Little Chin Lumps

[phoozles]

Well, Jake has finally recovered from his coughing. We're still itchy, but not as bad, but now something new has developed.

I noticed a few days ago that Jake had a little bump under his jawline on his chin. It's smaller than a pea, and it felt a little scabby. Keep in mind that our kitten Alley thinks it's good fun to constantly jump on Jake's head and put him in headlocks. Because of the slight scabbiness, I figured it was just a mark from the kitten, and decided to keep an eye on it.

Now another bump has developed, on the other side of his lower jaw (these are both on the outside, as far as I can tell - covered in fur so I can't see what they look like). He doesn't seem to like me touching them directly, which makes me think they hurt him, but I can still rub him under the chin without any complaints.

Last year Jake had a bump on his chin, and I found out it was just a benign cyst / fatty lump, and he had it removed, just for comfort sake.

I'm not sure if this is the same thing - and not sure if I should wait it out or take him in to get looked at. Anyone have any ideas?

[sugarcatmom]

Sometimes cats get acne on their chin. Could it be anything like that? Plastic food dishes are often the culprit because they retain bacteria more than metal or ceramic.

[phoozles]

I suppose that could be a possibility - he uses a ceramic dish, but it could still be it.

I'm kind of leaning towards scratching infections, due to the fact that Alley doesn't know how to keep her claws retracted when jumping on Jake's head. He did have a mark on his lip from one of her escapades, so this could just be more of the same.

I think I'll just keep an eye on the bumps for now. His heart and diuretic meds wrap up in a couple of weeks - I was thinking of taking him in then, so maybe, if there are no changes with the bumps, those can get checked out too.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by sugarcatmom

Sometimes cats get acne on their chin. Could it be anything like that? Plastic food dishes are often the culprit because they retain bacteria more than metal or ceramic.

Years ago , one of my cats had acne on his chin, vet told me to put some rubbing alcohol on it , wich I did , and it took care of it.

[krdahmer]

Is there 'pepper' like black stuff under his chin... thats what mine's acne looks like. It was cleared up for all but Buddy with a change to all glass or crystal dishes (Buddy is a messy eater which I imagine is why his is so persistant). Wouldn't hurt to have the vet confirm though.

[Luba]

Reaction to medication ?
REacton to somethign on him or in the environment he's licking and gettng sores on the chin?
Does he put his chin on windowsill that has some cleaning agent on it or some flea treatment or something on the fur?
Good luck just throwing some ideas out there. Something in the bedding? Detergent allergy? I've seen some weird things from floor/carpet cleaners and things like febreze and oust.

[phoozles]

That's interesting Luba - it could be the flea treatment - it could very well be. They are a little scabby at the tips, and I haven't noticed any "pepper" looking things, but that could be because they are under his grey fur. Since I'm giving him two pills once a day, he doesn't really like me touching his chin to begin with (because he knows I'll be shoving some pills down his throat soon enough! )

I looked at them again last night, and they seem to hurt him a bit, but they don't seem to be getting any bigger.

I'll try some of your suggestions - because he eats so many times a day, I don't clean out his dish that often, and he gets wet food - do you think that could be it? How often do you fully clean out a dish for kitty that gets small feedings four times a day?

[krdahmer]

I'd clean it good with dish soap once and maybe rinse it with super hot water in between all those feedings. Might help.

[Luba]

I don't know if cats have a reaction to any ingredient in polysporin but if they're open or / and sore you may want to ask the vet if polysporin is okay.