Cat covered in oil.. Help!

[Fanjango]

My cats just turned up outside covered in dirty engine oil. She won't let me get near her and keeps trying to clean herself. She's going to be very ill isn't she? Please tell me she's going to be okay , the kids are horrified

Honestly I would get hold of her and it's bath time.

I've tried Random... She's not letting me get her . I tried wiping her with a wet wipe but she's growling and scratching at me

Take the cat to the vet ASAP, they can sedate and clean her

You must catch her :( She will be poorly if she ingests too much engine oil. Use cheapo washing up liquid to help clean it off (cheap is better for some reason) to bath her, you'll have to scruff her - so hold her tightly by the scruff of the neck, you don't have to hold her up but if you do this, she wont be able to struggle . If you can't manage you'll need to get her to the vets. Sorry, wish i could be more reassuring but if she is coverd it in then she needs to be sorted out.

We've had this happen to our cat before. I jumped, fully clothed, in the shower with her and luckily happened to have some baby shampoo (suggested by the vet). She then and a trip to the vet to check her over a bit later.

Fill the bath, sneak up on her grab her try and get hold of her, wear marigolds and stick her in the bath. She will probably be so shocked she will freeze, you will need both hands to hold her and someone else to lather her up. Have you got animal shampoo? If not human stuff will do.

You can't leave her and she may require more than one bath - sorry.

Oh god she's legged it over the fence...I can't see her

Seriously, do the scruff thing - im an ex vet nurse and this is by far the easiest and kindest thing to do, you do have to grab a fair load of neck skin and pull it quite tight, the cats tend to stick their legs out and not move (unless they are toms, then you cant get a scruff and they are a blardy nightmare) but this is the quickest and best way. If you can shower her great, but otherwise bath.

put some food out for her

Okay I got her and washed her in the bath... Soaped them rinsed twice. She's still quite oily but she's got away again and food/ rustling biscuits isn't working.

Hope she is ok. Where on earth had she been?

Is she outside? How did that happen?

I would leave her alone now to dry off a bit, if really bad she will have to go to the vets to be properly de oiled.

I've no idea where she could have gotten so covered . It looks like she fell in a container if oil. Her front half is covered and her back/ tail are fine. She's an escape artist and got out as I tried to get more soap I'm hoping she will dry off a bit and come back looking for food, I'll try to grab her again but don't think she's very happy with me right now

I got oil off a cat with Swafega .Here - you get it at any hardware/DIY shop]]. Do you or a neighbour have any?

You'll need an iron will, a towel, gloves, a helper. The Swarfega loosens the oil, then it rinses off easily.

Thanks for the swarfega tip Hassled . I'll ask the neighbour and see if she comes back.

Yeah it really takes two to bath a cat me and my 7yo dd have it down to a fine art now.

We run a bath, I get everything ready (towels, shampoo, put marigolds on etc) I creep up on the unsuspecting cat, grab by scruff (he is a Tom and has got one!!) dunk in water, dd in in charge of lathering up and rinsing off with a jug.

Can't think it would be doable on your on. Oh and I don't bath him a lot but he has a habit of getting himself very grubby

Did you get her in?

Did you get her? Even if you did and wash her I would suggest a trip to the vets as often they need gastric protectants for a while to undo the damage oil does.

Fanjango

Cats often like to go under cars to sit - and owners sometimes try to do their own oil changes, including putting drip trays under the cars overnight (or for some hours) to catch the last pint or so.

Do you have anyone in the neighbourhood that looks the type to do their own car maintenance?

Hope you got her in OK.

I've seen her but she runs off when I open the door. I'm going to try to tempt her in so I can get her, hope ill get her in today, she'll never get that oil out and she's going to get sick

Good luck. Try roasting some chicken as a last resort. They find that hard to resist.

Hit chicken from the supermarket counter is the ultimate tempter. When you do get her I would go straight to the vets. Don't panic, but best to be safe.

Okay so found cat again. She's had three more baths. The vet said to wash her with swarfega and washing up liquid. He said she would need putting out for a more thorough wash if we could not do it but so far I have managed to give her 4 scrubs and still have all my fingers . She's still not back to her fluffy self and the white bits are discoloured but other than that seems okay. Should I carry on bathing her or let time do the rest, she screams quite badly when bathed and trembles for ages, I don't want to upset her more than necessary but not sure when it will be okay to leave...

Does she seem oily? I think 4 baths will have done the trick and got the worst of it off. She will probably be grubby for a while until new fur replaces the stained stuff but not harmful to herself.

She's not oily now, just sort of spikier than she was IYSWIM . She seems well, but off her food a bit. Should I leave it then... I don't want her to hate me as she hates being bathed