Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: fluffybunny on October 20, 2010, 21:24:01 PM
-
*waves*
Geoffrey has always been quite a heavy 'chinner', giving all the walls, our legs, laptops, and virtually anything at chin height a good old rub whenever he passes.
But recently it seems to have got worse, to the point that he has rubbed all the fur off and is now actually making his chin bleed through chinning things so much :Crazy: I have plugged in a feliway to see if that helps, but I just wondered if anyone has any other ideas??
Thanks!
-
according to the behaviourist that came round during C4 , chin rubbing was a sign of a contented cat.
If its excessive, might is be some sort of skin problem? has he been checked by a vet?
-
Hmmm...now you've said that I've had a looky on google and it looks as if it could be acne caused by overactive sebaceous glands. It's nowhere near as bad as most of the photos on google images but does look similar to some of the pics. I was wondering if the excess chinning was maybe to do with new cats a couple of doors up (although they have been there since May) but perhaps it's completely unrelated.
Milly needs to go back to the vets for an arthritis check up anyway so it sounds as if I should take Geoffrey too. Thanks!
-
Lukey chin rubs anything that doesn't move! I just googled it and the first link I looked at came back with info about feline acne possible being linked. Let us know how he gets on at the vets :hug:
-
I think I've worked it out, I could kick myself! Having done some reading about feline acne I started to wonder about what has changed that means that after 11 years he has suddenly developed this. And what had changed? I had recently bought new food bowls, replacing their old jobbies with 'posh paws' bowls. They are a lovely gentle curved shaped so there are no corners for food to get stuck in. This also means that Geoffrey has been wiping his chin in all the ick up the side of the bowl while he eats. The solution? Swap to a saucer, and his chin is looking much better already :Crazy:
-
Well we're nearly a month into the antibiotics and things are looking much better :wow: The vet did warn me that it sometimes takes several weeks for these to clear up, but it's really getting there.
Yesterday I also watched Geoffrey climb right into the toilet bowl to drink from it :sick: He had all four feet balanced inside the bowl slurping away :sick: I have never seen him do it before (and we have now started religiously putting the loo seat down!) so I'm wondering if this is a factor as well as (or maybe instead of?) the bowl. Yeurgh. Did I mention :sick: ?
-
I always add a dash of water to wet cat food as my gang like it 'soupy' and I feel it is good for the kidneys. Paddy gets all the goo on his white chin and had developed acne - or rodent ulcer- on his chin. Both these conditions can have a fungal element and can re-occur if a cat is prone or their immune system is lowered. I wash his chin daily now with a weak solution of Hibiscrub and Citricidal, using a soft cheap toothbrush. It has cleared up completely and No vet visit or drugs needed.
-
How confusing, a rodent ulcer in a human is a different 'beast' to a rodent ulcer in a feline. :Crazy:
-
Rodent ulcers are different to feline acne, it is actually a type of cancer
-
http://www.vetbase.co.uk/information/rodent-ulcer.php
Rodent ulcer in cats is indeed very different from in humans.
Paddy is diabetic, and an old boy, so steroids are a complete no-no...and I am not too keen on using ABX without good reason...so the wash method has worked well for us ( and the vet is pleasantly surprised )