To not want to cuddle my smell cat

[BumDNC]

I love her.
She stinks.
I'm constantly removing her off my lap or anywhere she goes near my face.
I think she likes to go bin robbing locally which is frankly disgusting and embarrassing (do the neighbours think I don't feed her?!)
I can't bring myself to give her a bath and endure the trauma that would create (for us both) but she smells to bad to hug.
AIBU for loving my pet from afar and never cuddling the stinky old git

Smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you? Smelly cat, smelly cat, it's not your fault..

Cats usually keep themselves clean enough - even bin divers. Maybe she should be checked for an infection? Teeth most common..

Have you had her checked by a vet recently? Could be an underlying illness, or rotten teeth that's making her smell.

I come home nearly every day to find her head poking out the wheels bin at the sound of my car but bet might be a good idea. I looked in her mouth it seems fine - and she's fine - no signs of pain she just smells like a bin

*vet!

And it's her fur that stinks. She likes to sit under cars as well so smells like an oily old bin

DD2 has been kindly spritzing her with hollister body spray I discovered earlier which I am sure will do wonders for the cat when she finally washes herself

Have you tried bathing her each night. Itll only take a few minutes. Castile soap is fine, as. It contains no chemicals or dyes. Seems obvious but. Often we don't think of the most obvious, do.

Discuss with a vet. Sounds like your DCat loves cuddles and would feel neglected if she stopped getting them from you.
Don't let any more body spray being sprayed on her, it could be really dangerous, even lethal when DCat licks it off!

I've seen cat wipes at the pet shop - like wet wipes for cats. Worth a try?

Cat wipes?? Really? ooh will look.
I have stinky cat too. He is The Artist Formerly Known As Cat.
He is now Fox.
He rolls in fox poo daily so he has disguised himself cunningly as Fox (he does have a pointy face, being part siamese)
It's horrendous and he wakes me up by sitting on my face and leaving his fox fumes everywhere he goes

Check her over for any lumps which may be brewing abscesses.

Our elderly cat really smelt bad last weekend, like so bad I thought he'd rolled in fox poop. Monday morning he got on my knee and I noticed top of his ear / head was swollen, he's a British Blue so has a massive fluffy head which was hiding the lump. Tried to touch his ear, he shook his head, and cue a giant explosion of puss and blood. All over me, the sofa, coffee table, he then legged it round the kitchen shaking his head as he went until I could capture him, bathe it and whisk him to the vet for antibiotics. I honestly thought his brains has come out, the smell was horrific.

He's fine now bit honestly I've never smelt anything like it

That is rank! She's had an abscess before and she acted very strangely and clearly was in pain.

I don't know where on earth she has been finding them in November but mummy has been getting nightly dead voles left for me then I am expected to show my gratitude with some cuddles. Will look out for cat wipes. And DD has been told 'thanks but no thanks' to the body spray

You can buy dry shampoo for dogs so maybe you can buy it for cats as well or maybe use the same stuff?

Putting her in water would result in serious injury to me!
Bloody animal. I do think people would do well to not leave bin bags on the ground for her to roll around in your Sunday lunch and nappies

YY dry shampoo is a godsend, it's like talcum powder that you scruffle through their fur, I used to use it on my elderly dog because she hated water. Obviously get a proper one from the pet shop though and don't just squirt her with Batiste, as it'll need to be safe for her ingest when she grooms herself.

The only time my cat has smelled us when he had an ear infection deep within his ear. Maybe the vet should take a look?? Our cat ears al sorts of horrible stuff but never smelled bad?

Please do take her to the vet. When cats groom themselves their saliva should neutralise any bad smells. If she's smelly it most likely means something is wrong - an infection as others have pointed out or that she's not grooming herself which usually only happens if they're poorly.

I will take her - booked for Friday. but I honestly just think she likes being smelly. I've had her 6 years and I can tell when something is up, she won't be touched or gets angry or hides and won't eat.
She's like a feral crazy cat, running around her gaff with all the yummy bins, catching voles and gets soaked in the rain and doesn't seem to care (wet cat stinks). Like I say she often smells of engine oil as much as other more underlying bin bag smell.
Do some cats just don't care about washing? I don't see her wash much. She is all about the food/snoring

You might be better posting this on the litter tray section for better advice but most cats instinctively wash themselves to neutralise odors as that would keep them safe in the wild. I believe sometimes they don't if they've left their mothers too early and not been shown the ropes properly. So you're saying she's always been smelly and not washed herself properly?

Errrghh Cats.

One of my two doesn't groom herself anything like as much as the other & tends to be a bit grubby & smelly with burrs & grass seeds stuck in her fur, bits of mud dried onto her legs etc etc - she often smells like a bonfire - we don't have bonfires, or any other sort of fire & I don't think she washes her bottom very well either that or she just farts a lot

My old cat was very fluffy and her poo used to get caught up in the fur around her back legs....i used to have to get nail scissors and snip the fur to get the poo out

Yes to the bits of crap in her fur! Doesn't seem to bother her when she is covered in burrs either. I pick them out for her. Luckily short hair cat thank god. She has white bloody paws so the pure filth of mud always makes her look like she's walked from Lands End

Sometimes the grubby cat spends ages picking out all the burrs & seeds with her teeth, & spitting them onto the floor