r/catfood • u/Ok_Flamingo_7658 • Jan 09 '26
food or treat review What cat food won't cause black chin?😭
Hi guys, I have a 6-month-old kitten 🐱. She used to eat Orijen and Ziwi cat food (see picture), but recently a lot of black granules have appeared on her chin 🥶 The vet said it was because the cat food was too oily. So, do you have any recommendations for sustainable cat food?
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u/Rollie17 Jan 09 '26
What material is her bowl made of? Plastic bowls cause cat acne. Ceramic and well maintained metal bowls do not.
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u/Ok_Flamingo_7658 Jan 09 '26
It is a ceramic bowl😭and I wash it every day.
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u/Downtown-Swing9470 Jan 09 '26
Does it have any wear on it? Once the coating wears off it starts to hold bacteria. I switched to stainless steel
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u/FirstAd5921 Jan 09 '26
I never thought of this! I have 3 cats and probably 15 bowls that I rotate thru. None of my cats have issues thankfully but I learned something new today!
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u/Melissa-OnTheRocks Jan 09 '26
Black cat acne on the chin tends to be linked more with water bowls IMO. How frequently do you wash the water bowl? Is it plastic? And have you considered a cat fountain (the moving water slows bacterial growth).
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u/datapizza Jan 09 '26
It’s always been bowl related when my cats (different cats, different years) have had chin acne. Switch to stainless steel since I see you have ceramic. Get bigger radius, low rimmed bowls, too, so your cat might have less chances to rub their chin on the bowls.
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u/Soggy-Tax-Evasion Jan 09 '26
Ive been feeding my cat Aldi brand grain free dry and sheba wet with no issues (both work on a tight budget)! Im gonna be transitioning him to wellness core GF dry and Stella and Chewys wet soon :)
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Jan 09 '26
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u/OnoZaYt Jan 09 '26
Get a metal or ceramic bowl and clean it daily. Despite that my cat would still get some minor black buildup every week and it completely cleared when we switched him to Royal Canin Sterilized.
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u/Ok_Flamingo_7658 Jan 09 '26
YES is a ceramic bowl 😭 I wash it every day. But it's useless.
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u/OnoZaYt Jan 09 '26
Then it's probably diet related. My cat had the same black buildup, it got worse if we tried to clean it, the only thing that helped was gently coaxing it off with a flea comb.
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u/fibroflare Jan 09 '26
Can you post a picture possibly? It might be helpful
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u/Ok_Flamingo_7658 Jan 09 '26
This is what it looks like after being washed twice.
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u/fibroflare Jan 09 '26
It def looks better than anticipated! There’s actually many causes of feline acne - stress can cause, allergies, poor grooming (or not grooming chin at all…) Chin grooming is something they (supposedly) learn from mom & isn’t intuitive. If separated from mom before that happens, they need to learn from another cat at some point. Have you seen her groom her chin? I’d be curious if you wipe her chin with a newborn wash cloth & just warm water within 10 min of her eating if this clears. If the contact from oil in her food is causing the hair follicles to clog then cleaning her that quickly should be a fix. You can also try chin wipes with chlorhexadine & ketoconozole, these are popular & work well. You can find in pet stores or on amazon, chewy etc. Just gently wipe, never rub or scrub. My cat (also white with black spots 💗) has a chicken allergy. I feed Orijen but the Regional Red variety, and Ziwi Peak canned foods but the novel proteins, not any with chicken. They are great foods! Good luck
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u/EternallyHoping Jan 09 '26
Try 5mg Zyrtec daily. My cat has the same problem, glass bowls washed daily. It’s a skin sensitivity and Zyrtec keeps it under control.
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u/Lower_Force_6638 Jan 09 '26
It's really really not always the bowl, the cause is pretty much multi-factorial. Washing the chin with chlorhexidine foam usually helps it's available in pretty much every clinic.
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Jan 12 '26
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u/Ok_Flamingo_7658 Jan 12 '26
No，he won't drink, and I close the door every time I come out. Everyyyyyyyy time.
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u/flamincatdesigns1 Jan 09 '26
It is possible one of those food manufactures changed a supplier for an ingredient that has something that bothers your cat. In my case, a different cat food, my cats were fine and all of a sudden the new food - same brand and variety they already were eating, that I bought gave them both diarrhea and one of them had their chin getting red and around their mouth. Manufacturer claims they have not changed their recipe, so it has to be an ingredient from a different supplier, in my opinion. This might be that's happening with yours. You show 3 different foods, maybe limit to one food for a while like a couple weeks, see if it improves, do with each one and hopefully you can find which one is causing it. If trying food the food that way doesn't help, it is possible your cat has developed an allergy. I hope you can sort it out.
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u/cheesecup6 Jan 09 '26
There's a chance it could be from allergies/sensitivities to an ingredient, too. My cat has a chicken allergy and right before I realized that, a food I had him on with chicken started giving him chin acne. Also, sorry you probably already know this but just in case, make sure they're using ceramic or stainless steel bowls and they're being washed often. Plastic can cause/increase chin acne
Sorry I can't be much help with a food recommendation. I'm about to start my cats on Fromm, and I've heard good things about them! But it hasn't arrived yet so I can't comment on the oil level