Angel has been banished
Temporarily of course.
He's understandably upset and confused, I can hear that in his miaowing, but I have good reason.
You've all seen his wonderfully bushy tail, and this is where the problem is.
Angel has somehow managed to get a blob of soft poo stuck in those tail hairs, right up near his body.
He's been trying to clean himself, but won't let me help by washing the area.
I can't have him sleeping, or even lying, on my pillows, (his favourite place), or on the couch, until he is clean again, so I shooed him outside to the back porch. I certainly can't have him up on the table until he is clean.
I put his water and food bowls out there, and his litter tray too.
Then I dropped a few "greenies" into his bowl. They are a dental aid treat for cats and he loves them, so while he crunched away I lifted his tail and did a very quick "finger comb" of the area.
Oh yuk!!
It helped, I removed quite a large blob before he turned on me, so I left him to it and went to scrub my hands. Several times I scrubbed. I think I removed a layer of skin.
I left him for an hour, then took out a couple more "greenies" and a wet flannel. While he crunched, I lifted his tail and washed as much as I could as quickly as I could.
Then I went back inside and removed another layer of my skin.
He is still out there, I took advantage of the situation to get the house vacuumed without him dashing about chasing the brush head.
I think if I leave him for the rest of the afternoon that will give him time to get himself cleaned up and I'll do another quick wash, if he lets me, before I allow him back inside.
He's probably going to be angry with me for shutting him out, but I don't see any other solution.
It's a very warm, sunny day and if I leave the doors propped open he would spend most of the day out there voluntarily anyway and he seems to have settled down, he's not miaowing or scratching at the door right now.
He's understandably upset and confused, I can hear that in his miaowing, but I have good reason.
You've all seen his wonderfully bushy tail, and this is where the problem is.
Angel has somehow managed to get a blob of soft poo stuck in those tail hairs, right up near his body.
He's been trying to clean himself, but won't let me help by washing the area.
I can't have him sleeping, or even lying, on my pillows, (his favourite place), or on the couch, until he is clean again, so I shooed him outside to the back porch. I certainly can't have him up on the table until he is clean.
I put his water and food bowls out there, and his litter tray too.
Then I dropped a few "greenies" into his bowl. They are a dental aid treat for cats and he loves them, so while he crunched away I lifted his tail and did a very quick "finger comb" of the area.
Oh yuk!!
It helped, I removed quite a large blob before he turned on me, so I left him to it and went to scrub my hands. Several times I scrubbed. I think I removed a layer of skin.
I left him for an hour, then took out a couple more "greenies" and a wet flannel. While he crunched, I lifted his tail and washed as much as I could as quickly as I could.
Then I went back inside and removed another layer of my skin.
He is still out there, I took advantage of the situation to get the house vacuumed without him dashing about chasing the brush head.
I think if I leave him for the rest of the afternoon that will give him time to get himself cleaned up and I'll do another quick wash, if he lets me, before I allow him back inside.
He's probably going to be angry with me for shutting him out, but I don't see any other solution.
It's a very warm, sunny day and if I leave the doors propped open he would spend most of the day out there voluntarily anyway and he seems to have settled down, he's not miaowing or scratching at the door right now.
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Lovely. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI've had to do that with Beau on occasion, but I used cool water and just a drop of shampoo. Now he comes into the house and automatically rolls onto his back "just in case". lol
ReplyDeleteAndrew; I'm hoping he gets it clean by himself, since he won't allow me to help.
ReplyDeletelotta joy; how do you get a cat to accept being washed under his tail? Angel goes at me with teeth and claws. Thankfully he is usually very clean.
Oh dear. Angel, you really should learn to use that swirling water contraption of mum's...
ReplyDeleteVicki; but would he voluntarily get his tail wet? And then drip all through the flat!
ReplyDeleteVicki; just realised you meant for him to use the toilet instead of his tray, I'd thought you meant to wash himself...
ReplyDeleteOh dear. Good luck. I hope for both of your sake's the clean up is done by now.
ReplyDeleteHi River,
ReplyDeleteHo ho! Been there - done that!
And my reward? I trod, barefoot, into fur ball vomit just outside my bedroom this morning - AGAIN!
Damn my poor eyesight!
:0)
Cheers
PM
We had an extremely hairy cat at one time...we took her to the groomers and had just a wee bit of the underside of her tail and around the offending orifice shaved...no more problems. We had it done maybe every three months. There was so much other hair in the surrounding areas that it wasn't noticeable at all. I think once she got over being mad at us for taking her to the groomers she quite enjoyed the results.
ReplyDeleteOh, dear, no solutions for you. My black and white is extremely long haired, and it takes two and even three of us to control him and take care of mats and poo balls. I have resolved the teeth and claws business by taking him firmly by the scruff of the neck and giving him a little shake. It's what their mama's do, and they never forget what it means.
ReplyDeleteOh dear they are such clean animals, my cats have this problem sometimes but there are two of us so the beer fairy holds and I wash, makes it a bit easier.
ReplyDeleteMerle.......
Elephant's Child; clean up was accomplished in time for Angel to come in for dinner.
ReplyDeletePlasman; I hope I never encounter a furball vomit again. The last one I cleaned up was from my daughter's cat at her house. I just happened to be visiting.
Delores; I was hoping this wasn't going to be an ongoing problem. I'm not sure I can afford to have Angel trimmed, so I'll have to keep a close eye on things.
Joanne; two or three of you?? Oh dear, I'm only one. I'll try the scruff of the neck shake thing if I have to do this again.
Merle; having someone to hold Angel would be very handy.
Oh we've been there and done that many times with Precious. She had the fluffiest pair of trousers I've ever seen on a cat and I always wondered how she managed do her toilet and remain clean. On the several occasions there was a problem Phil would hole her while I cleaned her or vice versa but being on your own would make it difficult. When I got the opportunity I would trim some of the long hair away and you couldn't even see it had been done.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Angel won't have that problem too often.
Maybe a cat groomer could help out with some trimmming? Just a thought if Angel won't permit you to do it.
Good luck for the future and no matter what, he is still so beautiful.
P.S. What's the name of those 'greenies you give Angel?
ReplyDeleteMimsie; I'll wait and see if the trouble occurs again before deciding whether or not to trim Angel. I may have to get the vet to do it, he's just around the corner. The Greenies are called Greenies, available from pet stores and vet offices, cats are supposed to have only four or five a day. I'll post a photo of the packet soon.
ReplyDeleteEW EW EW... Cat poo is worse than baby poo! I'd be holding that kitty in the kitchen sink and using a sprayer! He can forgive you later! :/
ReplyDeleteThe very reason why I don't have a dog or cat....
ReplyDeleteHappy Christine; I don't have a sprayer, but I do have a sink...oh wait, I have a sprayer in the shower. Angel is a bit too big for the sink anyway, and I'm not sure I could hold him and wash without losing several strips of skin.
ReplyDeletemm; one of the many things I hadn't properly thought about before bringing him home.