I thought it was feline acne but now im not so sure! Any thoughts ??

[yardyard431]

Hello ! My name is Karlee and I was hoping someone might be able to help me figure out what is going on with my fur babies. So in my house , I have a LOT of fur babies. I currently have 3 big dogs, 9 cats and probably around 6 aquariums.
The other day I noticed one of my older cats, Mallory (she's around 9 or 10 yrs old) had what looked like a bunch of dirt on her chin. I used to work in a vet clinic and had seen something similar in the past so I automatically thought it was feline acne. I took a warm cloth and gently cleaned up her chin and didn't think much of it. Mallory is kind of a 'unique' cat (unique as in a little special, lights are on but nobodies home , haha) who spends a lot of time in the bathroom always drinking from the bathroom sink so I always keep the tap running a little bit for her, and she's never really been very good at grooming herself. She's also very terrified of pretty much everything and all the other cats except my 2 oldest ones that usually help groom her. About a day goes by and I noticed the dirt look had noticeably spread to her cheeks and I could see it from across the room. About half an hour later I noticed the same thing on my siamese cat skinny bum only hers looked way worse. It was bumpy and it looked like her fur was pretty much all fallen out on her chin and it looked quite irritated and scabby. I started checking all the other cats in the house and I noticed my oldest male had something going on with his chin only it looked different. It was a few larger bumps with missing fur . Another day goes by really starting to think this couldn't be acne because what are the odds that almost ALL of the cats are suddenly all getting feline acne at the same time because If I remember correctly, it isn't contagious, is it ? Anyways , I started looking around online but couldn't quite find anything that matched these symptoms. Last night , skinnybum comes into My bedroom and her chin looks awful . All covered in scabs so I grabbed a flashlight and pulled her close to inspect it (maybe it could be visible fleas or something) and I was kind of rubbing some of the dried blood and scabs that were loose off and I could tell it was very painful and as soon as any loose scabs came off, it started bleeding profusely! And I wasn't picking the scabs off they were just loose dry blood and it just started bleeding so much which really concerns me. I find it weird because not ALL of my cats have it, and each one of my cats chins look different but there is definitely something going on and obviously it's going to be expensive to take them all in to the vet so I'm wondering if anyone else has any ideas of what this might be ??
Another thing that maybe something to consider is my cats often like drinking out of my aquariums (not sure if that matters or not .I'm going to see if I can get some pictures and attach them as well. I added photos of 3 different cats of mine.

 

[backwoodsvet]

This is just a guess on my part, but consider you may be dealing with feline herpes, FHV-1.....just consider...........

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I don't think you have much choice but to take at least one of these cats to the vet - and you can send pics of each of their chins to the vet too. It would seem to me that there might be a good chance it is from them drinking from the aquarium, but it is hard to say. If you've made any changes to how you treat/clean the aquariums, that could explain why it is just showing up now. Or if they go outside, it could be something out there that they are getting into - some recent yard treatment that is irritating their skin, for example.

Nonetheless, they need treated to get rid of whatever it is. The vet might want to take a skin scraping for analysis, Hopefully, they will allow you to treat all the same based on what they see with the one cat you take in to see them. Whether or not all their chins look alike, I am sure the vet would think they all have the same thing.

 

[DeesCats]

I wouldn't think drinking out of your aquariums would be an issue UNLESS you are adding fertilizers or other chemicals. My cats drink out of my aquariums sometimes and haven't had any issues as I don't add anything but water during water changes. If your tanks have plastic trim, be sure there isn't any residue on the trim, just keep it clean.

I agree with FeebysOwner to have the vet check out at least one of the cats to see what it is.

Meanwhile, are you using plastic or metal food/water bowls? How often are you cleaning any food/water bowls?

 

[Biomehanika]

Going to reiterate the questions from DeesCats here… what are their food/water bowls made of and how often are they cleaned? Have you switched dish washing detergent/soap recently? The location of the scabs/irritation/hair loss being on their chins/around their mouths makes me think it definitely has something to do with that… maybe it started out as mild feline acne and has gotten somewhat infected and erupted due to the material of the bowls or cleanliness…or a mix of both… with 9 cats and 3 dogs that is a lot of mouth germs going around with different microbiomes being spread and shared, some cats may be more sensitive than others to this sort of thing, which is why not all are affected.

