Chin Acne In Cats
The Causes of Cat Chin Acne -
A potential customer (now a customer) contacted us recently wanting to know if our filtration had what her current fountain had: a prefilter for preventing cat hair, etc. from entering the pump (it does); a carbon filter (ours do for those who want it, not everyone does) and a mineral layer for extra minerals. Ours doesn’t. Cats get all the minerals they need from their food. That’s what their food is for.
I suggested that the other brand’s elaborate filtration was probably to gain more revenue by frequent filter replacements but especially to distract from the fact that it is made of plastic and causes chin acne. She emailed back that that was why she was contacting us. Her cat got chin acne from the fountain brand she was using.
What Is Known About Chin Acne
All the facts about chin acne that are needed, are known, but unfortunately, all the facts are not in the same place or known by the same people. Medicine can tell us about the pathology of chin acne in cats, what it does and how it progresses and suggest cures but every source we’ve found admits that they do not know the cause. (And if you don’t know the cause how can you know the cure?) Many of them suggest that plastic food and water bowls, especially plastic cat fountains may be involved.
People Often Know What Science Doesn't
Cat owners may not know the science but there are many thousands who do know that chin acne does indeed come from plastic cat bowls and fountains. Many of our customer reviews testify to this.
This disconnect isn’t unusual. Science cannot verify a great many facts about cats that cat owners have no doubt of and cat lovers have known for centuries. (Too many to list for this post – just take ‘do cats care for us?’ as one of countless.) We often read about science’s confusion around certain areas of cat behavior and we are bemused. It’s not confusing to us.
The Real Cause of Cat Chin Acne
Many medical sources do suggest the real cause of cat chin acne, as in the following quotes.
VCA Animal Hospitals says this: “There may be an association between using plastic food and water dishes and chin acne, as the irregular surface or scratches in the plastic make it more prone to bacterial contamination.”
Veterinarian Partner
suggests this as a possible cause: “…contact hypersensitivity (e.g. skin sensitivity
to certain materials or chemicals, such as the plastic used in some food
bowls).”
Purina has a post on chin acne in cats and says:
“The causes of cat acne are still largely a mystery. It is believed that plastic can encourage the breakout
as it’s been mostly noticed in cats that use plastic bowls for food and water.”
Virtually everyone who has owned a plastic cat fountain knows, beyond doubt, that they become slimy, and that slime is caused by bacteria. And just how good can that slime be for your cat? Silly question. How bad is it? Better question but still not necessary. It’s bad. It causes chin acne and who knows what else?
What Materials Are Safe Against Chin Acne?
So use glass, use ceramic or even steel (though our tests with stainless steel do not recommend that material, largely because the surfaces of some have been tooled and are not completely smooth, (so invite bacteria growth), and stainless steel fountains (we tested two brands) have abundant plastic components.)
Of course, ceramic is best and of course, ours are the best ceramic cat fountains so of course, that is your best choice but whatever you do, do not use plastic if you want to avoid the ugly, painful hazard of cat chin acne.
Not About Chin Acne
This is an aside: I know why cats ‘chirp’ when viewing birds through the window and what that ‘chirping’ is. Do you want to know? Do you want to share what you think it’s all about? Here is what I know. It is predatory lust. I’ve watched Bijou looking out at birds in a state of deep inner excitement, hoping, needing, craving to catch that bird. There is nothing that thrills a cat to his very soul more than to catch a bird in its mouth. Not kill it. Catch it. I don’t know how many times I came home to find a terrified bird flying around my living room. He’d escaped as our cat came through the cat door, was alive, well and wanted out. The cat was curiously at ease. I cought every one and gently tossed him back out to the world where he belonged and watched him fly off as Bijou, bless his soul, licked himself. If you care to share your thoughts on this feel free to email me, Keith, at my personal email; kdavitt1@gmail.com.