Animal Welfare Professionals

My cat is 17. I’ve had him two years, and he’s recently developed a black, flaky coating on the skin of his tail. It coats most of the fur on his tail.

He doesn’t seem bothered by it much. His vet had no idea, but gave me medicated wipes; those didn’t seem to help. My fiancée bathed him, which helped a lot, but now the problem has resurfaced and doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

Can anyone tell me what’s going on, and/or how to help him?

Did your vet. suggest eczema/feline acne-and wiping/washing off the area regularly? Allergies if you are giving her something new, or newly developed allergies? Lack of grooming-arthritis? Or if she is eating less she may be grooming less.

WEB MD has pictures of FELINE ACNE that may help. I  (google) typed in black discharge on cats tail.

There were several references to "STUD TAIL" which may be quite helpful if you research that topic. You may want to confer with your vet. FIRST before following any suggestions-she may have ruled these out already with good reason.

Thank you for caring and working towards an answer!