Line of Demarcation?

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jmcquown - 08 Mar 2006 20:43 GMT

Persia was in my lap while I was typing early this morning. I noticed she
had some dandruff by the base of her tail so I gave her a good scritching
along her spinal cord and promised her I'd brush her later while saying
"kitty scritches!". She loves that! (I also promised myself I'd rub her
down with one of those bath cloths.)

I've had this girl for 4 years. I can't believe I've never noticed this
before! While I was scritching her back I noticed she has an obvious line
of demarcation just after her front legs end. Above there, the fur is nice
and smooth and even if you ruffle it backwards, it lays back flat. Right
behind this "line" (which you can see if the light is right), if you ruffle
the fur backwards it stays standing up. It's thicker and feels more 'oily',
if that makes any sense. And it stays standing up unless you smooth it
down. It's past this line she gets the dandruff, although it's mostly right
above her tail.

Her fur is all the same shade so I really had no idea there was this
difference in her fur. When stroked downward it all feels the same and
looks the same; silky soft. The light just happened to catch it right this
morning when she was in my lap; that's how I noticed it. What's up with
this?

Jill

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badwilson - 09 Mar 2006 04:43 GMT

> Persia was in my lap while I was typing early this morning. I
> noticed she had some dandruff by the base of her tail so I gave her a
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> Jill

I used to have a big black cat named Nicky when I was a kid. He had the
same thing, the fur on his back half was much oilier and he used to get
dandruff at the base of his tail too.
Vino never gets it, he's very rabbitty in his fur. It's super fine and
floofy and with a twitch of his skin, he can arrange it all perfectly
after a heavy petting session :-)

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Britta
Purring is an automatic safety valve device for dealing with happiness
overflow.
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album

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Marina - 09 Mar 2006 05:14 GMT

> I've had this girl for 4 years. I can't believe I've never noticed this
> before! While I was scritching her back I noticed she has an obvious line
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> down. It's past this line she gets the dandruff, although it's mostly right
> above her tail.

I think there's a condition where cats get dandruff around their tail,
but IIRC it's supposed to affect only male cats. It's not
life-threatening, but you might want to mention it to the vet.

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Sandy - 09 Mar 2006 05:52 GMT

>> I've had this girl for 4 years. I can't believe I've never noticed this
>> before! While I was scritching her back I noticed she has an obvious
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> IIRC it's supposed to affect only male cats. It's not life-threatening,
> but you might want to mention it to the vet.

Are you thinking of "stud tail"? I just googled it, and it says it's not
necessarily sex-related. They compare it to adult-onset acne in humans.

Sandy

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Marina - 09 Mar 2006 06:02 GMT

>>>I've had this girl for 4 years. I can't believe I've never noticed this
>>>before! While I was scritching her back I noticed she has an obvious
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> Sandy

Yes, that's it. I suppose the 'stud' in the name of the condition had me
thinking it only affected males. ;o)

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Yowie - 09 Mar 2006 10:15 GMT

> Persia was in my lap while I was typing early this morning. I noticed she
> had some dandruff by the base of her tail so I gave her a good scritching
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> morning when she was in my lap; that's how I noticed it. What's up with
> this?

Shmogg has one too. I used to think it was from the time when I first got
him that he chewed his fur off up to that line[1] and that his fur never
grew back quite as well as the 'original' fur. I now wonder if its something
else.

Yowie
[1] he is allergic to fleas and I had *no clue* about what to do about
fleas, as the only other cat I knew at that point in time never seemed to be
bothered by fleas. I now know better.

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