Crusty Gus

After school got out, I left Gus for a week to go to Utah to see my mom.  When I got back, he had a terrible crusty little chin.

Gus's crusty chin

I had no idea what was wrong.  When I felt it or examined it up close, it didn't look like an injury, it looked like a burn.  The problem was that the hair was still in it, so it wasn't a physical heat burn.  I took him to the vet.  

Apparently, he has something called, kitty chin acne.  Great, my baby was a teenager!  Not really, it's not caused by puberty or anything, but a type of allergic reaction.  The vet said the most common cause was plastic food bowls.

Gus has mainly stainless steel bowls.  However, my sister gave me this cute little blue plastic bowl, after I was discussing an article about food bowls-- regarding her dog who is food shy.  Apparently, a lot of animals struggle to eat in traditional shaped bowls because they jar their whiskers.  So the article was describing shallow low-rimmed bowls that wouldn't hit the whiskers but could still contain food or water.  Therefore, the cute plastic bowl.

Of course, it was Gus's favorite bowl.  Since I was going to Anchorage for a minute for a doctor's appointment, I found some similar shaped stainless steel bowls to replace the cute one. They are utilitarian and ugly, but low and non-whisker jarring.  

His chin is slowly clearing up. It's gross though, I have to scrap it and treat it with medicated wipes.  He hates it.  Ugh, off to do it again now!