I agree with everyone saying you definitely need to get at least one cat into the vet… ideally the most affected one, and hopefully the vet can give you something to help all affected cats at home. In the meantime though I would be replacing plastic dishes if you use those and seriously ramping up the cleaning of all pet dishes.

 

[Caspers Human]

It looks like feline acne, to me, but it also looks like it's getting inflamed. Either the cat has been scratching herself and aggravating the problem or it's progressed to the point of inflammation.

Either way, a visit to the vet is in order, IMO. As others say, the cat with the "main" problem, definitely. Then consult with the vet about any others that seem to have problems, as well.

I also agree that, keeping the cats' food and water dishes as clean as possible is important. You should also try to wipe their faces and chins with a warm, wet cloth after they eat if they'll let you.

 

[backwoodsvet]

Y yardyard431 , I just had my neighbor lady take a look at you photos, she has been around cats a lot longer than I have, she said it certainly looks like chin acne to her and she only had to look at a couple pic's to say that.......she said that someone needs to clean food/water bowls real well and after I told her that these cats are also allowed to drink out of fish tank, she made a funny face at me, I know what that means, so maybe better close the lid on that tank too...............

 

[maggie101]

Y yardyard431 my cat had feline acne and was given antibiotics i now only use stainless steel bowls and wah after every use. Take at least one of your cats,the worst affected, to the vet before it gets worse. Longer you wait more it will cost.

 

[yardyard431]

OK, that's definitely the plan then ! Thank you everyone for your advice/input.
And for bowls, I have these bowls that are supposed to be like antibacterial bowls with all these weird grooves and such for cats that like to eat too quickly because my one kitty is a little glutton and over eats too quickly causing him to puke and I pay $130 for a bad of urinary s/o because my other kitty has a history of urinary issues so I have to get it from my vet and it isn't cheap. But the bowls said antibacterial and what not and as for water bowls I use all glass or stainless steel but I'm going to look online for more stainless steel ones because i don't want to risk the lives of my furbabies what so ever. I know it sounds silly that I have that many cats, but it was never my intention to accumulate so many . I'm trying to remove one at the moment but because of 'cat crisis' were having at the SPCA here, it's made it extremely difficult for me to find homes for them and I'm not the kind of person that abandons animals and that's how I ended up with so many... people like to abandon them with Me which is totally unfair. If anyone has any information of programs or anything where I can find some homes for a couple of these sweethearts, it would be greatly appreciated. I live in edmonton. I love my cats and I want to see them healthy and happy first and foremost and when their health is being jeopardized because I have too many, then that's where I've got to makes some serious changes especially considering the fact that 4 of them are now 'senior citizens' of my household. Ive booked an appointment with my vet for tomorrow morning !
TYIA.

 

[maggie101]

OK, that's definitely the plan then ! Thank you everyone for your advice/input.
And for bowls, I have these bowls that are supposed to be like antibacterial bowls with all these weird grooves and such for cats that like to eat too quickly because my one kitty is a little glutton and over eats too quickly causing him to puke and I pay $130 for a bad of urinary s/o because my other kitty has a history of urinary issues so I have to get it from my vet and it isn't cheap. But the bowls said antibacterial and what not and as for water bowls I use all glass or stainless steel but I'm going to look online for more stainless steel ones because i don't want to risk the lives of my furbabies what so ever. I know it sounds silly that I have that many cats, but it was never my intention to accumulate so many . I'm trying to remove one at the moment but because of 'cat crisis' were having at the SPCA here, it's made it extremely difficult for me to find homes for them and I'm not the kind of person that abandons animals and that's how I ended up with so many... people like to abandon them with Me which is totally unfair. If anyone has any information of programs or anything where I can find some homes for a couple of these sweethearts, it would be greatly appreciated. I live in edmonton. I love my cats and I want to see them healthy and happy first and foremost and when their health is being jeopardized because I have too many, then that's where I've got to makes some serious changes especially considering the fact that 4 of them are now 'senior citizens' of my household. Ive booked an appointment with my vet for tomorrow morning !
TYIA.

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