Flaky cat, flaky cat, it's not your fault!
December 4, 2010 6:19 PM Subscribe
Kitty Filter: White flakes are not helping my calico's black spots.
My feline lady friend has some pretty intractable dandruff, especially now that it's winter and the skin of all of the mammals in the house is drier. She's a calico [obligatory pic] and it's especially bad on her black spots (maybe the skin is drier? Maybe the dandruff just doesn't show up on the white fur? Dunno.).
We brush her very regularly. Other things we have tried: bathing her with feline dry-skin shampoo (that went about as you would expect. We did several rounds of it until we noticed that it honestly wasn't helping the dandruff and was really only serving to traumatize the cat, to say nothing of the humans involved), bathing her with no-water feline shampoo (helps a little, but not much), and feeding her extra fancy speshul Science Diet Sensitive Skin food (which we still do because as far as we can tell, it helps and the cats seem to enjoy the food well enough). She gets wet food on occasion as well and seems to prefer the tuna varieties.
I've searched previous questions and someone indicated that fish oil might help, though I am open to all suggestions. If I do try fish oil, how much should I put in with her food? Do I need to buy feline safe fish oil or can I get the kind in a bottle that's targeted for the human demographic?
(It doesn't seem to bug her as much as it bugs me. Cat dandruff on my leggings isn't really the look I'm going for.)
My feline lady friend has some pretty intractable dandruff, especially now that it's winter and the skin of all of the mammals in the house is drier. She's a calico [obligatory pic] and it's especially bad on her black spots (maybe the skin is drier? Maybe the dandruff just doesn't show up on the white fur? Dunno.).
We brush her very regularly. Other things we have tried: bathing her with feline dry-skin shampoo (that went about as you would expect. We did several rounds of it until we noticed that it honestly wasn't helping the dandruff and was really only serving to traumatize the cat, to say nothing of the humans involved), bathing her with no-water feline shampoo (helps a little, but not much), and feeding her extra fancy speshul Science Diet Sensitive Skin food (which we still do because as far as we can tell, it helps and the cats seem to enjoy the food well enough). She gets wet food on occasion as well and seems to prefer the tuna varieties.
I've searched previous questions and someone indicated that fish oil might help, though I am open to all suggestions. If I do try fish oil, how much should I put in with her food? Do I need to buy feline safe fish oil or can I get the kind in a bottle that's targeted for the human demographic?
(It doesn't seem to bug her as much as it bugs me. Cat dandruff on my leggings isn't really the look I'm going for.)
Best answer: Could you put a humidifier in the room she stays in the most? It may make it more comfortable for you in the winter too, if you're experiencing dry skin.
I don't know if you have to have a feline fish oil, but if you do, I have some by Ascenta I can send you that my cat won't take. His dose (for something else entirely) was supposed to be 1-2ml a day, either mixed in wet food or dropped directly into his mouth (yeah right). If you would like it, feel free to MeMail.
posted by dayintoday at 6:30 PM on December 4, 2010
I don't know if you have to have a feline fish oil, but if you do, I have some by Ascenta I can send you that my cat won't take. His dose (for something else entirely) was supposed to be 1-2ml a day, either mixed in wet food or dropped directly into his mouth (yeah right). If you would like it, feel free to MeMail.
posted by dayintoday at 6:30 PM on December 4, 2010
Response by poster: She drinks plenty of water, AFAIK. We've tried humidifiers... but... our apartment is kind of loft-style esque with redonkulously high ceilings and the poor things just kind of give up and die. Short of an industrial strength humidifier, that experiment has failed for all mammals in the house.
posted by sonika at 6:35 PM on December 4, 2010
posted by sonika at 6:35 PM on December 4, 2010
Have you taken your cat to a dermatologist? It could be a number of issues including food allergies, or even stress. If your cat's dandruff bothers you that much, take it in to a vet specialist.
posted by TheBones at 6:41 PM on December 4, 2010
posted by TheBones at 6:41 PM on December 4, 2010
Re how to administer fish oil--my vet suggested just feeding the cat sardines every now and then. I haven't tried it yet, though.
posted by phoenixy at 7:19 PM on December 4, 2010
posted by phoenixy at 7:19 PM on December 4, 2010
We tried adding the contents of 1-2 regular people fish oil tablets to our cat's food, which she refused to eat. Then we put the same amount in a separate dish and she went to town on it. Seems to really help her skin and reduce hair balls. Give it a try!
posted by deadcrow at 7:40 PM on December 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by deadcrow at 7:40 PM on December 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Seconding sardines in oil, once a week. Mash 'em up into a paste (including the oil) and she'll practically inhale them and then love you forever (well, for ten minutes anyway, until her next nap wipes her memory of ever liking you, being a cat and all).
posted by essexjan at 1:21 AM on December 5, 2010
posted by essexjan at 1:21 AM on December 5, 2010
I bought a feline skin and coat supplement that was a liquid. My cat didn't like the smell when poured directly on food as directed. So each week I'd add some of the liquid to a bag of dry food and shake it up til it was all coated. Then let it dry. The oil soaked in and the smell went away, so my cat ate the food and got the benefit of the supplement. It was fairly helpful at reducing the dandruff and itchy skin problem she was having (she's a calico too). We only stopped because she's on a diet and the oil adds calories to the diet. Anything with a bit of garlic in it is more likely to be accepted.
posted by gilsonal at 2:13 AM on December 5, 2010
posted by gilsonal at 2:13 AM on December 5, 2010
Um, how much does kitteh weigh? Our girl had what seemed like intractable dandruff and it was because she was too fat to properly wash her own back. We asked the vet, actually, and this was his diagnosis, not just our observation of her "Tafty-ness."
