Those of you with cats with long fur - help me out?

[tzikeh]

Artemis occasionally gets poo stuck to the fur around her butt when she's having diarrhea. Today we have QUITE the doozy. shrift and I have rolled her up in a towel several times and I've used a pair of scissors to cut out the fur that's uh... pooed, as much as I can. Unfortunately, Artie is a struggler like you wouldn't believe, so we've had to have a go at it about five times thus far, which is wearing us out. Also, I've now gotten to the point where I've cut the fur down so close to her body that I can't tell if I might put the scissor into her skin, so I don't want to use it anymore. But there's *still* too much poo to leave for her to clean off on her own.

If anyone has *any* advice at all, I'd really appreciate it.

Comments

[maygra.livejournal.com]

Have her butt shaved. Seriously. OR ask your vet for some Kitty downers that you can give when you need to trim her fur. Poohbah doesn't have diarrhea but he still gets crap stuck in his fur. He doesn't struggle like Artemis does, but still, no cat wants hands or scissors near their butt. Also, washing with a warm washcloth if you are afraid of cutting her. Or a bath.

I don't think I've read about this before, so do you know why she gets diarrhea? IS there something the vet could give her (I'm thinking pepto bismol whcih we give to the dogs, but I can't remember if you can give it to cats.)

[maygra.livejournal.com]

Oh, the other thing you can do to help get rid of the ppo left is to use vaseline just like on a baby's bottom. Se will lick it off but it will hellp make her butt easier to wipe.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Really? Vaseline? And licking it off won't make her sick?

[thefannishwaldo.livejournal.com]

I don't know about cats, but I know with ferrets we can give them straight vaseline as... uh... well, some of us call it 'ferretlube'. To help things pass through the intestines. It greases them up, but doesn't make them sick.

However, if she's already having diarrhea, that may not be something you want to encourage.

[maygra.livejournal.com]

No, it won't It's kind of the baseline for furball remedies. HOWEVER, since she already has problems with loose stools that might make it worse. but if you can smear her but then wipe her off really good, what's left shouldn't make it worse.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Oh - I do get her butt shaved when I go to the vet's - I meant, what do I do *right now* to get rid of the rest of it?

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

And I will look into the downers.

[sunqist.livejournal.com]

No pepto -- it has aspirin in it, which is toxic to cats.

[maygra.livejournal.com]

That's right. I just looked that up. I know we can give it to the dogs.

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

What Maygra said. And I fervently second the washcloth with warm water approach. Just make sure you're wearing rubber gloves at the time!

[klia.livejournal.com]

Awww, poor Artie. Can you fill the bathroom sink with warm water and hold her while sticking her butt in the water for a little soak?

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

... I can only imagine what would happen if I tried that. ;) She's not exactly docile and I'm not sure I want to find out what she'd be like with her butt in a sink full of water. At least, not right now -- she's tired me out so far. Though now I'm wondering if she'd hate it or love it - you never know.

[klia.livejournal.com]

Well, good luck. I hope the washcloth and/or Vaseline help.

[bkwyrm.livejournal.com]

I second the vaseline - we put it on Turrie's paws to "grease" his digestive tract. Helps with hairballs, because he cleans himself AND the other two.
Poor furry kitty. We tend to wrap Stewie in a towel when this happens and actually wash her rear end. She hates us a lot for about 24 hours, but then she forgets about it.

[bkwyrm.livejournal.com]

That is, we wrap her up in the towel so that only her rear is exposed. Two towels, I'd say, for a non-declawed cat. And you need two people to do it.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

How do you go about washing - washcloth with warm water? Spray nozzle? Mr. Clean? *g*

[bkwyrm.livejournal.com]

Washcloth with warm water and, if it's caked on, we use a little bit of this organic baby soap. We've also used veggie oil to get clumps loose on occasion - she went through a really bad tummy "flu" a few years ago. One time, we just put her little kitty butt in a sink full of water and scrubbed it down. I don't think she's ever forgiven us for that!

[bethcarielle.livejournal.com]

Before my elderly cat passed last fall he use to have problems with poo butt. Usually two of us could get his rear legs into the sink and use dilute dishsoap in a spray bottle and the sink sprayer to get him clean. Then wrapped in a towel to wring out as much water as possible.

[reginagiraffe]

One thing for when you're using scissors and worried about cutting skin...

If you can get a comb through the fur, then anything above the comb is fur, not skin.

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

Tzikeh? I have no idea what to do for you, because we have two dogs, and I'm allergic to cats.

However, I will admit that I've been giggling over this post, and then immediately feeling guilty. *^^*

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

:D That's okay - it's because I keep saying "poo".

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is. *g*

What's even funnier is that Rowen is a semi-long-haired dog, with especially long hair on his hindquarters, and he's gotten a few dingleberries before.

Of course, I've been the one elected to remove them.

Dingleberries = evil.

[kadymae.livejournal.com]

Dingleberries = evil.

Wordy Mc Word.

[aadikah.livejournal.com]

Kleenex Cottonelle wipes (http://www.cottonelle.com/products/folded.asp), or even baby wipes, maybe. I know the former have worked well in the past, and they can be thrown in the trash afterwards.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

oh wow - and nothing in the formula for the wipes is dangerous to the cat? I'm gonna go buy those to have on hand. Thank you!

[aadikah.livejournal.com]

You'd have to ask a vet or google all of the ingredients. Boudicea did not have any adverse reaction to the wipes, but she's only been exposed to them a handful of times.

Ingrdients:
Water, Propylene Glycol, DMDM Hydantoin, Disodium Cocamphodiacetate, Polysorbate 20, Fragrance, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Aloe Barbadensis, Tocopheryl Acetate
(from Drugstore.com)

[aadikah.livejournal.com]

Also, PetSmart, PetCo, and the like should have pre-moistened wipes specifically made for cats and dogs.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I had some Nature's Miracle wipes for when Calvin was a puppy and constantly making a mess on himself and the world - got them at Petco. They were for both dogs and cats.

[ladysorka]

I use these on Chiana all the time, specially formulated so that they're okay for her to lick off. They're also great for getting off those loose hairs that just won't come off with the brush.

There's probably an equivalent at the local pet store, but I just order them from Foster and Smith.

[kadymae.livejournal.com]

When Miss Malificent has that kind of problem we give her a butt a quick bath. If you heat the water up (like a good hot shower) your cat will mind it somewhat less.

At which point I use a mild shampoo and just scrub/soak it out as best we can. If your sink has a sprayer, that's a godsend.

Good luck.

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

This is bringing back flashbacks of the time when I was all dressed for work and my long-haired cat had, uh, a poosplosion.

I ended up in the shower in my undies and bra, him pinned upside-down between my knees, with the handheld showerhead aimed at his ass with one hand and the washcloth in the other.....

that wasn't a fun morning, no sirree.

[kadymae.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see you have practiced the Martial Art of Catbathing.

Miss Malificent has had her butt in the sink enough times that when she sees that we're hauling her to it, she just glares at us and resigns herself to having a wet butt and a stint in the guest room.

[rosawestphalen.livejournal.com]

There's this organic liquid, Richard's Pet Calm, that's chamomile and hops and relaxes stressed out kitties. I used it when my kitties were coming down off their anesthesia and it made them mellow. The effect lasted about 3 hours. That might help with the cleaning off process.

Very stressful time for you and your kitty. My thoughts are with you.

[the-shoshanna.livejournal.com]

I have no advice on washing, I'm afraid; my longhaired icon kitty sometimes gets poo in his butt fur, but so far he's never had diarrhea. (Thank god.) I make Geoff hold him while I cut it out with scissors. But in addition to rosawestphalen's suggestion of Richard's Pet Calm, there's also something called Rescue Remedy, an herbal liquid you put in food or water that supposedly calms cats down (it didn't work for me) and, what may be more useful, Feliway. This comes in a spray bottle so you can just give the room a spritz of it before wiping or washing her, and it worked wonders to calm our cats while we had Thursday Next; it was also recommended by a vet to a friend whose cat freaked and sometimes became violent when she entered or left her apartment. Either might make the whole experience less unpleasant for all concerned.

[mara-snh.livejournal.com]

Hi. You don't know me. I tripped in here via someone else's LJ and immediately sympathized with your situation.

Many long-haired cats have this problem. It's best to keep their furs trimmed in the back at all times, do they don't get it soiled in the littler box. For your present situation, I recommend two things if your cat won't stand for a butt-dunking. Use a soft cloth -- not terrycloth -- soaked with warm water and folded loosely into a pad. Hold it up against her soiled area to get the fecal matter all good and wet. Then turn the cloth inside-out and clean it off. Repeat as necessary. The second suggestion is to ask your vet for a product called Medicam. Most cats love it. You give it mouth using a small syringe-type applicator. It will soothe the urinary tract and help your cat relieve herself more compfortably; it's quite possible she's developed an irritation at the urethral opening from the diarrhea, which is very caustic. Be n the lookout for signs of a UTI, in fact (urinary tract infection), which can be secondary to this situation. Of course, you must keep your cat's litter box scrupulously clean while she's so vulnerable to infection.

Please do not use Vaseline or any other inert lubricant on your cat's anal area. It will carry away all the nutrients being digested in your cat's system and make her more susceptible to infection. If you feel some sort of lubricant will help with your cleaning project, you can puncture some Vitamin E oil capsules and use the oil freely. When the cat licks it up, she'll be doing herself some actual good. You can also use cod liver oil or fish oil, but a cat in your cat's current condition will benefit most from Vitamin E right now.

Hope this helps. Good luck!