BuggersMucky - do you clean your cat

[BuggersMuddle]

As the subject implies, BuggersMoggy is a little on the manky / stinky side. He grooms often but a combination of building work and fine weather means he can dust-bathe at his leisure so his white fur perpetually looked yellow / brown.

Add to that the suncream on his ears (which he immediately aims to coat in dirt) and he starts to look really scruffy. He is currently beyond cat wipes...

We brush him every few days but in between he looks like a kitty tearaway with his large size and fighter's ears.

TBH I don't think it's a problem, but worry that I should as neighbours have started to ask about him (again). I worry that neighbours will think he's neglected as we had slightly 'over-invested' neighbours in the past that we had to reassure.

Would a scruffy cat bother you? He grooms regularly - no issues there - just he's so daft he goes and rolls in the freshly dug soil immediately thereafter....

He is much loved and fussed over (daily Encore for a start), but I don't want the neighbours at the door again nor to have missed something. We did bathe / shower him before (concrete on paws) but none involved are keen to repeat that....

[MedusaIsHavingaBadHairday]

Nope. Or... only when they sit in their own loose poo!
Having very long haired Maine Coons mine have had the odd 'my poos stuck to ma butt!' moments (followed buy the 'he's dragged said butt across every possible surface in the house' moments!) and then it's been a sink bowl of warm water and shampoo, a pair of scissors to cut the bum fur off and a very very pissed off stinky wet cat!

Mine come in full of garden bits every day.. I comb what I can, and I do wipe eye crusts as one cat has them constantly, but other than that no. Some cats are designed to look polished.. others... scruffy gits :)

[cozietoesie]

I groom Seniorboy every evening but that's really only because he's old and can only manage his 'personal washing' these days.

Could you get your retaliation in first with the neighbours?

[RubbishMantra]

I have to clean little Monsieur's bat-like ears weekly. Like Medusa's boy, he seems to be a magnet for garden stuff. Including small slugs.

An unscented babywipe (Pure?) seems to take care of the armpit/legpit smells.

[Dreamiesrcatopium]

Nope, she's very fastidious with her grooming, although I do have a mitt which she likes more of a petting thing. I do pick any black bogies(think its snot mixed with soil) from her nose though, its pink so they really show. Ha. DH gags every time.

[IHaveBrilloHair]

Only when fatboy has poo stuck in his tail.
He's long haired.

[AwkwardSquad]

Only when my cats were very elderly and couldn't really manage it anymore. I used a facecloth dampened in warm water then just applied it gently but firmly in small strokes. They seemed to like it.

[BuggersMuddle]

Thanks all.

Can't see BuggersMoggy ever liking it. The one exception was when he decided to play in wet concrete and tolerated the shower of all things like a pro. Cat wipes are occasionally tolerated, but even unwanted brushing can result in a warning paw swipe

I will keep my pet wipes at the ready and repeat the mantra 'Once the building works are finished he'll be back to normal'.

This morning he woke us all up at un ungodly hour to show off his freshly caught bird. When I left for work he was chasing off his young nemesis (of the recently broken tail). This evening found him in the street threatening / chasing off a husky . He smells grim but is back in 'semi-feral' mode upon production of a brush, even following a tuna bribe. Once The Building Works Are Finished He'll Be Back To Normal. Mmm-hmm

[hugoagogo]

We are in the only when there is poo stuck on her bum camp.

I have discovered that banana boat kids powder dry sun cream prevents the greasy dirt magnet ears.

[code]

The Burmese have nice 'teflon' coats which I only have to run my hands over to shine up. One gets watery eyes though so I do those a couple of times a day. We don't talk about the kebab poo/grass chug nut incidents...

[SqueezyCheeseWeasel]

I have to clean my ancient one (19) but the young one (8) does himself.

Method I use: first give him a good brush with the zoom groom to get bundles of loose hair out and then don damp rubber gloves (just the washing up marigolds type with grippy type texture) and give him a good stroke/ rub all over a few times. I brush him daily and give him a 'rubber gloving' every 2-3 days.

[Corygal]

I groom Mr C when I remember to get his occasional fur mats out - he is a very, very furry cat. He used to hate it but now he sits there while I remove them with my fingers, which is game of him. He only gets moody if I tug.

Fistfuls of loose fur come out as well - enough to knit a baby Mr C.

If he has bum mats, I beg the vet to do them as I can't cope with the (ie my) blood loss.

[RubbishMantra]

Lately though, the little Monsieur has decided he likes sunbathing in a flowerpot. Unfortunately said flowerpot contains compost, which sticks to his velcro-like fur. When I get into bed, I'm showered with the nuggets of filth he kindly deposited earlier.

[Corygal]

OOO! OOOO! Pic of the year!!

[ragged]

My long hair gets baby slugs in his fur, too (sigh).

They tolerate brushing better the more you do it, ime.

A scruffy very skinny drooling wheezing moving stiffly cat would worry me (sadly can easily think of some).

[Corygal]

Rubbish, had to come back for another peek - the adorability of Little M melts the soul.

[cozietoesie]

You're going to need a bigger flowerpot, Mantra !

[code]

LOVE the catplant pic...Wishes they were for sale in Homebase...

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Cat plant here too, this pot had catmint growing in it last year and every time a shoot emerges they're back in it. I just brush my two, but this one has been known to get poo mats on her bum which I trim at my peril.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Ignore the second photo, not sure how that happened.

[hugoagogo]

Marshmallow?

[ShatnersBassoon]

Only done it once, when the daft thing came home covered in something oily and smelly. I wouldn't do it for everyday muck, it's far too much trouble.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Yes, marshmallow

[LineRunner]

Crikey, for a second there although that second photo was an illustration of poo bum trimming

[RubbishMantra]

Little Monsieur is most flattered Cory. In the words of Ian Brown, he wants to be adored.

I think he looks a bit like a large button mushroom in that flowerpot. He's sulking, because there are now actual flowers in it. Cat plant no more.

MCat has one of those teflon coats too code, he's always spotless and shiny. Apart from the end of his tail, which is divided into 2 spikes because he suckles it.

[Corygal]

Hehhehe Rubbish dat is also adorable of MCat. Adorable (hic), I am slightly pissed.

Mr C has a bone from a lamb chop at the Lebanese restaurant tonight. He has taken it to enjoy on the fresh new tablecloth ie our clean sheets. It be rediscovered in my nightdress at 2am.