Long hair cat has poo plastered over her bum. Have shut her outside but I'm going to have to let her in and deal with it. How??

[catonlap]

Not had her for long. She struggles to clean herself. Is also very fat. I thought I'd let her get settled in then get a professional grooming place to tidy her up. Have called and booked her in for appointment - that is in 2 weeks time.

Bum is bad today and she stinks. I think I am going to try to wash her. Probably going to get scratched to bits.

Any tips?

probably be better to initially get someone to hold her head end and get a pair of long bladed scissors and clip as much off as you can before attempting to wash her, and to wash her bum i would suggest just put some warm water in a washing up bowl and dunk just her back end in, also if she is too fat too clean herself get advice from a vet and get her on light diet food as being very overwheight is bad for her grooming wise and the usual problems associated with being overwheight

thanks.

I will just dunk her back end. Will leave the rest to the professionals.

Can you tightly swaddle the cat in an old towel so just her bottom and head are out? (easier said than done, but at least if you manage to wrap your cat you've some hope of dealing with the problem area). I would imagine also thorn-proof gloves - the sort that also protect some of your forearm would be a good idea. And long sleeves, probably a tough old coat.

The GroomRoom in our local Pets At Home does cat grooming....

There is grooming place really close to my house. They are busy though (say it is due to the time of year) and they will need to sedate her so will have to have had no food. They are fully booked this week and she has already eaten today. Think this is a good longer term plan though as they will clip her hair shorter so easier to deal with.

Grimma, yes I have used the swaddle in towel method to give cats pills before. This cat is rather large though so not sure how easy it will be but can try.

Tepid water when you dunk her, and I found an old paintbrush 2" wide or so works as it combs through the hair. and means you don't have to get your hands in the poo
If you can get a scissors close to her then chop off as much as possible first.

Agree with wrapping in a towel or similar, you must fasten the front legs and claws in, else you will be ripped to shreds.

Good luck!

Well it's done. Could not get her in towel. Used shallow water with some of the kids mild bubble bath. She didn't actually put up too much of a fight about it and I didn't get a single scratch. She is all clean now and drying off by the radiator looking sorry for herself.

Well done!

I'm impressed!

well done not all cats turn into fiends when shown water glad you have one of the placid ones

there was another thread virtually identical to this one last week! My long haired cat no longer grooms herself and doesn't like us doing it now because of her arthritis. So we get a lion cut at the vets once a year, they cut her hair short and keep it long around head, feet tail (but not bum), problem solved!

Oh dear kitsmummy, I see this is a common problem then. Not really thought about it before as my other cats are short hair. I guess it is not easy to be clean when there is so much hair involved.

She seems to have forgiven me for the earlier dunk and has curled up in her regular spot on the sofa.

She will be going for regular shampoo and cut appointments from now on

:o

catonlpa - it was me it was me!! i posted a similar thread on here last week. we have a maine coon, seriously hairy and a large cat to boot. i managed to snip at her bottom (carefully) using long hairdresser scissors, i used some freshly opened tuna as a distraction :D i managed to cut the poo lump off, her bottom isn't so bad now and she doesn't seem to smell of poo but it is a concern. i have made a mental note of another posters comment about pets at home. there is a large one close to where i live, good to know in an emergency ie cat has a VERY pooy bottom. she doesn't like water, there is NOWAY she would take kindly to having her bottom put into a bowl of water plus she would probably take my arm off in the process. actually, i have a problem this week up the other end, she keeps getting dark gunk in the corner of her eyes on her fur, she won't let me clean it off, try as i do, eventually it comes off when she cleans herself but more appears within a day or so