Stud Tail in Cats: Causes and Solutions

Does your cat’s tail feel greasy or waxy? Does your cat’s skin beneath the fur seem somewhat darker at the base of the tail than the tip or elsewhere on the body? Have you washed your cat’s tail more times than you can count, but still the grease and discoloration remains? If so, your cat may have stud tail – a condition similar to acne in humans, but which manifests on the tail.

Stud tail can actually climb its way up on the back of your cat! Its sore, it hurts, and it can even smells a bit if stud tail becomes infected and harbors yeast and bacteria if not treated soon.

Pictures of Stud Tail

cat stud tail shaved stud tail on a cat

Cat Stud tail -  It’s like small little blackheads. Cats that tend to be greasy, also tend to have stud tail.

What causes stud tail?

What’s important to keep in mind when dealing with your cat’s stud tail is that it is a skin condition, and not a problem with the fur. The greasy, waxy feel of the fur is just a symptom. The underlying cause of the greasiness are dozens if not hundreds of tiny blackheads that have formed on the skin of the tail between the hair shafts.

Stud tail, as a type of feline acne, occurs in cats for the same reason pimples occur in humans: puberty.  When human children become teenagers, their hormones often cause excessive oil to be produced on and around the face, making acne an everyday issue. Cats, like humans, produce excessive oil when growing into adults, but secrete that oil via the base of the tail rather than the face. This oil buildup is what causes blackheads to form and your cat’s fur to feel greasy or waxy.

Stud tail can also reappear throughout adult life just as adult acne continually affects some people. 

What can I do about my cat’s stud tail?

The key to beating stud tail is to keep your cat’s tail clean and free of grease. To do this, you need a soap that is both a powerful fur degreaser and an effective moisturizer and deep-cleanser for your cat’s skin. Many commercial soaps will meet one of these criteria but few meet all three, which is why I created the Anna Designer Pet Cat Stud Tail Soap Bar for use on my own cats. It is made with a mixture of Dead Sea Salt, Goat’s Milk, Lemongrass, and other organic ingredients to degrease, deep-cleanse, and moisturize naturally.

Some other actions you may wish to take in order to manage your cat’s stud tail include:

  1. Keeping the cat tail fur area shaved and cleaned
  2. Making certain the male is either neutered or has at least 3 females to breed in the year
  3. Talking to your vet about this condition -  if left unkempt, stud tail can actually cause your cat’s tail to become quite infected - sore - raw and oozing!

cat stud tail soap

 

 

Persian Cat Stud Tail Soap Bar
by Anna Designer Pet
In Stock
Ready to SHIP Any where in the US or Internationally

 

 

 

Laura's solution for stud tail

I created  a bar made especially for cat stud tail issues and it's the only known product on the market for this issue. You can either first try using blue dawn in the bath to help cleanse and degrease the area, but in reality you are are going to most likely also need our bar. Our bar contains ingredients to help heal and soothe while degreasing. You'll also notice once your male is neutered, the greasienss will stop on its own.

Does Anna Designer Pet Cat Stud Tail Soap actually work?

Yes it does! Not only that, it is much safer to use on your cat than most commercial soaps, which tend to strip fur and skin of the natural moisture they need! I first formulated what is now called the Anna Designer Pet Cat Stud Tail Soap for use on my own cats when they would develop the early signs of stud tail.

Fellow breeders would ask me how I keep my cats so clean and their fur so soft, and I would offer them one of my stud tail soaps. Eventually, it got to be so popular that I started selling it as a commercial product to people who bought cats from me, veterinarians, and others who were concerned for their cats’ health and performance at cat shows.

stud tail ebookWhat makes Castle Baths’ Anna Designer Pet Stud Tail Soap so unique from other pet soaps on the market is that it is made entirely from all-natural ingredients, to include Dead Sea Salt, goat’s milk, and Lemongrass. All three ingredients are powerful natural cleansers, proven in both folk tradition and scientific studies.

  • The Dead Sea Salt is what gives my Stud Tail Soap its ability to deep-cleanse your cat’s pores, where grease and dirt first starts to build up during the early stages of stud tail.This is also what gives my stud tail bar it's cracked appearance. This is a good thing. (see image below)
  • Natural Goat’s Milk is an excellent moisturizer for both skin and fur on cats, as it will draw moisture from the surrounding air and water into itself and then infuse the skin and fur with the collected moisture when used. Because of this, my Stud Tail Soap may appear wet even when not in use. This is a good thing and a sign that it is doing its job as an effective moisturizer.
  • Lemongrass eliminates the grease already on the outer layers of the skin and fur, thus meeting the degreasing criteria.

You can learn more about our Stud Tail Soap in our FREE cat soap and shampoo ebook. Go to page 9 for a complete guide on how and when to use our Stud Tail Soap.

stud tail soap bar

 

quote I love this soap bar and the smell. It takes the oil out of the fur and does not strip it dry. I have one cat that gets oily all over and I use the stud tail over his whole body and it works great and when I am finished he smells so good and the hair is soft but not oily. I do use goop but if used alone it dries the skin and hair. Once I get the goop out and then I use the stud tail all over and it is great.quote -  Betty Carter

Link to our Cat Stud Tail Soap