Smelly Cat

[kiwideus]

I adopted a long haired cat from the shelter and he had not been taken care of by the owner before he was rescued and he STINKS! I gave him a bath, but to no avail, he still smells. I dont want to lose my arms or further traumatise him by bathing him again, so is there another way to get rid of the smell?

 

[hissy]

you can use cornstarch- take a little of it and sprinkle it over his coat, then rub it in gently and comb it out. You can also clip his hair near this rear which will help the smell factor too. I am guessing at just *what* he smells like (but you don't need to fill me in)

If he has stinky breath, check his teeth and gums for problems, chances are he is just still a bit stressed and is urinating on himself, which is actually common until he calms down.

 

[kiwideus]

It is in the fur, his breath smells fine, he smells like old rags, or something like that, its hard to describe, sometimes it smells like old peanuts, his bum looks clean, and he is going in his litter box with no problems. He smelled like that when we got him, it doesnt smell like urine. It may also have been from his cold? But I will try the cornstarch idea. Thanks!

 

[angelzoo]

What about his anal glands, could the smell be from that?

There are many dry baths you can use, many whipes to improve the coat/skin and scent of the cat.

I use these whips now from Natures Miracle. They work great, it also removes dander (aka allergies!) Makes em smell good!

 

[kiwideus]

The smell doesnt come from the rear end, it is in the fur, like he has been lying on something smelly.
I am going to look out for those wipes. Thanks! (c:

 

[angelzoo]

Vikki: That's true, I was thinking of suggesting that myself. But I guess it depends on if the health benifit will out weight the stress that the animal could endure at a groomers. She already said he gets stressed just when she tries to trim his back end.

Some cats even have to be knocked out before they can be groomed/shaved because they just can't deal with it otherwise.

As for the pet wipes, these are the ones I am not using, there's another person here who said they use this on their show cats.

I don't know if you can buy it at any BIG chains, but I know it's at online stores.

 

[kiwideus]

Yup, he was given a clean bill of health yesterday (when I brought him in for shots, I asked they make sure he was healthy and not sick before they gave him his shots and sure enough they checked him up.
I think its cause I gave him a bath and I didnt want to wash his head because I didnt want water to get in his ears, and the smell is mostly around the head - I got it off the rest of the body. He smells like vanilla right now.

 

[alexnell]

I have noticed a weird smell when some of my fosters arrive, too.

Some of my theories:
--Terrible food quality at previous home or shelter
--Being under stress causes hormones/adrenalin/etc.(?) to give the cats natural skin oils a different scent
--Absorbed the odor of an *aromatic* dog the previous foster home had. :tounge2:

In all the cases, the cats smelled fine within 3 days to a week of being in my house, even without being bathed (I'm not brave enough to bathe a cat I just met:chicken: ). I've had several people who came to our adoption events remark that my cats were the only ones out of many they'd seen at various Humane Societies and pounds that DIDN'T smell strange. I wonder how many people are turned off from adoption by that?

 

[kiwideus]

Kahu now smells fine, I think the smell rubbed off him from something at the shelter. He also looks extra fluffy now

He is such a cute little thing!

 

[moganbee]

i was in a new pet store in a town nearby and found a spray that you spray in the air above your cat, its falls on it, then you brush it through the fur!! Now Gracie is even more of a princess cause she smells like she just stepped out of the beauty parlor.