Expert: Karen Craft - 8/21/2011

Question
Hi there.  One of my cats has, to all appearances, the same type of acne humans get. This isn't the usual feline acne description I've heard - no black dots - but rather the same type of pimple you'd see on human skin. Starts under the skin, slight swelling, then a whitehead appears, and then, if it isn't "popped", it eventually comes out on its own (in a very painful looking way). When it does come out, it's a piece of white waxy residue - just like a human pimple.

My vet didn't seem to be overly bothered by this description, and told me it is, indeed, feline acne, but I wondered if you'd seen anything like this? The most frustrating thing is that it happens no matter what food he's on, or what material the bowl is (ceramic vs plastic), so I have no idea what's causing it, but it is definitely happening more now. Since he's now 11, it's kind of worrying me....

Thanks!

Answer
Hi Grace,

Feline acne usually looks like black specks under a cats chin. This doesn't sound like that. Did your vet examine your cat? Or did he just diagnose by proxy? If he hasn't seen your cat then a visit to him is warranted. It could be a different type of skin disease. However the waxy substance that comes out does sound like feline acne. Just to be sure get him checked out.  

If your vet doesn't help you can try a few things hat might clear it up. First you will have to clean his face daily. There are a bunch of home recipes that you can find on the web for this. You can use stuff from hydrogen peroxide to just baby wipes. The biggest thing is just clean the area. A lot of times the out breaks are caused by bacteria. Keeping his face clean keeps those buggers down. Next, change his diet.  What he eats affects him. Here is a great link that explains a lot about cat foods and what your cat needs. I would switch him over to an all wet food diet. And if he already is eating this then a low or no grain food.

http://catinfo.org/

This should help improve his out put of the sebum. Don't give him any petroleum based hairball medicine. This could cause his reaction. And just out of curiosity, has anything changed lately in your or his life? Stress can also contribute to this. Hopefully something here helps you and your cat. Good luck and take care.

Ciao, Karen