Hello friends,
I was hoping to get a bit of input from anyone who cares to chime in...the last time Achilles and Maximus had a checkup with our vet, I mentioned to her that Achilles had little tiny specks in his fur that I had noticed and of course, I was freaked out about the dreaded "mites" or something similar.
Dr. Kamaka examined his fur and showed me the dots and said, "This is oil and dirt buildup in his fur and since he is overweight, it is hard for him to groom himself back there and the dirt and oil/skin flakes, etc, build up." She also reminded me that since he is an intact male, he produces more of that kind of stuff/buck grease, etc. Sounded about right!
She recommended, in addition to trying to slim down my boy, that I get one of those small toothed combs for him so I can help clean up his fur and comb out the excess dirt build up. I do comb his fur every few days, but in the past few days I noticed it looks even worse than usual! SO much stuff in the fur I comb out! I just want to make sure it is not a red flag of some sort?
I took some photos to show...is it possible that since he is so fat and getting elderly that the buildup of dirt and oil in his fur is just getting more visible due to the fact he probably does not have the ability at all now to groom back there?
Both of the boys have clean looking fur and of course they are in very clean surroundings and have their bedding, etc, changed daily, so they are not visibly "dirty" looking or anything. I also give them a little sponge bath with baby wipes sometimes, but most of the time they look very clean and their fur looks nice and soft and healthy.
I have started to comb him every day now, (and yes, he does enjoy the combings!) but I wanted to make sure there is nothing else that I should be concerned about with the way his fur looks when I comb it out. He eats and drinks and loves to be cuddled and groomed and he is a happy boy, other than this fur issue, so no other problems I have seen.
We don't see any sneezing or breathing problems or anything and no visible poryphin on their noses or eyes.
It might also not help the situation that Achilles is a very long haired rat! He has very thick fur so maybe it is easier for more dirt and oil build-up to get trapped in it?
Does the fur in the photos look abnormal or out of the ordinary to anyone? My poor fat Achilles baby. :disbelief:
I was hoping to get a bit of input from anyone who cares to chime in...the last time Achilles and Maximus had a checkup with our vet, I mentioned to her that Achilles had little tiny specks in his fur that I had noticed and of course, I was freaked out about the dreaded "mites" or something similar.
Dr. Kamaka examined his fur and showed me the dots and said, "This is oil and dirt buildup in his fur and since he is overweight, it is hard for him to groom himself back there and the dirt and oil/skin flakes, etc, build up." She also reminded me that since he is an intact male, he produces more of that kind of stuff/buck grease, etc. Sounded about right!
She recommended, in addition to trying to slim down my boy, that I get one of those small toothed combs for him so I can help clean up his fur and comb out the excess dirt build up. I do comb his fur every few days, but in the past few days I noticed it looks even worse than usual! SO much stuff in the fur I comb out! I just want to make sure it is not a red flag of some sort?
I took some photos to show...is it possible that since he is so fat and getting elderly that the buildup of dirt and oil in his fur is just getting more visible due to the fact he probably does not have the ability at all now to groom back there?
Both of the boys have clean looking fur and of course they are in very clean surroundings and have their bedding, etc, changed daily, so they are not visibly "dirty" looking or anything. I also give them a little sponge bath with baby wipes sometimes, but most of the time they look very clean and their fur looks nice and soft and healthy.
I have started to comb him every day now, (and yes, he does enjoy the combings!) but I wanted to make sure there is nothing else that I should be concerned about with the way his fur looks when I comb it out. He eats and drinks and loves to be cuddled and groomed and he is a happy boy, other than this fur issue, so no other problems I have seen.
We don't see any sneezing or breathing problems or anything and no visible poryphin on their noses or eyes.
It might also not help the situation that Achilles is a very long haired rat! He has very thick fur so maybe it is easier for more dirt and oil build-up to get trapped in it?
Does the fur in the photos look abnormal or out of the ordinary to anyone? My poor fat Achilles baby. :disbelief:
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