Dandruff

[mismodliz]

Stephen has a little dandruff on her tail. We go through this every winter... *grrr*

Any suggestions to clear this up? My boss said the vet has told her to put mix oil in her dog's food, add an egg, or even feed cottage cheese -- but I wanted to check out these suggestions with everyone here.

What can I do?

[OsnobunnieO]

I don't know if cottage cheese will do anything for the coat, but its supposed to be very good for dogs and cats. I'd do a little more searching about it first though.

They have all sorts of oils or fatty acid products now that you can add to your cat's food or are in caplet form. That could help.

If its only in the winter, it probably has to do with the heat in your house drying out her coat. So far, I haven't noticed any problems with Addison (knock wood), but I think a lot of people have mentioned the indoor heating makes their cats shed a lot or have more coat problems.

I have a huge bottle of Linatone Shed Relief that I was adding daily to the food. It was supposed to lessen his shedding. However, since I changed to a better diet I haven't used it at all.

On the Petsmart website there's a dandruff relief foam that you put on the coat. http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...=1103310922809

Basically, it seems like there are a lot of things you can try, but I can't really give any good advice on which ones work

[mismodliz]

Well, I'm sure her love of lying on the heating vents isn't helping the dryness situation!!

[Kittys Mom]

Here's Dr. Jeans info on dry skin:

http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t ... t=dry+skin

(I asked if I could put moisturizer on my cat )

Based on the Little Big Cat article, I found and purchased this, it has the Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) and the Vitamin E that the article recommended:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=3456

Of course there are lots of brands, vitamin combinations out there available, this is just an example.

(Kitty hasn't been taking it long enough to see any improvement)

[bjohnson]

here is an idea.

Give your cat a bath\shower every now and then. I bathe my cats at least 3 times a month in the shower with me and they have the most pretty, soft, dandruff free coats i have ever seen.

they dont even shed hardley.

[drjean]

Bathing more than once a week will make the skin even drier; not recommended.

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

[BaileyAndSammi]

I heard somewhere that mixing Brewer's Yeast with wet food will help maintain a healthy coat. It called for this in a cat treat recipe I have, and it said only a teaspoon for an entire batch, so I'm sure a tiny amount would be recommended for a can of wet food.

--Roze

[bjohnson]

Originally Posted by drjean

Bathing more than once a week will make the skin even drier; not recommended.

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

lol

i know your a doctor and all... but i have been washing my cats at least 3 times a month for over a year now, and their coats are lovely no dandruff, no shedding, no dry skin, (i dont see how water can dry skin) and no dandruff.

but hey, its all up to what you wanna do with your cats.

[mismodliz]

Originally Posted by bjohnson

here is an idea.

Give your cat a bath\shower every now and then. I bathe my cats at least 3 times a month in the shower with me and they have the most pretty, soft, dandruff free coats i have ever seen.

they dont even shed hardley.

Considering the fact that I value my life, I will not be taking Stephen into the shower with me.

Thanks for the opinion, though.

[OsnobunnieO]

bjohnson - when you say you bathe your cats do you mean a full bath with shampoo or just water?

cats keep themselves clean very well, so shampooing this often really isn't needed unless they're having problems grooming themselves (some overweight and old cats for example). But if you're using just water it almost seems pointless.

Shampoo will get rid of the oils in their coat, which leads to the dry skin Dr. Jean was warning about. But while I don't think there's a problem bathing them in just water three times a month... I'm wondering what good this does?