My cat has awful dandruff! What can I do to make it go away?

WARNING: Do not use any essential oils, even in diluted form. These can be toxic to cats as they will build up (I think in the liver) and eventually poison the cat.

What brand of dry food are you using? Expensive doesn't necessarily indicate quality - especially if it's Science Diet or Iams.

And the fact that it's dry doesn't help. You would see an improvement if you feed all wet food.

And then of course, you'd probably see improvement with better quality foods. There are ways to get cats to try new foods that you might not have thought of.

But all that aside, I suggest adding fish oil to the food. You might have more luck adding it to wet food, but you can try squirting some on the dry. But be sure to toss it within 1/2 after your cat is done eating. Getting dry food wet is a good way to get a sick cat because eventually it stirs up a nice bacteria soup.

Fish oil:

Only Natural Pet Icelandic Salmon Oil (pump) (http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Only-Natura...

Good for hairballs, good for skin and coat.

Selection: You typically won't use human fish oils - at least not the ones in liquid form - because they have added citrus flavors to many of them. You don't want to use cod liver oil - at least not on a very regular basis - because it has too much vitamin a. Plain old fish oil or salmon oil is best. I prefer it in liquid form as opposed to capsules for ease of dispensing. You want it to say that they've done everything possible to remove mercury. I prefer one with the fewest additives, especially not rosemary. Or propyllgallate.

For ease of use, I prefer to buy it in liquid form in a squeeze bottle or pump.

Dosage: I give a squirt every day. It's not measured but probably comes to somewhere around 1/4 tsp.

Have your parents ever thought of taking her to the vet?? The first thing you do when this happens is get an exam and get the urine tested for a urinary tract infection. Cats are not stuffed animals, they get sick too. If she has been checked, the next thing is to determine was things are stressing her around the house and to clean up all pee smell. Cats do very well on prozac (fluoxetine) for urinary behavior issues. You can get a 60 day supply for like $10. Go to the vet and see if he recommends this.

Just a guess, but do you happen to live in Arizona or another dry state? My kitty has the same problem. I can't really afford it, and she doesn't seem to be itchy, but if it gets too bad, I would take her to a groomer. They could probably help and explain what you can do to further prevent it. But I really think the dry heat sometimes dries their skin, and may cause dandruff. Good luck.

my vet told me to give my cat half of a 1000 mg fish oil capsule a day. I give my cat a bath when it gets real bad. I use a tee tree oil shampoo.

Does she drink an adequate supply of water daily? She could be dehydrated.

Get it to shower with Head & Shoulders.

Smells like Head & Shoulders time ^_~

Get a dog?