Small bumps (like pimples) under my cat's chin

2 days ago I was petting my cat and noticed something under her chin. At first i thought it was some sort of hair knot, but yesterday I noticed she was scratching that area a lot so I took a close look but couldn't SEE anything wrong.
But by touching that area under her chin I can now feel like 4 or 5 small bumps the size of a big pimple. I took a flashlight thinking maybe I would see some ticks (even though it wouldn't make sens since we live in an apartment), but no, it looks like normal skin except for one spot that has a little scab (more like dandruff) close to the bump. I dont know if that scab was self inflicted by my cat since she keeps scratching that area, of maybe it's part of the problem?
I had one Frontline combo pipette left so I applied the product between her neck and shoulder, but even though she seems to be scratching a little less today, the bumps (pimples?) are still there!

We live on the 4th floor of a building so she never goes outside. She does go on the balcony though...

Anyone has any idea what it could be?

 

Do you have pictures of it?

 

No and I dont think it's gonna be possible. The bumps are too small, they'd be blurred by my cheap camera. Also, 4 of the 5 bumps are completely "invisible": you can only feel them by touching, but the skin and hair that covers the bumps look completely normal. It's like something is UNDER the skin.

Oh and the Frontline product is not working, it's been 24 hours since I applied it, and my cat is back to scratching her "under-chin" every 5 minutes!
Poor her it looks so disturbing :sad:

 

I was thinking it was feline acne, but that normally doesn't itch that much,

But feline acne is one possibílity.


Another possibility is staphylococcus infection http://felinediseases.weebly.com/staphylococcus.html

Simba had that and also got a big lump under his chin, and when taken fine needle sample from it and the pus, it turned out to be a staphylococcus infection there too.

 

It's probably not staphylococcus infection cuz the pictures show red scabs. My cat has just one tiny "scab" out of her 5 bumps and it's like a pale brown "flake" not really a scab. I'm almost certain I could easily remove it just by scratching it a little... but I wont do that, I'm too afraid to make things worse. Otherwise, like I said, all the other "pimples" are invisible! You really cant see them!

I saw pictures of feline acne and it cant be it. Cuz again, acne is red or dark brown and cats who have acne seem to lose hair in the affected area.

I'm starting to worry it could be small internal cysts. But do they appear like that, all of a sudden and 5 at the same time?

 

Chin acne is classically black dirt or bumps, however, my cat Conor used to get chin acne as well as infected hair follicles that would look just like a human pimple and were not black. Sometimes they would start out very small and suddenly- like overnight- get huge and infected and would have to get antibiotics. Sometimes if I caught it early enough washing it with pyoben product (shampoo or gel) would help, or more basically, diluted isopropyl /rubbing alcohol, or diluted hydrogen peroxide.

 

You can easily check if chin acne.

My Shadoe had bumps like pimples and vet took one look.... acne.

In about a week, cleared up with wiping her chin, I shaved it, with Scope on little makeup remover pads. I personally thought the vet was nuts but he's always done well for my guys, so I picked up a little travel sized bottle of green Scope.
Shadoe was not amused but morn and night I wiped her chin and the bumps cleared right up and have not come back..... Scope's alot cheaper to try than expensive vet meds, so give it a try.

 

Funny that you talk about using Scope. My great-grandma swore on Listerine - she gave me some to remove the planter's wart that I had on my thumb. Put Listerine on it twice a day and it was gone in a couple of weeks. I grew back about 10 years later, but geez!

My Midora used to get acne. some people say it has to do with eating out of plastic bowl. I later got her ceramic bowls and a raised feeder, but I can't remember if she stopped haveing acne because of that. Midora was an indoor cat. I used to use peroxide to clean up her chin when she got some of that black acne.

 

I have to rule out plastic bowls and even in her auto feeder, I put small glass bowls inside each section. I used on plastic and not even metal for any foods or water.

Shadoe had just the one big flareup with about a half dozen bumps that did get bigger and had started as just lumps under the skin, so I think I would be inclined to shave the chin area and wash the bumps area with Scope or Listerine or something similar.

 

I just came back from work (I worked very late tonight), and my cat looks even worse :sad:
I just noticed she might be losing hair on her ears and now she keeps scratching that area under her chin, but also her neck and her ears... but like ALL THE TIME. From the pictures I have seen it doesn't look like acne at all (not crusty nor red). It might not be what I thought earlier either (cysts) cuz I read that by touching the affected area the bumps would not move. But the ones she has really "follows the skin".
I have no idea what is happening and i guess I'll spend my day off (monday) at the vet. Geez, just when everything was starting to get better. I hope it's not too serious (like tumors).

 

Shadoe's bumps were not red and crusty, and they cleared with the scope.

for the scratching, ...
http://www.fabcats.org/owners/fleas/itchy_cat.html

 

You might try using Betadyne on it. My cat has has acne for quite a while (hers mostly looked like black flakes, but did get inflamed, bumpy and sometimes bled). The only thing that has done any good....and I have tried a LOT of different things, has been Betadyne. We used it when she had ringworm (which could explain the hair loss you are seeing) also. if her ears are losing hair, I would think it more likely that it could be ringworm rather than acne.

