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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / June 2004Kitty skin condition question
Hi. Last December we adopted Callie, a three year old female DSH from the local animal services people. She had been in their care for about three months. The vet said she was healthy and she certainly seems to be to us. Until now, we have never noticed any skin flakes (looks like dandruff) while petting or brushing her. We like to brush her every few days with a soft hair brush whether she needs it or not and she likes it too. Lately we have begun to see what looks like dead skin flakes in her fur as we pet or brush her. The temperature is warmer now and she is definitely shedding more. Is this flaking normal or should we be doing something to help alleviate this? She is not in any discomfort that we can see. Food is dry only, she just sniffs at wet, at least the last time we tried it with her. She gets a 50/50 mix of Science Diet (currently Adult Light) and Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Adult. TIA for any thoughts on this one. Rolf.  SignatureTo email, remove 'garbage' from address. > Hi. Last December we adopted Callie, a three year old female DSH from the > local animal services people. She had been in their care for about three [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Rolf. Why not pick up the phone, call your vet and pop the question? > > Hi. Last December we adopted Callie, a three year old female DSH from the > > local animal services people. She had been in their care for about three [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > Why not pick up the phone, call your vet and pop the question? Good point WumpyGirl! A little more background will clear it up I think. I should have included this information in my OP, but didn't want to make it too long. Callie is our third cat. Suzzie was our first and was with us for 15 years. She exhibited the same slightly flaky skin that Callie is showing now. Over the years I had asked two different vets about it and they both showed minimal concern. Suzzie was healthy and happy and the vets thought it was a non-issue. At this point I am mainly interested in any advice I can get from all you experienced cat people about this. There is a wealth of information here as I found out when I started to read this group when Suzzie got sick late last year. Rolf. SignatureTo email, remove 'garbage' from address. > > > Hi. Last December we adopted Callie, a three year old female DSH from > the [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > > Rolf. The problem could be diet related. Perhaps she's not getting enough fatty acids. You could try adding a small amount of sunflower or flax seed oil to her diet. 1/4 of a teaspoon per day. circa Wed, 9 Jun 2004 19:34:27 -0400, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, WumpyGirl (WumpyGirl@y--a--h--o--o.c--o--m) said, > The problem could be diet related. Perhaps she's not getting enough fatty > acids. You could try adding a small amount of sunflower or flax seed oil to > her diet. 1/4 of a teaspoon per day. For cats with kidney problems, however, flax seed oil is contraindicated, IIRC. I know I read something about it somewhere, but I'll be darned if I can remember what it was that was bad about giving it to cats with CRF. Anyway, I know this doesn't apply here since the cat in question is a kitten, but I thought I'd mention it. :-) Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > circa Wed, 9 Jun 2004 19:34:27 -0400, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, > WumpyGirl (WumpyGirl@y--a--h--o--o.c--o--m) said, [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Laura Definitely worthy of mention as well as the omega-3 fish oil suggestion you posted as well. The OP might also want to look into the ingredients of the food that's being offered. After reading the ingredients in Science Diet Adult, I'd consider ditching that one and try something else. Something that contains more meat than vegetation, seeing as cats are carnivores and all. Perhaps something like Wellness Super5Mix Adult? In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.health+behav", "WumpyGirl" Jun 2004: > Perhaps something > like Wellness Super5Mix Adult? There is flax in that too. I feed my former feral a 50-50 mix of SD Sensitive Skin and Wellness Super5Mix Adult Lite. (both dry, she won't eat canned). It did nothing to help during the winter but now that it isn't as dry (humidity) she is flake-free but still keeping on the pounds she gained from just the SD SS alone. Rather than any skin-type treatment foods I'd rather give her a supplement but I can't pill her. She's incredibly healthy on this diet but it's hard to keep her on it because she tends to graze. If her food is left out, Shadow will find it even if I vary with where I leave it and I can't feed her in the kitchen. I've been giving in too much with Shadow and dry food but he is so f'n picky and I'd rather he eat something and I don't want to make his time left a battle of foods. He loves the SD dry foods but it really f'ks with his tummy. SignatureCheryl >From: "WumpyGirl" WumpyGirl@y--a--h--o--o.c--o--m >The OP might also want to look into the ingredients of the food that's being >offered. After reading the ingredients in Science Diet Adult, I'd consider >ditching that one and try something else. Something that contains more meat >than vegetation, seeing as cats are carnivores and all. Perhaps something >like Wellness Super5Mix Adult? You're going to be let astray if the only thing you are concerned about is the label on a bag. You should be more concerned with nutrient levels. Nutro and Wellness are both extremely high in calcium and phosphorus when compared with Science Diet. As for the fatty acid suggestion put forth earlier, Science Diet has very, very high levels of Omega Fatty Acids, not to mention the highest levels of antioxidants of any pet food on the