Cat with black boogers

[bock]

My 6 month old kitten, Casper, has hard black boogers on the rims of his nostrils. His nose is dry to the touch and it seems to hurt him when we try to get it off. I can't imagine what it could be besides the litter or a cold. He uses arm and hammer clumping litter, but my other cats use it too and they don't have it. He is an indoor cat, except when he goes on the balcony a few times a day. Also, we got him about 4 months ago from the animal shelter, they said they found him as a stray. I forgot to add, he acts perfectly healthy other than that. Thanks for any help!

 

[chicmom]

Blood looks black when it dries, so I'm guessing your kitten has fallen on it's face from a high place. If you really want to clean that off, use a nice warm wash cloth.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

My former barn cats get black smudge around the rims of their noses. It is definitely not blood. It's just crusty nose discharge. I use my fingernail to rub it off.

Both of these kitties lived outside when I got them. They were barn cats at my place for about a year (until one of them got hit by a car and they both moved inside the house). Both had chronic respiratory issues when I got them. Multiple rounds of antibiotics later and they still were snotty and sneezy. Once they moved inside, the respiratory issues cleared right up. Now they get a little sneezy and snotty in the spring and in the fall. Apparently they have allergies.

According to the vet, these wild born cats tend to have these respiratory issues from birth on. It doesn't seem to stop mine.


If you can get him to sit still for it, wipe his little nose off. I wait for mine to curl up on my lap for a nap and then do a little smudge cleaning.

 

[MandyH]

We have a white cat that's gets black boogers too. He's an indoor cat but goes out in the fenced yard a LOT. It's just dirt from being outside.

 

[chicmom]

I only mentioned it could be blood because it was mentioned that the black boogers were very hard to get off. Dirt, in my experience, isn't quite so hard to remove. And also he mentioned the kitten acted like it hurt.

Could be dirt too. (Hope it is only dirt, of course!)

 

[patandchickens]

Chronic black nose- or eye-boogers can mean a low-level chronic upper respiratory infection, often SO low-level that the chronic black nose- or eye-boogers is the only symptom. Sometimes though you get that in cats whose immune system is compromised by FeLV or FIV, so if the cat has not been tested recently or shows any other signs of questionable health it might be worth retesting just to make sure (both are deal-able-with, but you would want to KNOW about them)

To get the hard black boogers off if they are stuck on tightly, use a little vaseline or warm-water-dampened cloth to hold against them for a minute or two (whatever the cat permits) to soften their attachment. Don't do this with eye boogers (which are generally not stuck hard anyhow), just nose boogers.

I have never used the word "boogers" so often in a single post in my life, til now

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Once again Patandchickens said what I meant, only much more elegantly.

Both of my boys have ongoing respiratory issues. They are much, much better since they live in the house now. I really only notice it in the spring and fall when the weather is shifting. Right now their little faces are a little bit swollen and the lighter kitty's eyes are red and watery. They both get eye boogers and black nose boogers. I just rub/pick the nose boogers off and rub their little eyes out when they do drive bys. Both have been tested and are HIV/ FeLV free. They just have a respiratory crud common in barn cats around here. They were about 4 months old when I got them and they indeed came out of a barn.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

My two orange cats are prone to getting eye boogers and nose crud.

Vet told me its like PatandChickens said, low level upper respitory symptom, it can be due to numerous things but most commonly just seasonal/allergy related. Similar to how we get stuffy or runny noses in spring and fall. For some reason I have always noticed light colored cats (white, orange/yellow) are more prone to getting it than dark colored cats, and its not just the color difference, I check all my cats regularly and rarely do my black or grey/blue cats get eye boogers or nose crud, but my eldest orange cat (3 yrs old) has the stuff all the time right now. Ugh.

If the stuffs been dried on the nose for a few days its going to hurt when you try to get it off of him/her...Moisten it up with water, neosporin, or vasoline (someone else already suggested this too

) and gently rub it off. If you try to peel or flake it off dry (if you don't check every day) it can peel off the sensitive skin or hair around the nose with it. And obviously thats going to hurt.

If kitty's nose stays warm and dry and they keep getting the nose crud I would suggest a routine vet visit to make sure its just seasonal, as it could be other issues, but it doesn't really sound like it.

Good luck pickin' them boogers

 

[bock]

Thanks everyone! He is a white cat, like some of you said, so he is probably prone to boogies.

He was never FelV tested, because he was too young, but he has had the shot. We aren't rough when we try to get the boogers off, but he just doesn't like us touching his nose. I will definitely start using water or vasaline to get them off. Thanks everyone!

 

[Chickadee11]

I can't believe I googled cat boagies and this thread came up lol. I'm sure it's just general grot but I pick it off while my cat just sits on my lap. She's happy with this so I'm hoping she's pleased they disappear!