If your cat has ever had black specks on the cat skin (not fleas), then skin fold dermatitis might be one of the reasons. 

A few months ago, Charlie, my big fluffy orange cat, had black specks on his upper lip. I knew they weren’t because of fleas, I combed them with a flea comb and there were no signs of fleas.

At first, I thought had had just been rummaging under my bed and got dust on his white fur on his upper lip. But over days, it got darker, not better. 

I couldn’t really see what was going on under the white fur. 

When I tried wiping it off, the black flecks came off in the form of scabs. But in a matter of a few hours, that area became really pinky red, like when you scratch off scabs to reveal a pinkish bloody skin.

So, I took him in to see the vet, and as it turned out, it was something called lip fold dermatitis (or skin fold dermatitis). It is a form of infection caused by moisture in the area. 

Charlie is not the best at grooming himself, so this makes sense…

Lip Fold Dermatitis Wipes

The vet gave me (or sold me) dermatitis wipes specifically designed to treat the upper lip fold.

It came like small circular wipes and I was instructed to wipe the dark area on Charlie’s upper lip twice a day for a week. 

The Duoxo Chlorhexidine 3T PS Pads wipes were about 2 inches in diameter and there were 30 wipes in a container. 

Because the area was the size of a finger, I didn’t need one whole wipe for every time I wiped Charlie’s lip. 

So, I cut the pads in half and used only half each time, so that the wipes would go a longer way. 

At first, the same thing happened as when I wiped it with water. The black specks came off, but there was a pinky red skin that remained. 

But as instructed, I contined to wiped Charlie’s upper lip twice a day for about 4-5 days. And, AMAZINGLY, the dark spots went away!! Aannnndd the pinky red skin didn’t appear anymore!

I wanted to share this with you, and hopefully this helps you if your cat is dealing with the same ordeal. Good luck!