What to do about dandruff?

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Christi Conley - 04 Dec 2004 01:12 GMT

Hi all!
Spike, who will be ten in February, has a serious case of
dandruff - when I took him to the vet he said there was nothing
medically wrong. He has always had some, but it seems worse
to me - it doesn't seem to bother him. He is fixed & an indoor
only cat. Is there anything I can do to help his coat and/or
skin?

Thanks & Blessings to you & yours!

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Christi
Art Without Anxiety
www.ArtWithoutAnxiety.com

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Wayne Boatwright - 04 Dec 2004 03:12 GMT

"Christi Conley" <WickedOne9@worldnet.att.net> wrote in news:O98sd.87246
$7i4.63181@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:

> Hi all!
> Spike, who will be ten in February, has a serious case of
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Thanks & Blessings to you & yours!

There are moisturizing shampoos for cats. There may also be dandruff
shampoos for them. Check at Petsmart.

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Wayne in Phoenix

*If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.
*A mind is a terrible thing to lose.

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Judy - 04 Dec 2004 05:36 GMT

> Hi all!
> Spike, who will be ten in February, has a serious case of
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Thanks & Blessings to you & yours!

Did your vet not offer any suggestions? Such as offering a high quality diet
or the addition of Omega 3 fish oils? Or a visit to a feline dermatologist?

Judy

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Mike Rhino - 04 Dec 2004 05:48 GMT

> Hi all!
> Spike, who will be ten in February, has a serious case of
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> only cat. Is there anything I can do to help his coat and/or
> skin?

I don't know about cats, but with humans, a dirty brush can contribute to
dandruff.

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Christi Conley - 04 Dec 2004 19:22 GMT

To answer the answers I got:
To Wayne - What are you crazy? You seriously think I am
gonna try to wash this cat??? LOL Maybe I'll take him to
a groomer - I still have scars on my arm from the last vet
visit - : ) Thanks for the suggestion, I honestly didn't think of
that : )
To Judy - nope - no recommendations - the cats are on a very
high quality dry food, I have it special ordered and mailed to
me, and they love 9Lives wet food - I split one can in the AM
between the 4 of them, and again in the PM - I was thinking
that perhaps he doesn't drink enough water. . .I am going to
post another ? about those fountain thingies you can buy
to entice the cats to drink...
To Mike - I don't think the brush is dirty, but I'll give it a good
washing anyway, maybe it will make a difference... Thanks!

I would still love some ideas - any supplements that would
help, but not "hurt" the other cats?

: )

Christi
Art Without Anxiety
www.ArtWithoutAnxiety.com

>^,,^< >^,,^< >^,,^< >^,,^<

>> Hi all!
>> Spike, who will be ten in February, has a serious case of
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> I don't know about cats, but with humans, a dirty brush can contribute to
> dandruff.

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Aquarijen - 06 Dec 2004 19:59 GMT

You don't wash your cat? Is he/she short hair?
I was going to say that I have a shampoo called "Chlorhexiderm" that I use
on my himalayan, Alex, who also gets dandruff. I bathe him every month or so
and it keeps the dandruff under control. I got it from the vet.
There are things you can get to help with bathing your cat - bathing bags
and such... My cats have gotten used to baths - they are all long hair, so
they didn't really have a choice... They just sit there in the tub with a
pissed off expression until I am done. They don't try to jump out or
anything.
I am, however, unable to shave a cat. Since the cats all have very long
hair, I like to get them shaved once a year or so in order to grow out new
coats and I have never been able to do that myself. The clippers scare
them.
-Jen

> To answer the answers I got:
> To Wayne - What are you crazy? You seriously think I am
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
>> I don't know about cats, but with humans, a dirty brush can contribute to
>> dandruff.

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The Wedding Planner - 08 Dec 2004 07:14 GMT

> You don't wash your cat? Is he/she short hair?
> I was going to say that I have a shampoo called "Chlorhexiderm" that I use
[quoted text clipped - 48 lines]
>>>I don't know about cats, but with humans, a dirty brush can contribute to
>>>dandruff.

