Feline Acne: What You May Not Know About Symptoms, Prevention

A longtime client contacted me recently to cat sit Minnie and Mickey.  The client indicated Minnie had something going on around his chin.  Minnie had red open sores on his chin. She googled and discovered it was feline acne, a condition she wasn’t aware of previously.orange and white cat light grey background discussing feline acne

Acne is no fun for anyone, whether animal or human. So…what is feline acne and what can we do about it? Read on…

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Causes

The exact cause is unknown. Factors associated with the development of feline acne include stress, a compromised immune system and poor grooming habits. Presence of other diseases or skin conditions that cause abnormally oily skin is another potential cause..

Characteristics

Feline acne is primarily found on cat’s chin and lips. The chin appears “dirty.” The acne is referred to as “comedones” and can develop into small abscesses, which can then break open and form crusts. In severe instances, draining tracts, hair loss and swelling may present on the chin.

Further, this may irritate the cat and he/she may begin to scratch at it, causing trauma and potentially secondary bacterial infections. This condition may appear just once in the life of a cat; it may come and go; or, it can remain for the life of the cat. It can occur in all breeds of cats, at any age and in both males and females.

Your veterinarian can diagnose feline acne via a skin scraping. A biopsyIs occasionally performed to rule out other conditions.

Treatment And Preventative Steps

Feline acne can be controlled, but not 100% cured. Your veterinarian may prescribe, among other courses of treatment, a topical antibiotic or special shampoo.

He may also prescribe a short course of corticosteroids if there is a large amount if inflammation. In Minnie’s case, there were a few weeks of treatment with an antibiotic cream to finally clear his skin.

It can also be helpful to change out your cat’s food and water dishes to stainless steel or glass, and wash them often.  Plastic dishes can harbor bacteria, which can be a contributing factor to the acne.

Wider feeding dishes with lower sides such as the Dr Catsby’s Food Bowl, originally designed to help with whisker fatigue, also help prevent occurences of feline acne. Another option is the PetKit Elevated Bowl Set

Also, be sure to clean your cat’s chin on a regular basis if he/she is prone to feline acne and if he/she has poor grooming habits.

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Written by Karen

Karen

Karen is Publisher of Fully Feline. She also owns a pet care business in Overland Park, KS called Joy of Living.

16 Responses to "Feline Acne: What You May Not Know About Symptoms, Prevention"

    1. When my cat Bo had it several years ago, the vet suggested using the Stridex medicated pads to clean his chin so it wouldn’t come back

  1. Thanks for sharing that interesting post. I’ve never heard of feline acne, and none of my cats have ever had it, but it’s good to be aware when I next get the chance to adopt another cat.

    1. I first learned about it several years ago, my cat Bo had it. Recently, one of my cat clients had a bad case of it. Took a few weeks for it to start healing

      1. Ah, now I’ve learned something, wasn’t aware of dog acne, except as I noted in earlier comments. So is it mainly around mouth/chin or can it be anywhere?

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