cat has dandruff and oily fur at the same time??

Hello everyone - I have a cat with fairly long hair. I have to comb
her frequently to get the knots out of her fur, especially on her
back. I have had to take her to the vet to have her shaved twice, when
the fur became so matted I feared I was going to rip her skin right
off if I tried to comb her. These tend to be disgusting oily mats, so
thick they cannot even be cut with scissors (I've tried)--but at the
same time she has terrible dandruff *constantly*. I have purchased
two different prescription shampoos from two different vets--
ostensibly these are the shampoos that these vets used when they
shaved and bathed her. They a
- GlenHaven P1/S, which is indicated for seborrhea complex "and other
conditions"
- SulfOxyDex Benzoyl Peroxide Sulfur shampoo, also for seborrhea and
for moisturizing (according to the label)

The problem is, neither of these shampoos seem to work worth a damn on
the dandruff--even though her fur is still very short (she was shaved
about 2 months ago), she is shedding dead skin all over the place. No
matter which shampoo I use, by the time she's dry there's dandruff all
over the place again. I've even tried using Head-and-Shoulders but
that did not help either (although I've only used it on her once).

Does anyone have any suggestions on controlling the dandruff? And--
how can a cat have oily skin and dry skin at the same time? I would
think that the benzoyl peroxide shampoo in particular would simply
aggravate the dandruff...heck maybe I should just bathe her in mineral
oil next time.

And one other thing: One veterinarian recommended that I start giving
her fish oil daily for the dandruff...but that did not work either.

All suggestions welcome. Thanks.

coloradoskibum

On Sep 2, 10:21 pm, Peg wrote:
Hello everyone - I have a cat with fairly long hair.
snipped useless drivel

coloradoskibum

Wow...never mind, I just did a search...lots of info out there. Sorry
for bothering everyone. :-)

CSB

"Peg" wrote :

And one other thing: One veterinarian recommended that I start giving
her fish oil daily for the dandruff...but that did not work either.

All suggestions welcome. Thanks.

Have you had her thyroid levels checked?

On 3 Sep, 05:33, Peg wrote:
On Sep 2, 10:21 pm, Peg wrote: Hello everyone - I have a cat with fairly long hair.

snipped useless drivel



coloradoskibum

Wow...never mind, I just did a search...lots of info out there. Sorry
for bothering everyone. :-)

CSB

re-oily fish; you have to be feeding her for a while before it has an
effect, won't change it overnight

re-oily fish; you have to be feeding her for a while before it has an
effect, won't change it overnight

I'm talking 1000-mg omega-3 fish oil capsules, cut them open and drip
the oil onto a plate (YUMMY what a treat for cats!!) - how many would
you recommend daily? And how long (ballpark) until I see some
results, if there are going to be any? From my research I see that
this problem is WAY more complicated than I thought it was. Would a
3x-per-week bath with the medicated shampoo be a good idea? (Research
suggests that overbathing could actually INCREASE the problem.)

CSB

On Sep 2, 10:39 pm, "cybercat" wrote:
"Peg" wrote :

And one other thing: One veterinarian recommended that I start giving
her fish oil daily for the dandruff...but that did not work either.

All suggestions welcome. Thanks.

Have you had her thyroid levels checked?

Hmmm...I'm not totally sure...stuff I read suggested that this problem
is so multi-faceted I could spend literally thousands just trying to
figure out the root cause. I don't have that kind of money, but really
I guess the dandruff isn't really THAT big of a deal--as long as she's
happy and comfortable (and trust me, nobody on this planet is any more
happy and comfortable than this cat!). I guess if I've learned one
thing, it's that I'll probably have to keep her shaved all the time--
once a year at the beginning of summer I guess--it's okay, at least
it's good for a laugh :-)

CSB

On 3 Sep, 23:04, Peg wrote:
re-oily fish; you have to be feeding her for a while before it has an
effect, won't change it overnight

I'm talking 1000-mg omega-3 fish oil capsules, cut them open and drip
the oil onto a plate (YUMMY what a treat for cats!!) - how many would
you recommend daily? And how long (ballpark) until I see some
results, if there are going to be any? From my research I see that
this problem is WAY more complicated than I thought it was. Would a
3x-per-week bath with the medicated shampoo be a good idea? (Research
suggests that overbathing could actually INCREASE the problem.)

CSB

yes overbathing could make the problem worse as it woudl strip the
skin and hair of any natural oils needed to protect and as a result
the skin is dryer because of loss of oils so dandruff increases, then
the sebaceous glands will go into overdrive to make up the deficit and
so too much will then be produced resulting in oily fur.

only problems with fish oil cpasules is you may end up overdosing them
on some fat-soluble vitamins eg Vitamin A etc which is nto a good
thing either. feeding oily fish regularly would probably be a better
idea and would mean they woudl get other nutrients at the same time
too, but give it a few weeks before you see a result. That was
certainly the case for my terri who i rescued in jan/feb and her coat
was in a right mess, greasy to the touch, with great nasty clumps of
dandruff falling all over the place, all gone now (althoguh probably
also due to a general bad diet and having to scavenge whilst she had
been abandoned and from not being groomed etc). She is now the softest
ball of chocolatey fluff in the world.

best fo luck with it all Bookie

only problems with fish oil cpasules is you may end up overdosing them
on some fat-soluble vitamins eg Vitamin A etc which is nto a good
thing either. feeding oily fish regularly would probably be a better
idea and would mean they woudl get other nutrients at the same time
too, but give it a few weeks before you see a result. That was
certainly the case for my terri who i rescued in jan/feb and her coat
was in a right mess, greasy to the touch, with great nasty clumps of
dandruff falling all over the place, all gone now (althoguh probably
also due to a general bad diet and having to scavenge whilst she had
been abandoned and from not being groomed etc). She is now the softest
ball of chocolatey fluff in the world.

best fo luck with it all Bookie

Oily fish, as in tuna in a can? Or, oily fish as in a piece of salmon
fro the market? (hah-not likely!!) Or, oily fish as in the canned cat
food fish dinners such as salmon, whitefish, etc? Those cat food cans
don't list nutritional information.

CSB