market. Again, playing "the ingredient game" is not the same as looking at actual nutrition. Nutrition is something a lot of pet owners profess to be concerned with, but are then fooled by pet food companies who are selling "the ingredient game" on their labels. can cats get hot spots?My friend has a cat with what looks like a skin abrasion.She has'nt taken him to a vet yet,but the spot is small & i may dog had something similar looking a year ago >Hi. Last December we adopted Callie, a three year old female DSH from the >local animal services people. She had been in their care for about three [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > >Rolf. If you are concerned speak to your vet. My kitty sometimes has this and yes, it looks exactly like dandruff. I've asked the vet about it in the past but he seems unconcerned as she is healthy and her skin is fine. He was of the opinion that this often occurs when cats are mainly indoors due to central heating and I do think I see it more in her fur in the winter. What sort of fur does you cat have? I wondered if it's more noticable on my cat as she has very thick medium length fur which seems to shed all year round! Lindsey > >Hi. Last December we adopted Callie, a three year old female DSH from the > >local animal services people. She had been in their care for about three [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > If you are concerned speak to your vet. Good point! I have already answered the same statement from WumpyGirl. In doing that I included some more information that I should have put into my first post. Here is what I typed: <Callie is our third cat. Suzzie was our first and was with us for 15 years. She exhibited the same slightly flaky skin that Callie is showing now. Over the years I had asked two different vets about it and they both showed minimal concern. Suzzie was healthy and happy and the vets thought it was a non-issue. At this point I am mainly interested in any advice I can get from all you experienced cat people about this. There is a wealth of information here as I found out when I started to read this group when Suzzie got sick last year.> > My kitty sometimes has this and yes, it looks exactly like dandruff. > I've asked the vet about it in the past but he seems unconcerned as > she is healthy and her skin is fine. He was of the opinion that this > often occurs when cats are mainly indoors due to central heating and I > do think I see it more in her fur in the winter. Just like my past experience with the vet. Your experience is a bit different from mine though in that you seem to see it more in the winter and we are just starting to see it now in the summer when the humidity is higher. Of course Callie has only been with us since December. You know, I really don't care about anything but Callie's happiness. If this is something that does not bother her I will be perfectly OK with it. Just thought I would get some opinions here before ignoring it like the vets thought was appropriate with Suzzie. > What sort of fur does you cat have? I wondered if it's more noticable > on my cat as she has very thick medium length fur which seems to shed > all year round! Well, Suzzie's fur was longer than Callie's is, like the length I think of when you describe your cat. I consider Suzzie's to be medium and Callie's to be short. Suzzie had flakes all the time after about her fifth year and Callie is just starting now. Rolf. SignatureTo email, remove 'garbage' from address. circa Wed, 9 Jun 2004 16:24:53 -0400, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, rolf (rolf3i@sympatico.garbage.ca) said, > > My kitty sometimes has this and yes, it looks exactly like dandruff. > > I've asked the vet about it in the past but he seems unconcerned as [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > thought I would get some opinions here before ignoring it like the vets > thought was appropriate with Suzzie. Okay, here's my two cents on the matter... I've seen this in my cats in the past. However, since I switched them to a mostly canned diet instead of a mostly dry diet, I've not seen it in any of them. Does your cat eat wet food, or dry? Have you tried adding a little omega-3 fish oil to her food? Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde <snip> > Okay, here's my two cents on the matter... > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Laura Thanks Laura and everyone else who responded to my post. Callie has been on a dry only diet consisting of a 50/50 mix of Science Diet (currently Adult Light) and Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Adult. When we first adopted her she would not eat wet food and we have not tried to switch her since. I do not worry about it too much as she does drink quite a bit a water every day. I mix foods because I think it can only help the overall nutrition picture. I mean, every cat food made claims to be a complete food, yet they are all different. My theory is that mixing two different 'complete' foods can only be better than feeding one. I have just searched for and read quite a few pages on omega-3 fish oil supplements and am pretty sure that is what I will try with Callie. She is 3 1/2 years old, no renal problems or any other health issues. I will probably start with only part of the recommended dose, give it time and see how it goes. Rolf. SignatureTo email, remove 'garbage' from address. circa Thu, 10 Jun 2004 18:01:55 -0400, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, rolf (rolf3i@sympatico.garbage.ca) said, > I have just searched for and read quite a few pages on omega-3 fish oil > supplements and am pretty sure that is what I will try with Callie. She is 3 > 1/2 years old, no renal problems or any other health issues. I will probably > start with only part of the recommended dose, give it time and see how it > goes. Please let us know if it helps. Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde |
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