Things You'll Need
- Cat drinking fountains or water dishes
- Canned cat food
- Salmon oil
- Sunflower or safflower oil
- Cat brush
- Spray on leave-in conditioner for cats
Instructions
Calm your cat before, during and after the move to your new home. Stress can actually lead to dry skin for your cat, and your cat can become more susceptible to skin problems when under stress, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Confine your cat to a small room, such as a bathroom, with its litter box, cat bed, food and water while moving out of and into your home. This will keep your cat away from movers who may frighten it and prevent it from accidentally escaping in the chaos of a move. Spray Feliway, a calming cat pheromone spray, around your new home and in your cat's carrier to keep your cat relaxed in its new environment.
Provide several pet drinking fountains or water dishes for your cat around your new home to keep it well hydrated. The air in a higher elevation contains less moisture, which can lead to both dehydration and dry skin in both humans and cats. Keeping multiple sources of water around your home for your cat will encourage it to drink more. Pet drinking fountains provide a source of running water, which attracts cats who like running water from faucets. Clean the dishes or fountains daily to prevent the dirt and bacteria from contaminating the water.
Feed your cat canned food or add water to dry cat kibble when feeding your cat. Canned cat food contains more water than dry food and helps keep your cat's skin hydrated. Choose a well-balanced canned food with no added fillers or artificial ingredients, according to the ASPCA. If your cat suffers from dry skin as a result of allergies, feed your cat a hypoallergenic diet.
Supplement your cat's diet with 1/8 tsp. salmon oil every other day, according to Vetinfo. Mix the oil into your cat's canned food. You can also give your cat 1/8 tsp. sunflower or safflower oils to supplement its diet every other day. These oils contain linoleic acid, which helps alleviate dry skin in cats. You can also give your cat 1 to 2 tsp. of cooked salmon once a week.
Brush your cat daily to remove any excess dander from its coat and increase the circulation of oils on the skin. The brushing removes dead skin and hair from the surface of your cat's skin, increasing air flow to this area and relieving any itching from dry skin. While brushing, spray a leave-in conditioner into your cats coat and work it through the fur with your hands. This will prevent further moisture-loss and dryness in your cat's skin and coat.
Run a humidifier in your new home to increase the moisture content of the dry, high-altitude air. Since higher altitude climates tend to be cooler in the winter months, you will run the heat more in your home. The heat will further dry the air in your home, increasing your cat's dry skin problems. Place a humidifier in your cat's favorite place and run it daily. You can also place containers of water on top of your radiators to increase the humidity levels in your home.
Keep cats indoors during the day since areas in higher elevations have less protection from the sun and its harmful ultraviolet rays. Cats, like humans, are prone to skin cancer, so keeping them indoors will prevent overexposure to sun and possible sunburn, which will worsen dry skin. While sunscreens can protect humans and dogs from sunburn and UV rays, do not use human or dog-safe sunscreens on cats because they may ingest the ingredients when cleaning themselves. As of February 2011, there are no cat-safe sunscreens on the market.