We tried adding oil to her diet (she likes olive oil) and it didn't make any difference. Neither did oily tuna or oily anything else. The only thing that worked was using cat bath wipes, because an actual bath was just too traumatic (bonus, you can warm those up in the microwave) and ultimately, getting her to lose weight.
posted by Medieval Maven at 7:00 AM on December 5, 2010
We tried adding oil to her diet (she likes olive oil) and it didn't make any difference. Neither did oily tuna or oily anything else. The only thing that worked was using cat bath wipes, because an actual bath was just too traumatic (bonus, you can warm those up in the microwave) and ultimately, getting her to lose weight.
posted by Medieval Maven at 7:00 AM on December 5, 2010
Please don't feed garlic to your cat, it's poisonous to them!
Ok, I had stop by and say that, now onto the topic. I've used human-grade salmon oil supplements for my cats. I figure that generally animal-grade = low quality when it comes to foods, so probably the same is true for supplements. Wet food diets are best for skin and coat, and hydration but it can be a challenge to maintain weight for indoor-only cats on wet food. Raw eggs as a regular supplement do amazing things for coat, not sure if that helps skin too?
posted by Joh at 7:12 AM on December 5, 2010
Ok, I had stop by and say that, now onto the topic. I've used human-grade salmon oil supplements for my cats. I figure that generally animal-grade = low quality when it comes to foods, so probably the same is true for supplements. Wet food diets are best for skin and coat, and hydration but it can be a challenge to maintain weight for indoor-only cats on wet food. Raw eggs as a regular supplement do amazing things for coat, not sure if that helps skin too?
posted by Joh at 7:12 AM on December 5, 2010
Response by poster: Um, how much does kitteh weigh? Our girl had what seemed like intractable dandruff and it was because she was too fat to properly wash her own back.
Kitteh is a fat lard. I don't know how much she weighs *exactly,* but enough that she's commonly referred to as "Fatty," "Fatness" or "The Fat One." Visitors comment on her girth. She's a chunk. I wouldn't be surprised if this was part of the problem being that we've had to invest in cat wipes for, um, dingleberry issues.
(And yes, I'd obviously love to slim the cat down - problem is our second cat has perfect skin and weighs a whopping four and a half pounds. I'm not woman enough to try and put one cat on a diet while somehow keeping the other one from starving itself to nothingness.)
posted by sonika at 7:24 AM on December 5, 2010
Kitteh is a fat lard. I don't know how much she weighs *exactly,* but enough that she's commonly referred to as "Fatty," "Fatness" or "The Fat One." Visitors comment on her girth. She's a chunk. I wouldn't be surprised if this was part of the problem being that we've had to invest in cat wipes for, um, dingleberry issues.
(And yes, I'd obviously love to slim the cat down - problem is our second cat has perfect skin and weighs a whopping four and a half pounds. I'm not woman enough to try and put one cat on a diet while somehow keeping the other one from starving itself to nothingness.)
posted by sonika at 7:24 AM on December 5, 2010
Have you taken her to the vet recently? My cat had bad teeth, which made her mouth hurt too much to properly clean herself. (Or it could have been stress from the pain.) After she had the bad teeth taken out, she began grooming herself regularly and the dandruff totally went away.
posted by hooray at 8:03 AM on December 5, 2010
posted by hooray at 8:03 AM on December 5, 2010
You can buy salmon oil in a pump dispenser at the pet store or online.
Hooray's comment just reminded me that one of our cats stopped excessively grooming after she had teeth removed, and that also made her dandruff stop. I never made the link before, but maybe Calico Chunklet might need a dental checkup.
posted by vickyverky at 12:05 PM on December 5, 2010
Hooray's comment just reminded me that one of our cats stopped excessively grooming after she had teeth removed, and that also made her dandruff stop. I never made the link before, but maybe Calico Chunklet might need a dental checkup.
posted by vickyverky at 12:05 PM on December 5, 2010
Response by poster: Update: We got the fish oil from dayintoday (yay!) and the kitties... really love it. Weirdos. We put a little bit on their wet food and they go to town. So, yay for that. Between that and her regular brushings, kitty's fur is much softer (though she was already *very* soft to begin with) and her skin seems to be flaking less.
Also: we did manage to get a humidifier that works in our bedroom. We haven't had it long enough for me to tell if it's making a difference for the *cat* but it is helping my husband's winter related headaches, so that's a bonus.
posted by sonika at 1:47 PM on December 12, 2010
Also: we did manage to get a humidifier that works in our bedroom. We haven't had it long enough for me to tell if it's making a difference for the *cat* but it is helping my husband's winter related headaches, so that's a bonus.
posted by sonika at 1:47 PM on December 12, 2010
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posted by sugarfish at 6:28 PM on December 4, 2010