Cat Acne help

Hi....I live in Canberra, Australia and am seeking some help.

I have a beautiful 18 month old tabby girl (Molly) and she has cat acne on her chin. Both of my cats developed this and I did all that is suggested - change of bowl, discard all plastic vessels (as they can carry the bacteria) and used the prescribed vet cream on both. My other cat - the handsome 6 year old Max is fine and his chin cleared up well however Molly's did not respond that well to the treatment and has not cleared up.

Has anyone else had to treat cat acne and have you any suggestions.

Thanks in advance

Molly and Max's mum....

 

My Bailey has a bas case of shin acne. Acne is infect of hair follicles. I originally tried daily cleaning with a chlorahexidine shin solution but that did not have much effect. I used since since I had some. My vet said I should use an iodine solution such as Betadine. That worked better but the acne still persisted. Next was to poke the infected follicles with a needle and squeeze out the black infected stuff and continue the daily cleaning with Betadine. That treatment seems to be clearing up the acne. Be aware the the poking and squeezing is a bloody process. Also, the chin should be shaved very short such as with a number 40 clipper blade. Some cases require use of an oral antibiotic. However, that did not seem to help Bailey's acne. He was on the antibiotic (Baytril) because of a infection around his eye due to an eye treatment.

 

OK, so you changed bowls. What are you using now?

I found that glass or metal works best, even paper plates.

It does take a while to clear up, in the meantime, you can use a mild shampoo or soap (like baby shampoo) and clean it daily with a warm wet cloth.

 

When Jolly got really bad chin acne I too switched her food bowl from plastic to a ceramic plate. This seemed to help a little, but then got a really bad bout of acne just not too long ago. I then switched again to a "Stainless Steal" bowl and her acne has all cleared up.

 

Pearl has been having trouble with this. Aside from the things above I have had great success with warm epsom salts compresses. I guess that draws the infection out. That with gentle cleaning with something like the hibiclens (chlorohexadine solution) diluted and rinsed off might be helpful to you. Honestly when she gets them now I right away do at least a couple of times a day the epsom salt compress. They disappear in two days. I put probably 2 tablespoons in maybe a cup of pretty hot water and dip a clean washcloth in it. Then I hold it against the area for as long as she will let me.

 

Thankyou very much everybody......we did switch to stainless steel bowls for everything and I guess it hasnt gotten worse....just not better!!!!

Thankyou so much for all your treatment idea's - will be starting her on one today.

Max and Molly's mum

 

My old vet had me use stridex pads. They are for human acne and contain benzoyle-peroxide. I would wipe his chin with the cloth and then use a wet wash cloth to wipe it off really fast so he didn't lick it and ingest any of it. This would clear Beeker's acne up in a couple of days and any time I would see the signs of it coming back I'd do it before it got inflamed again. I'd had other vets give me other treatments and done the bowl switch as well, and this is the only thing that ever worked for us.

 

Hello, I am new here -( Nancy and Buster sent me here , Mum of Kyle and Teddy - photos to come. Kyle used to have chin acne also, my vet also recommended Stridex pads and they worked wonders. Kyle rarely has any acne these days.

 

When Pablo had a HORRIBLE flare-up of acne/inflammation on his chin last month, he was to the point of open, bleeding lesions. Luckily, his chin cleared up with antibiotics alone, but the vet suggested allergy testing if it hadn't. She said that the cats she sees with unresolving acne often have an undetected allergy. Stridex pads, creams, etc. would only be treating the symptoms, not the root cause, if it were related to an allergy. Just a thought.

Here's hoping it clears on its own!