oily and flakey spot on cat's back

[Winchester Farms]

ever since i adopted my cat about 3 years ago, she has had a strip of oily fur along her back. She also has bad dandruff along that area too. it starts at her neck and goes a little past her tail. it the beginning i thought it was due to bad nutrion at the shelter, so for the past 3 years ive been feeding her really good food. well, imo - purina, iams and science diet. ive tried science diet sensitive skin, and indoor cat, and nothing seems to be working. i give her a bath about once every 3-4 months. i gave her one this morning and i shampooed her back about 4 times and i still felt greasey and oily. i asked the vet about it and his answer to it was, "well....it doesn't really bother me."

have any advise or ideas what the problem is? thanks!!

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I'd love to hear an answer to this one too! We've got a formerly feral kitty with a pretty rough coat and chewed up ears that gave birth in our garage then led her kittens into a life of ease as indoor cats with us. The kittens have those shiny, glossy coats that come with always having been well-fed and cared for but Mama's coat remains somewhat rough and patchy despite all the weight she's gained and her apparent good health. She doesn't have oily fur on her back particularly but she has a definite dandruff patch there that is very sensitive and won't go away no matter what we do. I'll be interested in the answer!

Maybe it's just that for some reason they can't reach that spot to lick it properly so the oils don't get spread the way they should? Your kitty might have an overactive gland or something too, I suspect mine is just too fat to turn that far now so the skin gets dry!

Leia

 

[mininik]

I'd definitely recommend a food upgrade (I suggest Natural Balance, Solid Gold, Blue Buffalo, California Natural, Natura, etc.) and feeding mainly canned food. I would also check to be sure you are using a good quality shampoo meant for cats, rinsed well. Also, what kind of flea and tick preventative are you using?

ETA: Cats really shouldn't be allowed to get too fat to lick themselves clean... it's best if you feed them appropriately sized meals using a food dispensing toy, such as the Slim Cat: http://www.petco.com/product/106777/Multiv...r:referralID=NA

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I agree Nik, but it's very difficult with this particular kitty. We feed free choice dry food to four different cats (my Siamese/Ragdoll former shelter kitty, big framed and 14lbs but in good weight, Mama Cat, and her two adult kittens, one a tiny delicate female and one a large but lanky male.) Mama Cat won't tolerate being shut in a room to eat so there is no way to separate her from the others so by default she gets what they get. On the vet's advice we changed the free-choice bowls to a diet food and tried to get her playing more and she did eventually drop the morbid obesity. I think she was simply used to scarfing down every scrap she could find, poor thing, and kept that habit after she had a steady food source. I can't blame her!

The other cats are all in good weight and very active and Mama gets around quite well, leaping gates and hunting rodents and thumbing her nose at the local toms now that she's spayed. She just doesn't twist so well, like to reach that spot on her mid-to-lower back.

This is why we prefer not to have more animals than we have space to feed individually, but unfortunately for that plan Mama decided she and her kittens needed to make our one cat into four.

We've never had more than two at a time!

Leia

 

[Miniv]

Make sure your kitty is up to date on worming........

The other possibility could be allergies........ Not sure if a cat get MANGE like a dog?