Neutered Last Week - Smells Awful

[permanentruby]

I adopted a new cat a couple of days ago - he's two-years-old and was neutered just last Thursday. He absolutely WREAKS and smells up everything he lies on, rooms, etc. We got some waterless shampoo stuff for him, but it just isn't cutting it.

When will we be able to bathe him?

 

[kashmir64]

Does it smell like antiseptic or infection? If it's the latter, you may want to take him to a vet and have it checked. As far as bathing, I don't know. I've only done butt baths on babies. Hopefully, someone can answer that one. I've actually only had one male cat, many females, and he only smelled of antiseptic for a day or two.

 

[amysuen]

Yes, what kind of smell is it? I'm no expert but we've had 9 cats spayed/neutered over the years and I don't remember them having any smell except for a mild antiseptic/hospital smell right after they got back from the vet. If he's smelling that strongly I'd take him to the vet to make sure there's no infection.

 

[abyeb]

I agree with the other posters. I would be concerned about an infection. The only smell that Charlie ever has after the vet is the smell of the clinic.

 

[Zolari's Mom]

(This is permanentruby...for some reason my account isn't working)

Sorry, I should have identified the smell better. I don't think it smells like an infection? The best way I can describe it is that he smells like a barn.

 

[abyeb]

Has he been cleaning himself after he uses the litterbox? Traces of feces on his bottom would certainly make him smell like a barn.

 

[Zolari's Mom]

Has he been cleaning himself after he uses the litterbox? Traces of feces on his bottom would certainly make him smell like a barn.

Yeah, and he's short haired and has that area shaved right now, so I don't think it's that :/ I'm wondering if he was just in a rough/dirty/crowded situation and the stink came with him. I think he was only surrendered about a week ago.

 

[foxden]

Sounds like he could use a bath. Unfortunately, a full wet bath is not a good idea since he is recovering from surgery. ( But you already knew this).
You could try a sponge bath with a warm soapy washcloth to see if he tolerates it. Follow the soapy cloth with a damp washcloth to "rinse".

I've used baby shampoo (many years ago) and blue Dawn dish soap to bathe cats. Dawn is an effective flea bath and is also used to clean animals after oil spills.

 

[DreamerRose]

I think he just needs a bath too. By this weekend his wound should be healed enough that you can try it. If you've never bathed a cat before, be forewarned that most cats hate water and it will be quite a trial for you.

 

[Willowy]

Tomcats are smelly. He may have a residual tomcat odor, it takes a while for the hormones to go down. Plus the surgery smell and the shelter smell and all that. I think you can bathe them 10 days after surgery, but you should probably call the vet to confirm that. For now you can wipe him with a damp cloth, that might help a bit.

Have you looked at his teeth? If he has bad teeth, he'll transfer that smell to his fur when he licks himself.

 

[permanentruby]

Have you looked at his teeth? If he has bad teeth, he'll transfer that smell to his fur when he licks himself.

His teeth look ok from what I've seen, but his breath is definitely bad! I think we're going to try a sponge bath tonight for him, and he goes to the vet tomorrow. Any recommendations for the bad breath? My other cat doesn't seem to have this issue.

 

[kashmir64]

I'm getting ready to try Proden Plaqueoff for my dogs. They make it for both dogs/cats in both powder and treat. I know nothing about this product except for the reviews I've read, but they have all been good. Chewy and Amazon carry this, so you can check it out for yourself and see if it's worth a shot.