Cat Acne Treatment and Causes

Acne is a stubborn skin condition that can affect your cats that often just looks like your cat has a dirty chin. This may be worrisome, but don’t stress too much! While this skin condition may be painful if it’s severe, acne in cats is usually harmless. Feline acne shouldn’t impact your cat’s general health or cause any severe complications.³

Feline acne can either be an isolated case or a chronic condition. Chronic acne is often more severe and requires more aggressive treatment. Either way, give your cat’s skin the attention it deserves and help alleviate the condition. Read on to learn more about cat chin acne, what causes it, and how to get rid of cat acne.

What Causes Acne in Cats?

Chin acne can affect cats of all breeds, ages, and sexes. There are a few different causes that feline chin acne is associated with. However, there’s not a lot of research surrounding the skin condition and its exact source. A few factors that may contribute to cat acne:

• Plastic water and food dishes are more likely to irritate your cat’s chin area than other materials, like glass or stainless steel. The irregular and porous surface of plastic traps bacteria. When your cat goes to eat or drink, their chin may rub against the plastic and cause irritation and infection.²
• Some cats may produce excess keratin or have hyperactive sebaceous glands. An overabundance of keratin or sebum (oil) can become trapped under the skin, which clogs the hair follicles to create blackheads or other pustules.^3,5
• Poor grooming habits³
• A weak immune system or an auto-immune disease³
• Stress and hormones^4,5
• Allergies may cause swelling and skin irritation that turns into chin acne.³

What Does Cat Acne Look Like?

Cat acne appears on the chin and occasionally around the lip area. Symptoms of cat acne often go overlooked because they can look like your cat just has a dirty chin. This appearance of “dirt” is actually the acne or scabbing on their skin. If your cat’s chin looks red, bumpy, or off in any way, take a closer look for some of these specific skin concerns.^4,5

Cat acne may appear as the following:³

• Small bumps (comedones)
• Blackheads, whiteheads
• Scabbing
• Hair loss
• Redness
• Lesions

Diagnosing Feline Acne

If you’re seeing any symptoms of feline acne on your kitty, you may want to take them to the veterinarian. There, a specialist will look at their skin, as well as review any medical history they may have.

Sometimes acne doesn’t look as expected. In these cases, a vet may recommend dental X-rays, blood, urine, and sensitivity tests. They may also take skin cultures to make sure it’s not tooth rot, cancer, or an immunity condition. On top of that, they might also diagnose or rule out a fungal infection.⁴ However, many cases of feline acne are straightforward to identify, diagnose, and treat.

Cat Acne Treatment

Treating your cat’s acne will depend on the severity of it, but usually pet owners have a few options. Talk to your vet to see what’s best for your cat. Most treatment options are topical, but for severe cases, you can use oral medications or injections prescribed by your vet.

Cleaning your cat’s face and fur with medicated shampoos or wipes is a great option for mild cases of acne or to help maintain healthy skin. Benzoyl peroxide or anti-seborrheic cleansers will flush out the hair follicles and start to heal the affected area. Prescription topical antibiotics and ointments can help reduce and heal your cat’s chin acne. For more severe infections, your vet may recommend giving your pet steroid injections or oral antibiotics for a short time.⁴

To alleviate pain or swollen chin acne, you can apply warm compresses to your cat’s face. The warmth will help reduce the swelling and may make your cat more comfortable.³

Preventing Feline Acne

While there’s no foolproof method to prevent all cat chin acne, there are a handful of ways to minimize most cases. Once you’ve healed your cat’s initial breakout, keeping up with healthy grooming practices can help prevent the acne from recurring, or at least not flare up as badly.

Swapping out your cat’s plastic water and food bowls to glass or stainless steel is a great first step, as cats that eat and drink from plastic bowls are typically more likely to get acne. Studies have also shown that adding omega-3 fatty acids to your cat’s diet may help improve skin health.³

Improving your cat’s hygiene is another great way to promote healthy skin. If your cat isn’t grooming themself well, you can use wipes or wash the affected area. Keeping the fur around their face short and well-groomed will also help.

How Cat Insurance Can Help

Diagnosing feline acne generally takes a trip to a vet for some diagnostic tests. Your vet may prescribe a medicated wash, topical or oral antibiotics, and/or possibly steroids. All the testing and treatment costs can add up, which is where pet insurance coverage comes in.

Cat insurance could help cover your cat’s prescription medications, diagnostic testing, and more.² At MetLife Pet Insurance, winner of the “Pet Insurance of the Year” Award, we’re committed to helping you keep your pets happy and healthy, whether that means learning all there is to know about your pets or protecting them with an insurance policy.^1,7 Get your free quote today!