Ragdoll Cat Forums

I believe that Nicky has an advanced case of feline acne or has developed a terrible allergy. Anyone else familiar with such a condition? I have never before had a cat with this. He has an appointment Monday morning with our vet, but I'm wondering if there is anything that I can do for him in the meantime. It is swollen and he doesn't like me to mess with it much; it obviously hurts him....

I noticed in passing a couple of weeks ago that his chin looked a tad dirty, but didn't pay any more attention to it. When I took a look last Monday, I noticed a bloody scab. My immediate reaction was to think that Cassie Blue bit him, but then the next day the bloody scab had 'gotten bigger' and spread. I never catch him scratching it, so I don't know that it's particularly itchy.

They eat and drink only out of ceramic platter bowls, so I'm not sure what could be causing this. Could it be from stress? Poor Nicky has been in such a fragile state-of-being ever since Cassie came to our home. They seem to get along fine, but maybe he's internalizing his displeasure? He was introduced to Wellness canned food about 6 weeks ago, and has been taking Cosequin for the past couple of months for joint pain. Could this condition be due to an allergic reaction to the new food or supplement? There is also a new blanket in the house that he likes to lie on... is it possible that the blanket could be contributing to this condition?

Oh wow, it does look like he has a bad case of it. Will probably need antibiotics. If he'll let you, you might try putting a warm compress on it, that may help in the meantime.

I'm sure your vet will be able to help you -- and hopefully he'll also let you know that if you're using ceramic or plastic feeding or water dishes that if you switch to stainless it will help. It seems that many cases of acne are caused where bacteria gets down into the plastic or ceramic and then when they eat their chin kind of rubs against it. This is one place that they can't clean themselves real well either which tends to cause the acne from my understanding.

I use stainless - I have about 10 little stainless dishes so I can keep changing them out and cleaning them, and still Samantha is prone to chin acne. I have to use a warm wash cloth and scrub her chin at least once a week to keep it under control.

Thanks for your reply Teresa! I'll have to see what I can find at the store tomorrow that is stainless to feed them on. I couldn't find anything against ceramic when I did an internet search, only plastic, and I wash the platters in the dishwasher after EVERY meal, so I can't imagine that's what is causing this, but I'll try anything to try to prevent this from ever happening again. I don't think that Nicky will mind me washing his chin after his meals in the future after this has healed, but right now he doesn't like me messing with it too much (I can't say that I blame him). I am able to dab his chin with a warm dishcloth after his canned food meals, but not for very long. I hate the idea of having to go on a 10-day course of antibiotics, but I'm guessing that's what we will be told on Monday....

Do you know if this condition can also be due to an allergic reaction?

I'm sorry, I don't know if it can be caused by an allergic reaction - maybe someone else has the answer to that, or else I'm sure your vet will. I hope it all gets healed up soon, I know it must be painful for him.

The photo of poor Nicky's chin, does look a lot like the sores that our Toulouse got, when he had a bad reaction to the floor cleaner. We clean our carpets about once a week, and was using a pet enzyme formula. We had been using it about a month, maybe 6 weeks, and noted that Toulouse had started scratching, the scratching started turning into fur loss, raised scabs, and in one particular area, that was well hidden by hair, a very raw area.
We took him to the vet, Toulouse got a predinose shot to help with the itching and the inflammation. He was also given antibiotics to prevent any infections.
We have since switched carpet cleaners, and he is now fine again. His coat is coming back beautiful again, and he is just happier, which is what we hoped for.
Teresa, great information!!

I can't say it would be an allergy, but wanted to share what our experience has been. Toulouse is known for chin acne, but it is very minor, and not constant. Toulouse also didn't develop allergies until around age 7, I think.

Let us know how Nicky is doing.

Purrs,
Stormi

I was re-thinking the bowl situation. Not too long ago, I went to a bigger size bowl for the cats' dry food, as I read somewhere that some cats are annoyed at having their whiskers touch the sides of bowls while eating. I went to a bigger bowl, but typically put very little food in it because our Boston Terrier on occasion will jump up on the desk and eat their food if we don't remember to close the door while she is running around the house. Anyway, I'm wondering if the food gets pushed around too much in the larger bowl while Nicky is attempting to get it into his mouth and maybe he's rubbing his chin on the bowl at the same time? Switching back to the smaller bowl right now....

Hmmm, interesting thought.....

The more I think about it, I think the large dry food bowl is the culprit. I'm certain he must be dragging his chin along while trying to get the pieces in his mouth. I also tended to not wash the bowl out, but just kept refilling it.

I went to WalMart today to check out what they had in stainless, but then found these oval ceramic platter type of bowls instead with a very short raised edge to them. I have something similar in pyrex that I've been using to feed the cats their canned food, but am going to use these oval platters for their dry food as well (and will switch them out every time that I am running the dishwasher so that hopefully this won't happen again!).

I've been dabbing Nicky's chin after he eats his wet food, as he can get quite messy. He isn't very happy with me at all right now. I'm afraid he's just going to be more angry after tomorrow's vet appt. Hopefully once we get through this, he won't mind me cleaning him up when he is finished eating. Wish us luck for tomorrow's appt.

What did the vet say about his chin???

Thanks for asking Teresa!

Yep! It's feline acne. Could be stress related, could be bowl related, could be an allergy... can't be sure of the actual cause, but can treat the symptoms. Anyway, he's on 10 days of antibiotics, both oral and topical, as well as an anti-inflammatory. Epsom salt compresses have also been recommended. It's looking better already, but my poor Nicky seems to be withdrawing.