Cat dry skin: Can I apply fish oil directly or use ear drops?

Pet formulated fish oil from your local pet store is perfectly fine and a reasoable treatment for a pet with mild flaky skin. If the skin persists however after aa few weeks, then a vet visit is recommended to look at other possible causes (i.e. skin allergies, mites, lice, etc). Also I would recommend feeding Mouse a high quality cat food such as Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Evo, or Eukanuba. Best wishes with Mouse and her dry skin, along with feeding this to your two other cats.. Take care.

Hmmm. Not sure the train of thought your vet was on. I commonly recommend fish oils, any fish oil supplement will work. There is no specific amount, though the biggest side effect is greasy stools. If you notice that, then you decrease the dose. It can take several months for you to see a change after starting fish oils. You can find a pet product at a pet store, or just use one from the human supplements section of a pharmacy or other store.

I would recommend an oral fatty acid supplement to help keep the skin healthy. Welactin is one we commonly use, though your vet can also recommend a product or your local pet store may also carry fatty acid supplements.

These skin lesions look like bacterial or possibly fungal infection. Mites can be responsible for it as well. A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Antibiotics may be needed. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. To be honest, the pictures of Kat don’t look that bad to me but I know that in real life things can be different. I’d first try about 300 mg per day of fish oil. This can take a month or two to really help but does often help with things like this. Brushing daily can also help with the greasiness. I see he is a little on the chunky side, so part of the greasiness may be that he is not able to groom that area easily any more. Brushing and weight loss can help there. Finally, there are true skin conditions (oil gland diseases, auto-Immune diseases, mites, infections) that can also cause skin problems like this so if it seems severe, gets worse in any way, or is not improving in 3 weeks, it’s time to see the vet. Best wishes to you and Kat!

It's definitely possible that the salmon oil was the cause of this if he has a diagnosed fish allergy. I recommend discontinuing the fish oil and bathing him every two days with a medicated cat shampoo (can get this at the pet store) to help remove the greasy residue. If this is not cleared within three weeks, or he is having further issues, then it's likely due to something else and will require a veterinarian to accurately diagnose the cause. I hope that helps and Onyx gets better soon.

If Shredder has ear mites, the lesions on the edges of his ears are likely due to ear mites as well. Olive oil is not a very effective treatment for earmites. I would recommend a prescription treatment such as Revolution or Advantage multi for cats. These will kill the mites in 1-2 applications and allow Shredders ears to heal. Bonus these medications help prevent intestinal parasites and treat fleas and heartworm as well.