How to clean a feces caked cat?

[thrasymachus]

My cat came in from the rain yesterday soaking wet. Eventually I noticed she smelled bad and found that she had feces all over her. She has a bad habit of taking a crap, and not covering it with litter, leaving exposed stinking poo. I guess that habit did not serve her in this instance!

For now I have her locked in the downstairs bathroom, but tomorrow I figure I will have to clean her. I have had to bathe her before, as prior to her teeth being extracted her mouth was so infected and stinky that eventually she would be saturated with fool odor, unless I cleaned her. But I used my hands then. However this time it seems I will need a brush to get all the feces off her. Before when she got away from me during washing, I would just let her go and clean her where she moved to, but this time I don't want her to get stinky water all over the bathroom. Also I don't want to get all scratched up.

Does anyone have suggestions of how to bathe a cat in such a situation?

 

[tammyp]

Hmm, not entirely sure of this picture/how bad it is...Hopefully you have another pair of hands to call upon, and then I'd take the path of least resistance; clean in a way that involves water only at the end.  Eg:

1.  Is she long haired?  Is the poo mainly around her bum?  You may try clipping off the affected fur.  

2.  Does she like brushing?  Can any be brushed off? (and then throw away the brush!)

3.  Can any of it be sponged/wiped off with a wet paper towel?

Finally, you'd face bathing her.  For us, not a problem as we regularly bath and there is simply no drama.  The things that worked in getting to fuss free bathing were to use the shower, and a hand-held shower head.  Not standing in a tub of rising water seemed to work better in terms of fear.  Then use hot-water rather than luke-warm.  Always use a cat formulated shampoo and nothing else (remember, you want no toxins left for them to lick!)  With one person holding the cat, the other using the shower head, it will be easier. We also talk gently and lovingly the whole time.   And be relaxed yourself - yeah, you might get a bit wet and shitty, but so long as you have no  breaks in your skin barrier, a shower will fix that easily.  If you are worried about scratches, you can also wear long sleeves for protection (you'll get wet, but don't worry about it).

 

[sivyaleah]

Our long haired cat had to have feces washed out of her recently, and I am rather positive it was the first time she had been bathed.  There was some kind of "incident" between her and our other cat; we think he may have scared her out of the litter box and the poop stuck to her as she ran out.  To make matters worse, my BF then came upon the two cats as this was happening, Cocoa got freaked and then urinated in his office, wetting herself in the process.

I came home a few minutes later to find a terrified kitty hiding behind one of our radiators, smelling to high heaven.  I didn't know at that point she had feces stuck to her.  

Got her out, and while I was holding her felt something against my hand.  Ugh. Well, ok.  Was going to have to deal with that pronto.

First, my BF managed to pull out the lump of poop.  We nearly had to cut it out, I was concerned it was pulling on her skin too much, and I don't recommend trying to pull on it if it seems like that is happening.  Better to lose some fur.  We got lucky that it came out.

We also turned up the heat in the house a bit so when we were done, she didn't become too cold.  We're in the northeast, and our house tends to be chilly.

Next we cleaned out the kitchen sink first, then put a soft towel down at the bottom for some traction - make sure not to cover the drain.  Thankfully, I have a pull down spray there.  Got the water luke warm at first to get her used to it, then hotter, and used some very mild hand soap (like Ivory, no additives/scent), as I had nothing in the house to wash a cat and it was too late to run out and get anything (I've since purchased some baby shampoo to have on hand).  

To say she was not happy is putting it mildly.  However, I kept a firm, but gentle grip on her, spoke to her softly and explained each step of the way what I was doing - not that she could understand but you know, it helps anyway.  She kept trying to escape, but after a while, she calmed down and let me do what I needed to do.  Rinsed her really well - and then some more just to be sure I got everything out.

I did NOT bother bathing her head/face since it was not necessary and I thought this might upset her even more.

Had a big fluffy towel ready to absorb her.  When that one was soaked through, got another one to rub her down and dry her off even more.  Let me tell you, a long haired cat sure does keep a lot of water on them!  When I thought she was dry enough to let go, I did.  I was a bit concerned that she wouldn't dry off fast enough, and I wasn't about to traumatize her further with a blow dryer; but I guess I managed to get a lot of the water off of her because within an hour she was pretty much dried off.  Brushed her out (which she loves), and that was that.  All was forgiven soon enough and I think she was actually relieved and grateful that she didn't smell like a litter box any longer.

 

[tammyp]

Hi Sivaleah - the towels, heating the room etc...are great ideas(we do that too, but forgot to mention)!  

Kato hates the noise of hairdryers, but he will comfortably sit down in front of the portable heater.  Of course, he has to lick himself dry too, and while this long process is going on, we sit with him and he comes and flops on us as he rotates to lick and roast.  We offer him a brush also and generally turn it into a love session.  At the end of having to lick himself all over, he comes and falls asleep on us.  If its even a slightly cool/not a hot day, I think he is doing this for the warmth - we offer him a blanket/towel cave on our laps and he loves it.

I'm no chemist, but I would advocate to use a cat-shampoo, something very mild and one that avoids essential oils (some DOG oriented manufacturers seem to be a bit uneducated in what things are not good for cats).  I have heard some awful stories of poisoning and skin irritation from using normal soap or people shampoo - even the mild ones.

 

[aharris]

Our DLH gets poo stuck to her rump about once or twice a year, and since she's the half-feral one who hates to be handled in any firm way, getting her clean again is always a two person challenge. We usually have to shut her in the shower (about the only thing we like the sliding glass doors for) and let the shower water run on her until she starts to cry, and at that point she's deflated enough that we can handle her without being ripped up (my husband has scars from the first time we tried bathing her the nicer way; she went nuts and climbed over his shoulder and down his back).

Then, one of us holds her and the other one scrubs her hiney to remove the poo.

Then, we dry her as much as she'll tolerate before letting her go. If I run a space heater into the foot space beneath my desk, she'll sit there and clean off.

As rough as the whole operation sounds and as much we both hate resorting to it, she never seems to hold it against us and is back in our laps within the hour.

 

[korina]

Paper towel/toilet paper/Water.

Generously soak your paper with water so its dripping.

Wipe the but and fur.

My poor cat had extractions, and her terrible dentist forced her to where PLASTIC cone cap for 10 days.

The pain killers constipated her, when it was done, it was diareha time, and it got over her fine fluffy white fur.