 

She doesn't eat in a plastic bowl, and never has, it's one of those cats and dogs typical stainless steel bowl

I read about ringworm, that one of the way to diagnose it, is to use a black light... the parasite should appears as fluorescent. This is one of the rare thing I can do on my own to atleast eliminate one possibility.

So Im on my way to buy a light bulb !

Scope? Betadyne? diluted isopropyl ? alcohol? diluted hydrogen peroxide? I'm not very comfortable just testing irritating products on my cat if i'm not 100% sure it CANT make things worse for any skin disease...

 

Only some of the strains of ringworm are florescent. If it is florescent is is ringworm. If it is not it still could be ringworm.

 

My cat Skipper had those, and it was feline acne. The vet prescribed using Stridex pads on his chin once a day. He had it for about 2 months, then it was gone. They said it was very common. Good luck!

 

yes, my vet did not hesitate in saying acne and he also said it's extremely common.

 

Well of course it just had to be ambiguous! I saw pictures on google showing what glowing ringworms look like under a black light, but my cat's doesn't look like this. Her ears (that are starting to lose hair) don't glow at all. Under her chin the bumps are not fluorescent either, but the tiny crusts that are standing on the hair follicule do glow a little.

I guess it could still be ringworm! Maybe the ears hairlost could be du to the (kind) of polysporin I'm applying on her ears becuz of the bg testing, and then ringworms or something else on her throat...?

Now I have no choice but to go to a vet Monday or Tuesday! I found a vet specialized in dermathology.I might wait one more day to see that specialist!

I hope it's nothing too serious, or something like allergies that will take months and lots of money to find out the specific allergen

 

Back from the vet...
He says that it is not ringworm nor mange or fleas. He clipped her hair under the chin and scrapped the crusts with a blade. Tomorrow afternoon the analysis of that hair and crust will be done and he'll tell me what it is. In the meantime he gave me a shampoo to disinfect her skin (Clorexyderm 4%) and Skingel made of zinc oxide to sooth the inflammation. No matter what it is she has to stop scratching her skin cuz it gets worse everyday!

Fingers crossed until tomorrow!

 

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2 1677&aid=2258

Um, please make sure your cat cant lick any of the zinc oxide off, and make sure other pets dont lick it off. If i were you I would ask for a different cream. If the purpose was to stop itching I am sure there are others that are not going to cause toxicity /stomach irritation if ingested.

 

Good point from Lisa. Shadoe did try some licking at the Scope so odds are your cat will also be licking that zinc oxide off.

 

First of all, thanks for the warning about zinc oxide. Now that her neck is almost completely shaved I can clearly see the little bumps and she doesn't seem to be able to reach that area with her tongue. I put a very small amount of that gel, and only on the bumps so it's fairly easy to control.

I just spoke to the vet.. deception! His analysis is not conclusive enough for me! But I couldn't say that in front of him cuz I still want to give him a chance (I dont know him yet!) and maybe in the end his treatment will work and I'll understand that he did well.

Here's what he told me after looking at the crusts and hair under the microscope. He saw:
- a lot a dead skin cells
- no parasite
- a lot of broken hair (broken in all 3 "stages of the skin": anagen, catagen and telogen)
- almost no new (young) hair
- no inflammation

Conclusion : he saw aging skin and hair! He also said that an allergy was not excluded and asked me if it would be possible to switch her food! What a great coincidence! I received the new cans of food TODAY ans started to feed her with that 95% pure chicken food (4% zucchini, carrots and broccoli). If the cause of her skin disease is food allergy, then the timing is just great! But if it's something else, he said he'd take a deeper skin sample to eliminate other possibilities.
But he doesn't want to give her anti-inflammatory pills or go any further unless the shampoo and cream he gave me dont show any improvement within the next 2 weeks. But if it seems to get worse (more bumps, crusts or if she seems to be itching more frequently), I have to call him and he'll check right away.

In other words, he seems to have opted for the softest possible treatment and wants to eliminate possibilities before going any further. Maybe i'm wrong to be so impatient about the verdict, but I have to admit I really was hoping he'd tell me EXACTLY what's going on!

 

Anyone knows if it's possible for a cat to develop food allergies SYMPTOMS as late as one month after he has started eating new food?
I'm thinking.. if it's food allergies it sound kind of late for allergies symptoms. I switched my cat's food more then a month ago and never noticed any skin problems before.

 

Hi. I know this is several years old but my cat is having exactly what you are describing. It isn't acne and I don't know what it is. Did you ever solve this?

 

I do you know that?

https://icatcare.org/advice/cat-health/feline-acne-and-stud-tail
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16515656

 

With my cat, it's a food allergy symptom (and does actually take a while to appear after exposure), and it eventually spreads from his chin to the top of his head and around his neck. It's very itchy for him. If I comb him with a flea comb, little white scabs come off--it's very hard to see directly on his skin. Feline miliary dermatitis: http://www.cat-world.com.au/miliary-dermatitis-in-cats . The only treatments seemed to be steroids (to reduce itching and inflammation) and avoiding the allergen--in my cat's case, chicken--and steroids are of course not good for our diabetic kitties!