Cat Not Washing Herself

[Candybee]

My Gypsy is a newly adopted older shelter cat about 8-10 yrs. (Age unknown) She also has chronic dental hygiene that will be taken care of next month.

In the meantime, I've noticed that she does not clean herself. She is in perfect health other than her bad teeth. I assume she probably is not grooming herself due to a painful mouth.

My question is, how can I help keep her fresh and groomed feeling. I've noticed lately that her fur feels almost tacky on her back. Its hard to describe. Its not oily or sticky just not freshly cleaned feeling after a cat gives themselves a tongue bath.

I brush her daily to help her feel more "groomed" and to stimulate her hair and skin and to also keep loose fur off her.

Aside from giving her a bath what would be a good alternative to freshening her up. I was thinking of making a solution of water with a tiny bit of vinegar, wetting some paper towels, and wiping her with them. I refuse to spend good money on overpriced pet wipes at the store and not sure about regular kitchen wipes like lysol or others. Not sure what chemicals are in them. But I think the vinegar should be safe. Or am I wrong? I already talked to the vet about it and he agreed the vinegar would be safe in small %.

Just trying to get any ideas from I have not thought about. Thank you!

 

[maggiedemi]

Please don't use Lysol wipes. I've heard that Lysol is not safe to use around cats, and certainly not on the cat. I have heard of people making wipes out of Dr. Bronner's baby mild soap and water, but for that price you might just want to buy some kitty wipes. I'm not sure about vinegar, it makes my cat Demi throw up.

 

[maggiedemi]

A tiny bit of blue original Dawn dish liquid with water on a wash cloth might work too. I know some people use it to bathe their cats when they get fleas.

 

[Candybee]

Please don't use Lysol wipes. I've heard that Lysol is not safe to use around cats, and certainly not on the cat. I have heard of people making wipes out of Dr. Bronner's baby mild soap and water, but for that price you might just want to buy some kitty wipes. I'm not sure about vinegar, it makes my cat Demi throw up.

I don't plan to use the lysol wipes. I wanted something natural.

I do make handmade soap and I have some unscented handmade castile. I just was trying to avoid using soap if I can.

You say Demi got sick from vinegar. Was is from using a solution of water and vinegar to wipe her down? I was planning on making a solution with 1% vinegar to water. I can't imagine a cat getting sick off that amount plus she is not cleaning herself at the moment so injesting some would be minimal if at all.

 

[maggiedemi]

Yeah, I mixed vinegar and water and wiped him down with a washcloth. He puked when he licked it off himself. Maybe I used too much vinegar, I can't remember how much, it was a long time ago.

 

[Candybee]

Sorry to hear she got sick from it. I will keep thinking about it. I may just give in and give her a bath. I have my own handmade soap which is very gentle. I just hate putting her through that while she is still having tooth pain so I will wait on that.

 

[Candybee]

Just got through her daily brushing with her. I can still feel a kind of residue feeling on her back fur. She's not dirty, she's just not freshly clean like cats are when they bathe themselves. Sigh...

 

[maggiedemi]

A tiny bit of soap with water on a washcloth is just like a wipe.

 

[Candybee]

A tiny bit of soap with water on a washcloth is just like a wipe.

I think I may go ahead and try this. Thanks a lot!

 

[LAL]

Cornstarch?

 

[auntie]

My cat LK stopped grooming herself when her stomatitis got overwhelming. I tried to keep her clean with a deshedding brush (furminator) and grooming wipes. Yes, these things are expensive, but there was no other safe and thorough way to keep her fur clean. I didn’t want to use soapy water because I didn’t want the residue on her fur. Now that she has had a full-mouth extraction, she is grooming herself again. Actually she didn’t really start grooming until we got a kitten, about a month after the extraction. She started to groom the kitten and then herself. But I think it would have happened anyway once the tooth pain was removed. My poor cat was suffering so much, I didn’t want her condition to be any worse than it already was, so I took a deep breath and bought a $40 brush and a $15 box of grooming wipes. I’m so glad I did and I still use those things to keep both of my cats neat. Sorry I can’t think of a more budget-friendly way, but this got us through a bad time. Good luck with your cat!!