Expert: Karen Craft - 9/24/2009

Question
I have a 8 year old Himalayan the recently started getting this like coffee looking material around the edge of lips and hair.  Which began creeping on chin and some on upper edge of lips but worse on lower.  
The vet put him on steroids and said may be food allergy that we should use the pre-digested protien food.  I wanted to first try the steroids and change his food which was wellness canned foods.  I switched to EVO beef.  He totally cleared until I started to reduce the steroids. So now I put him on EVO duck.  The vet said he could be reacting to chicken or fish since that is the most common item in most cat food.  I have kept him off all but the EVO as I said.  
I did see on line the dirty face syndrome that persian get.  It is very much like he was starting to develop.
This did not start until after I had him to the vet for what they called rodent ulcer and chin acne.
The vet did not call his new problem the dirty face but I found that information on line.
What do you know about it in his breed and the food allergies or pre-digested foods.

Answer
Hi Janice,

Here is a good link about cat foods. http://catinfo.org/index.htm
This will give you some real good info on what to feed him.  If this is idiopathic Persian facial dermatitis then there is no real cure. There are ways to control it though.

Feed him out of Correlle dishes or stainless steel ones. A neutral material seems to help. Make sure the dishes are washed everyday. Wash his face everyday. Use a flea comb to get rid of the stuff.
I've heard that Neem Extract works to keep attacks at bay. You can get it here. http://www.neemtreefarms.com/green-neem-leaf-extract-p-131.html
Don't use the oil as it can cause some side effects. The extract is ok. Rub it on the affected areas then wipe clean with a dry cloth.

Keep am eye on him for any secondary facial infections. See how these steps work out. Hopefully his attacks of this will be few and far between. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen