My cat's skin is really dry?

He may not be getting enough moisture in his diet. In the wild, cats get upwards of 80% of their daily moisture from the food that they eat, so they are not instinctually drawn to drinking water out of bowls. Some cats adjust to this just fine, but others will only drink the bare minimum, which can dry out their skin and coat. The best way to combat this is to feed him canned/pouched, wet food as at least one of his daily meals. You could also try out a cat drinking fountain, as some cats prefer moving water to still.

Supplementing his diet with Fish oil is another excellent suggestion. Most pet food stores sell little pumps of this stuff, and you can just squirt a bit on his dry food, and mix it around. It stinks to high heaven, but after a few weeks you should start seeing improvement.

Forgot to mention - if you are also noticing any red or brown "dust" coming off of him, either after sitting, or after the bath, he may have caught some fleas :( The vet is a great idea, especially with the irritation he is having, and keep the other things in mind should he be flea-free.

The white specs are called "dander" and yes it is dry skin... Most all cats have some dander, but it shouldn't be excessive... Have you tried different brands of canned food? My cat only likes mushy (not shredded) Friskies canned food. She's also fussy about the dry... It has to be Purina... A teaspoon of vegetable or olve oil a day on the dry stuff will help keep the 'dander" away......... Good Luck.............

You might try this: Instead of buying stuff at the vet, we would give our cat the used up margarine carton to the cat. She loved it. She licked it out real good. The best part of it was, it took care of the hair balls. If you know nothing about them, the cat brings up a huge hair ball. They cough and work at it until it finally comes up. Ask your vet about it the next time you are there.

You can try a fish oil supplement in his food. He could be lacking omega 3s. Try to give him at least a 50% wet food diet in case he is dehydrated. I like to do a 5 ounce can in the morning and a measured-out kibble meal for dinner.

But see what the vet says too.

Rub some unscented lotion into his fur.