Cat Has Dried Tar On It's Paw And I Can't Get It Off

[Kikimari]

My cat got outside yesterday while the door was opened. That same night I noticed some black stuff on my bed sheets, I figured my got rolled up in some mud since it was raining earlier that day. I found her and checked her fur, but nothing black, though I did notice some black stuff under her back left paw. I showed my mom and she agreed with my thought, that she somehow got tar on her paw. We have no idea where she stepped in it from, but it has dried up and seems to bother her when we try to get it off. Some of it seems stuck to the skin part of her paws too, I bought some dawn to try and get it off. But, I'm not sure if it's even working to make it soft or anything. Should I take her to a vet to see if they can help? Or is there something else I can do at home to get it off?

Note: My cat hates when we mess with her paws, so she gets difficult and fussy.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Welcome!!
You could try mayonnaise or cooking oil, which might break down the tar but she might lick or chew at it and ingest the tar.

The best solution probably is to take her in to the vet.

 

[Kikimari]

I see, then I will definitely do that first thing tomorrow morning. Thank you very much for the advise. I'm just worried she will be poisoned the more it stays on her.

 

[1 bruce 1]

If she's easy to handle aside from her paws, doing what Furballsmom suggested would be a good idea. Put the oil on her paw, then wrap it up and hold her (hence being easy to handle) for 20 minutes or so, then see if you can use a comb to loosen the tar. If you have a slicker brush, it might bust it up easier than a comb (which will do more pulling).
If you have a set of clippers, or even an old beard trimmer, you could bust it up with the brush then clip the tar off.
Do you have a helper to help hold her?

 

[Kikimari]

My mom when she gets home can help me hold her, but she hates being held for long periods of time. I can barely hold her for 1 minute without her getting fussy and wanting to go down. I'm going to try tonight with my mom though, see if maybe we can get something done together. If not, I'll definitely have to take her to a vet or the local humane society to help get this thing off of her. Thank you for the advice though.

 

[Furballsmom]

Let us know how things go

 

[Kikimari]

I will, thank you everyone for all the help and support!

 

[IndyJones]

No wonder her paws are tender, it looks like the cement has fused her toes together. Vet will be able to get this off but if she is bugging at her paw too much so it bleeds, you could try putting a gauze on her paw or making a cone of shame from cardboard or other material.

 

[1 bruce 1]

K Kikimari how did things go?

 

[Kikimari]

I went to the vet yesterday and they were able to get the tar out of her paw without putting her to sleep. Thankfully, they said that nothing else was wrong with her and she seemed fine, except for a bit of swelling with the back left paw. They did an x-ray just in case too, then the doctor gave me some ointment to put it on twice a day.

Thank you to everyone who helped me, I really appreciate that. So glad that I'm not the only one who freaks out about these things.