne?

Any suggestions of ways to stop her scratching are also greatly appreciated... I know she won't tolerate a cone.

Sorry for dodgy quality photo, I couldn’t get her to stay still!

 

[WandaMare]

Its going to be v difficult without a cone, or you watching her 24/7. Does she have much claw, can you clip them as short as possible (or even better ask vet nurse to do it).

Having had many cats with cones to look after at the cattery because owners are worried about them being at home alone with them, most of them do accept them very quickly. It looks awful to start with as they bump into every thing, but they are so clever and agile they sort it out very soon. Some of them just decide to sit still and sulk but it doesn't do them any harm. Even if you could keep one on her for 2 or 3 days it would be make a big difference, skin heals quite quickly. I would be worried that if it drags on it could become infected or turn into a chronic habit. Poor Ida, hope she recovers quickly.

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Tigercat used to get a little bit of cat acne, though she didn't scratch it. I changed from plastic feeding bowls to cermaic/ metal ones and it seems to have cleared up!

 

[Rosemary28]

I'm willing to try her with a cone, I know she'll hate it but hopefully she will get used to it. I am worried about it getting infected, poor cat. Will be a fun challenge for OH and I to get it on her!

They have a ceramic bowl for dried food, I hadn't thought about changing their water bowl but will try that too, hopefully it will help!

 

[WandaMare]

One thing to watch with the cone is that the bowl sizes are smaller than the circumference of the cone, I know it sounds obvious but some of the struggle to get water if the level is low and the cone gets in the way. A small tumbler glass of water works well.

 

[Rosemary28]

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Bellasophia]

What meds are you putting on the chin..?
I would gently shave the area( 2mm shave). Dab betadine on the area for two days..then use a powder antibiotic eg strepto mycin..keep it dry,let it scab again..don’t keep wetting it,apart from the betadine initially

 

[Rosemary28]

Hibiscrub at the moment, it does seem to be helping until she scratches the scabs off

 

[Bellasophia]

Hibiscrub is doing a similar job to betadine..If you can follow up with a powderAntibiotic you should see a big improvement.. Get it dry next ..and the scabs wil reform and dropaway..
my friends elderly male dog had an awful wet bacterial infection around his undertail...this treatment really sorted him..

 

[Keith_Beef]

Putting boxing gloves on children was an old fashioned way to stop scratching ... I'm sure you could find a set of four cat-sized gloves on eBay. Make sure you get the lace-up kind, not the velcro kind.

 

[Rosemary28]

Well, we put the collar on and she got it off, OH is a big softy and doesn't want to scare her... so we'll try again tonight when I get in from work...

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

We have a soft 'polo-mint' padded collar for dogs, rather than a cone, which they seem to tolerate better, perhaps you could find one for your cat. OH will have to develop a 'got to be cruel to be kind' attitude - does he really want her to get an infection in the chin?

 

[Rosemary28]

She has OH wrapped around her little finger (or would if she had fingers)... I am firmly in the cruel to be kind camp. If she really won't tolerate the cone I shall try and get one of those collars you mention, I have seen them around,

 

[Rosemary28]

The cone is on, and she is not impressed! She won’t talk to us, just lies there crying! My main concern is that she doesn’t seem to have l eaten or drunk anything since we put it on last night.

 

[Rosemary28]

Lily isn’t sure about Ida wearing the cone either...