Question:
Hey guys,

This is more of a curiosity thing than anything else...

Dart has black specks under his chin and ONLY under his chin. They aren't anywhere else and seem sort of stuck to his hair. He's had this for a while (couple months) and it doesn't seem to bother him. The only time it bothers him is when I (or Becky) go to take a look and I think its more that we're making him "vulnerable" than an anything else.

It doesn't seem to be fleas since its been winter and cold up here and they aren't scratching insanely or anything. We've run him over with a very fine toothed comb (almost like a flea comb but came in my dollar store hair comb set) and other than the massive amounts of hair he's shedding its come up with nothing. Of course I haven't "officially" checked to make sure it isn't fleas but since nothing's come up in his fur elsewhere I figure fleas tend not to stick to one area of the body.

Now I googled about this and one site said it could be the cat version of "blackheads" or "acne." Does this actually happen to cats? (http://en.allexperts.com/q/Cats-1606...nder-mouth.htm)

Megan

Answer:
Roland has that too!!! doesnt seem to bother him but he does like me to scrach there. hes had it since i got him. ive been wondering what it is too, id be interested to hear any ideas!

Answer:
Yup, that's acne. In cats, it's actually a bacterial infection rather than just an oily skin condition.

The vet has given us chlorhexadine solution to wash our cat's chin with daily until the acne infection is gone. Disinfect the area and then apply an antibiotic ointment.

Left unattended, acne can get to the point of large crusting sores and require oral antibiotics.

Our cats never had acne until about a year ago at age 10 but since then Gus has had a terrible time with it, made worse by his lack of cooperation with treatment.

Natalie

Answer:
Yes, lots of cats get this 'feline acne'. I am not sure, but it may help to switch the type of food bowl from which he eats (no plastic).

Answer:
I'll have to tell my roommate about this later then. She's going to need to buy him a new food dish/water dish since she's leaving at the end of the month anyways.

Megan

Answer:
Wow, ya all of mine have had that. We took them in and it has since cleared up. It was the plastic dishes I was using, including the Cat-It fountain for water. Washing the area is good, although with kitties sometimes impossible, and I found that Buddy's is kind of ongoing so a few times a week I comb gently under his chin with a flea comb to keep it from getting too gunky.

My babies now drink out of a crystal bowl and eat out of our good glass ones. And boy do I get looks about the crystal bowl!

Answer:
Pubert had that too, it's feline acne. We changed his dishes and kept the stress level down. His popped up around the time our our wedding, too much company (with kids) for too long, once everyone left, and we changed his dishes, it got better. If you google it, you can see how bad and out of control it can get! I am surprised that they have not returned since we got the pooch?

Answer: