so, our cat came in last night covered in blobs of what looked a bit like ear wax, very thick, oily and orange. Guessing its something he's found in someones garden. Anyway, We've given him a bit of a clean with a wet cloth, but his fur is still clumped together and he's clearly not very happy. What's ok to use to get his fur back clean again? I've got swarfega etc, but I'm unsure as to whether it'd work – would shampoo/washing up liquid be a better bet?

H

our white cat got covered in oil under a car.

I tried swarfega in the bath plus a shower and still have the scars to prove it.

she ended up at the vets under a general anaesthetic. I think they tumble dried her as she was very fluffy afterwards.

try and stop her ingesting it by grooming would be my advice.

Cut the offending fur?

Dishwasher should do it

I tried swarfega in the bath plus a shower and still have the scars to prove it.

Ditto. Although you can scruff them and they go limp (some sort of kitten carrying reflex). If you try this, do not relax your grip one iota unless you are wearing a suit of armour.

Depending on how easy to handle your cat is, can you just snip out the matted areas? It'll look funny for a while, but will grow back pretty quick.

tie it to the roofrack and drive through a carwash

I'd be going down the clippers route. Or some of that non toxic citrus degreaser stuff…but Jeebus, good luck!!

The best a cat can get.

CTFU?

We keep some pet wipes handy for when they do this – our cat came back yesterday absolutely covered in some sort of brown dust and had to be cleaned for his own sake and before he messed up the furniture. As above, best to get it off before they groom themselves particularly if you don't know what it is.

While you're at it

i washed the GF's cat by standing him in a shallow-filled (2 inches) bath of warm water and shampoo.

the vicious little ba****d tried to kill me, but i just let him know that there was no way he wasn't getting cleaned, and forcefully carried on. after a few minutes he calmed down and just tolerated it.

I'd reckon it's some sort of tree sap.

I had a similar issue with our kitty after a neighbour somewhere started putting down home-made mousetraps – cardboard from cereal boxes and glue. o..O

Long story short, that ended up being a vet's trip. It's the best option, last thing you want to be doing is slinging potentially toxic chemicals about the place on an animal that licks itself clean.

Is that cat wearing Ugg boots?

Swarfega is by far the best stuff for getting grease off. I've even used it when I've had Red Dax in my hair!

Cats hate citrus, so I'd refrain from using any kind of citrus-based degreaser as the smell of that may well send the cat off in a mad frenzy.

I guess it depends on how much your cats like being handled, ours are pretty good, but I still wouldn't try and get them in the bath to clean them. I'd try some sort of technique that you can perform as part of your usual petting process so as to not make a big episode of cleaning them up – perhaps use a paper towel with a bit of washing up liquid and warm water on to stroke the cat in the affected area to see if that removes of softens it.

Neat detergent is usually best for grease/oil. Just wack it on & work it in, THEN rinse with water. Baby shampoo if it's a delicate cat 🙂

A cautionary tale on cat-washing.

http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/cat_bath.htm

but of course, we need photo's…

(nothing is funnier than a wet cat)

Heat the cat up to the melting point of the grease, and then it will just drip off.

Try scruffing it then put a couple of clothes pegs on – let's you free your hands 😉

WD40?

Vet told us to use margarine (yes really) worked a treat. Cat was covered in oil, worked the marg' in, it broke the oil down, wiped it off … result, non oily cat.

"Darling, I've got the chain mail on and am going to grease the cat"

is going to take some explaining if the neighbours overhear.

A second vote for margerine, not sure why it works but it does.

just don't lose your grip or you'll never catch it again.

VIDEO WHAT EVER YOU DO!!!

You probably don't need much water. Relax the cat, stroke it a lot then start with a cloth, perhaps a microfibre one… just like mutual grooming. Until you start rinsing it off with a hosepipe.

If you coat the cat's back in margerine, don't drop it or you'll create an anti-gravity device.

Cougar 😆

We once had a vicious B of a cat but he was a great snake hunter so we loved him. He once fell into my scrap oil drum and we had to clean him.

It took 3 of us wearing welding gloves and we still got clawed badly. We used degreaser followed by baby shampoo.

Funnily enough he was a much nicer cat afterwards.

If you coat the cat's back in margerine, don't drop it or you'll create an anti-gravity device

Or an environmentally-friendly renewable source of energy as it rotates perpetually.

Our cats don't mind the shower too much really, but it's best done with 2 people.
We just use a bit of regular mild shampoo on them twice a year (they stink a bit otherwise), either end of when they're molting & both love getting combed out at any opportunity!

😆 @ Cougar

Be warned that your cat will hate you for about six weeks afterwards. I think it's one of those things you have to accept.

You wouldn't think something with a brain that small could bear a grudge, but believe me, they can. A forced bath is second only to a worming tablet in the cat's mind.

Dont use swarfega. I was once accosted by my fellow employees and cable tied to a parts trolley. The receptionist then proceeded to coat my genital area in axle grease and strip me naked. I was then hosed with a fire hose for a bit more fun. This wasnt normal practice i was about to be married btw.

Anyhow i went in the company showers armed with a tub of swarfega and it was terrible. It just turned my genital area into a big mush of grease and soap which got ever more clarty. I was red raw and getting desperate

I then got a bottle of washing up liquid and by magic it dissapeared.

For a cat i would just wash it in the liquid and then dump it in the bath to rinse.

If you are scared of the consequences then why not put it in a plastic pet box and then dump it in the bath at a suffcient depth. you could even dunk it a few times just for fun 😉 personally i have placed a cat in the shower before (As punishment for digging up carpets) and i did end with some rather nice cuts to my arms, but nothing to bad