I have a black cat who had a serious dandruff problem. I think it may
be related to the fact that he only eats dry food (my other 2 eat canned
food and they didn't have the dandruff problem). Anyway, I bought this
stuff from Fosters & Smith called Miracle Coat. It is primarily used as
a shed reducer, but it also improves the coat. You spray it on your
hand then rub it on your cat against the growth of the fur. You have to
be vigilant about it though--everyday for 3 weeks and then 2 times a
week after that. It hasn't been 3 weeks yet, but he looks so much
better and his fur feel softer too.

My vet also recommended putting some mineral oil on his food, but it's
hard to do that with dry food (especially since my other 2 eat the dry
food too, and I don't think they would go near it with the oil on it.

Good luck!

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M.C. Mullen - 08 Dec 2004 16:13 GMT

| I have a black cat who had a serious dandruff problem. I think it may
| be related to the fact that he only eats dry food (my other 2 eat canned
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
|
| Good luck!

That just proves to me that a mix of dry (teeth) and wet (kidneys, skin)
food is the best.
What exactly is mineral oil?
Wouldn't good unsaturated oil not just do the job as well?

Carola

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Leslie - 09 Dec 2004 03:20 GMT

Omega fatty acids

"you can tell alot
about a people or person in how they treat animals"

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Christi Conley - 09 Dec 2004 14:59 GMT

All four of my cats are shorthair indoor cats -
no, I don't bathe them. If I had started when they
were kittens, but I didn't - I don't think they'd be too
happy with me now. I have been brushing the hell
out of Spike's coat and it seems to be helping the
dandruff a little bit (he eats both wet & dry food -
and like I said in my original post, it doesn't seem
to bother him at all). Also, considering 3 out of the
4 don't even like to be picked up, I don't think bathing
them is a good idea. And, I don't see any reason
to bathe them - they do fine grooming themselves.

Growing up we had a long haired "mutt" cat and
she couldn't groom herself very well at all - we would
take her to be shaved once a year to get the matts
off of her. Because she went outside (back then,
it seems ALL animals went outside) she'd get all
kinds of stuff caught in her hair - the poor thing -
my mom would try to cut some of the clumps off
of her, but she always ended up getting shaved
& looking like a cross between a mini lion & a
poodle...

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Christi
Art Without Anxiety
www.ArtWithoutAnxiety.com

>^,,^< >^,,^< >^,,^< >^,,^<

> You don't wash your cat? Is he/she short hair?
> I was going to say that I have a shampoo called "Chlorhexiderm" that I use
[quoted text clipped - 48 lines]
>>> to
>>> dandruff.

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rpl - 09 Dec 2004 22:18 GMT

> All four of my cats are shorthair indoor cats -
> no, I don't bathe them. If I had started when they
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> & looking like a cross between a mini lion & a
> poodle...

One of my "girls" (the one with the longest coat of course) is having a
real bad-hair day after she got a bunch of brambles stuck in her fur and
I cut them out.

Have you considered that the "dandruff" is actually scabs from little
punctures (one of the males awhile back had that... I thought it was an
infestation, but it turned out all the girls were picking on him rather
sharply... pun intended)

pat

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KLR - 07 Dec 2004 00:57 GMT

>Hi all!
>Spike, who will be ten in February, has a serious case of
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
>Thanks & Blessings to you & yours!

I find that regular (3 monthly or so)baths tend to help. Use a decent
cat shampoo and wash them in the tub, and try and rub/massage it
thoroughly into their coat, and wash it all out properly.
Quite a bit of dirt comes out in the water (and probably a lot of
loose dandruff too). I try to avoid washing the front of their head
so as to avoid getting any shampoo etc in eyes/nose/mouth, but the
hair is usually very short there anyway,

With the longhair I have this washing is necessary to avoid the musty
smell in the coat, I dont find it to be as necessary on my shorthaired
russian blue though but I still do both of them at the same time.

I dont know about human anti-dandruff shampoos such as "selsun blue"
and whether they should be used or not on a cat

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Gary Stone - 07 Dec 2004 02:35 GMT

In addition to all the other suggestions, Humidifier.

Stone

> Hi all!
> Spike, who will be ten in February, has a serious case of
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> Thanks & Blessings to you & yours!
>>^,,^< >^,,^< >^,,^< >^,,^<

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