Cat question

[askye]

My cat is old and she has dandruff on her back, especially near her tail. Is there anything I can do about it?

Comments

[imkalena.livejournal.com]

Not that I know of. The girl cat had dandruff too. But if we ever asked the vet about it, I don't remember what he said . . . I suppose it's always good to make sure she's getting enough oils in her diet.

[fabby.livejournal.com]

Well, my cat didn't have dandruff, but she used to bite herself raw. I never saw a flea and she was an indoor cat. The vet told me to use Advantage. I resisted as I knew she didn't have fleas. Finally I tried it. The skin thing cleared right up. You might want to try it...

[vwbug.livejournal.com]

Bastet has dandruff. Emily adds a little vegatable oil to her food. That seems to help.

[askye.livejournal.com]

I'm going to try that and see if she'll eat her food, she has a tendancy to be picky.

[vwbug.livejournal.com]

Bastet didn't even seem to notice. Hopefully it'll be the same for you...and work too. Good luck!

[bonibaru.livejournal.com]

Mostly when you see coat issues like that, it's dietary. Flaxseed oil is great for the coat. But having to supplement means that the food she's getting isn't nutritionally sound in the first place. What do you feed her?

Is she overweight or arthritic? When cats get like that back by their tail it usually means they can't reach around to groom themselves back there. You could get a glove/mitt type soft brush to groom her yourself for a few minutes every day. Sometimes an over-buildup of the natural oils on the hair and skin that they would normally groom away, can clog things up and, paradoxically, make them flaky. If she's not having trouble with self-grooming then it's definitely dietary. I find Nutro brand to be a great dry food for coat health.

[askye.livejournal.com]

I guess she's a little on the pudgy side. I'm trying to remember if she's had trouble bathing, but I can't remember.

I feed her Science Diet adult, but I'll switch her to the diet variety. I'll try the Nutro brand a try next time.

[bonibaru.livejournal.com]

Oh man - Science Diet is the king of dry skin food :) I had a feeling you were going to say that's what you were feeding. When I used to pet sit, all of my clients that fed SD had skin problems with their pets. And the diet foods usually just have a lot of additional grains in them for fiber so that the cat fills up faster and feels fuller longer. Nutro makes a formulation for skin & coat that's got vitamin e in it that's very good. There's a specialty brand called Katz-N-Flocken but you can't find that everywhere, that's also good for the coat. Pricey, though.

[pix-kristin.livejournal.com]

I really recommend Nutros. The difference in skin and coat quality (in dogs and cats) is remarkable.

As you can see, Byron is a stud kitty.