If you look at your cat's face and notice that he appears to have a skin issue much like the ones you suffered in high school, you may be right on target. Just like teens get pimples and acne due to over-oily skin and infected pores, cats can also get pretty severe breakouts. These feline skin problems are known as cat acne. In most cases, cat acne is not a major problem and can be treated at home, but you do need to deal with the issue in order to keep your cat happy, healthy and comfortable.
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Identification
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Cat acne is usually characterized by black specks on a cat's chin and jawline. If you investigate more closely, you may find pimples that look much like human pimples beneath their fur. Facial fur may also become greasy and their entire body may appear more matted and less clean than usual. Initially, cat acne has few symptoms other than aesthetic ones, and the little "blackheads" are pretty hard to see unless you are looking closely. As a result, you may not be inclined to treat it. However, over time clogged sebaceous glands can result in cat's being unable to mark their territory or clean their fur. This can lead to unusual levels of aggression and general physical discomfort. In some severe cases, lymph nodes may swell and fur may fall out.
Overactive Glands
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Feline acne is caused by overactive oil glands (sebaceous glands) on the cat's face. Usually, the cat uses these glands to mark territory and clean it's fur. However, when these glands produce too much oil, they may become clogged and infected instead. One of the best ways to initially deal with this issue (and to determine if your cat does in fact have feline acne) is to cleanse your cat's jaw and chin with a cotton ball saturated in peroxide. You can do this as often as twice a day to cleanse the clogged pores.
Diet
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If you have been cleaning your cat's face for several days and symptoms like aggression, swollen glands and fur loss indicate that the problem is getting worse instead of better, then you may need to take some other steps to resolve the issue. For example, you might try changing your cat's food to a natural, organic mix in case he has developed an allergy to his old food that is causing him to overproduce oil.
Antibacterial Treatments
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If you have been cleansing your cat's face with peroxide and the black dots are still evident, do not give up. Try a gentle antibacterial soap wash. You can still use the cotton balls, but saturate them with a weak solution of purified water and a few drops of the antibacterial soap. This should start to help resolve the issue. If the black dots become red and inflamed (like human pimples) then your cat has developed Folliculitis. This is a more severe problem, and you will need to see a veterinarian to get treatment creams and probably antibiotics.
Clean Cat's Belongings
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The best way to prevent your cat from getting cat acne again is to help her stay as clean as possible. This does not mean bathe her excessively, but do try to keep her sleeping areas clean. Toys, posts and other things that he routinely "marks" with chin rubbing should also be cleaned regularly with rubbing alcohol or the antibacterial soap solution to prevent him from clogging his pores while doing so. You may also wish to change your cat's food dishes from plastic to ceramic or glass, since eating from plastic bowls with scratches in them can cause a cat's face to be constantly soiled.
Considerations
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While cat acne is a relatively simple problem to resolve, there are two other contagious diseases that have similar symptoms. They are called dermatophytosis and demodicosis. They are caused by mites that live in the skin and can be passed between dogs and cats. If your treatment for your cat does not yield results, then get a veterinarian to take a look in case your cat does not actually have acne
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