dry skin ,dandruff ???

mycat

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Mar 16, 2000, 3:00:00 AM3/16/00

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My cat has dry skin or what might be dandruff, what do I do about
this?and what is the diffence?

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ibidem

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Mar 17, 2000, 3:00:00 AM3/17/00

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mycat wrote:
>
> My cat has dry skin or what might be dandruff, what do I do about
> this?and what is the diffence?

Dry skin is dry skin; dandruff is the flakey results of dry or
irritated skin. The difference is only in the fussing. More important is
what is causing it. This time of year (late winter and early spring) a
lot of cats- and featherless bipeds- suffer from dry skin for no other
reason than a lack of moisture in the air. For your cat, a teaspoon of
cooking oil in her food a couple times a week should correct it.
Other causes are chemical irritants and allergies; you should see skin
irritation along with the dandruff, and that pretty much means a vet
trip.
A third cause is fur mites, little bugs that live off skin oils and
flakes, as well as fur. These mites may well *not* cause skin
irritation, since most of them don't really get below the epidermis, the
outer, dead layer of skin. A vet trip just the same, and some
ivermectin.

With your cat, weather is most likely, and some small portions of extra
fats in her diet (vegetable oil is fine) should clear it up.

--
Paul
"They're evil. And they can read your mind," Norma said, touching her
wrist. Laura responded with one of her snorts. "Aww, come on, Norma.
Cats are just cats." Laura was known for her snorts.

Ballroom Dancing at the A&P a full-length novel by T.L. Sebastiani
HTTP://home.att.net/~ibidem2/

SRiddles

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Mar 17, 2000, 3:00:00 AM3/17/00

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>
>> My cat has dry skin or what might be dandruff, what do I do about
>> this?and what is the diffence?

mycat,

You didn't mention the age or weight of your cat, but I thought I'd mention the
problem I have with one of my old geezer cats. He's 16, arthritic and very
overweight, so he is simply unable to groom himself properly. He just needs a
little help (well, OK, a LOT of help) with personal hygiene, and that really
seems to help the dandruff problem. His main flaky problem area is his back.
Good luck!
Sherry

mycat

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Mar 17, 2000, 3:00:00 AM3/17/00

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Thank you for your input, My cat is alittle over weight(plump), and
getting older(8).How do you help groom your cat? besides just brushing?

mycat

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Mar 17, 2000, 3:00:00 AM3/17/00

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Thank you Paul, I will feed my cat oil and see what happens.

SRiddles

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Mar 18, 2000, 3:00:00 AM3/18/00

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I ususally bathe him at least once a month, and in between, just brush, brush,
brush. Rubbing a wet washcloth down his back and brushing helps some too, and
he seems to like that. Fortunately, he lets me vaccum him with the hose end of
the vacuum cleaner and that gets rid of the dandruff and loose hair pretty good
also.

8 really isn't very old though, and unless he's really overweight grooming
might not be the problem. Try Paul's suggestions first, and I bet you'll see an
improvement.
Good luck!
Sherry

katlady

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Mar 18, 2000, 3:00:00 AM3/18/00

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My cat, Mitzy is 7 and has always had flakey skin. I brush her
every day and give her some vaseline on her paw to lick once in a
while. That seems to help. It really can show up since she's a
long hair black and white.