Beware of Feline Acne and Strays

Cat lovers have such huge hearts when it comes to their little feline friends that they know no boundaries when it comes to taking in strays. A good friend of mine, Lisa, has two beautiful, family cats that are very well taken care of. They are indoor cats and have regular checkups with their vet. Recently, Lisa welcomed a stray cat into her home who introduced feline acne to her other two cats and it has wreaked havoc on her home as well as her checkbook.

Lisa happened to find this stray cat wondering around her neighborhood and recently she has noticed that the fast traveling cars have been claiming a lot of animal victims. So when she came upon this stray cat, she couldn't bear the idea of finding the cat amongst those victims of the traffic. Little did she know, the poor cat had feline acne and she brought the skin condition home with her stray.

Lisa did however, managed to keep the stray kitty in a separate area. The cat stayed in the basement in its own section of the home that was not typically visited by the other cats. Within a month, the stray kitty had a new home and Lisa advised the new owner to take the stray into the vet as he had what looked like flea dirt under the cat's chin.

Ringworm or Demodecosis: Worse Than Feline Acne?

Once the new cat was out of the house, Lisa let her cats roam freely throughout the house and into the area that the stray cat had stayed. She soon found the same black spots on her cats. She got in contact with the stray cat's owner to warn him and to her surprise; he said he did not think that the stray cat had feline acne and he had decided to skip the vet all together.

Lisa's nightmare continued. The feline acne seemed to be getting worse. They definitely did not have fleas. The house had been bombed and the cats were given their flea medication on a regular basis. She wondered if it really was a case of feline acne because the cats were itching like crazy.

Lisa decided that it was time to take the kitties to the vet and she learned that there are two other conditions that look like feline acne. The first is ringworm and the cats definitely did not have ringworm. Demodecosis is the other condition that mimics feline acne and this, unfortunately was the culprit.

Feline acne is treatable with topical ointments but demodecosis (which is contagious among cats) is treated with a nasty lime sulfur dip that is just as painful for the owner as it is uncomfortable for the cat. It took two biopsies and a few thousand dollars to take care of the situation. Hopefully, the stray was given treatment eventually as well.