Cat / coal dust incident - advice please!

[FizzyFeet]

One of our beautiful new cats had an adventure today while we were out - we think she must have been up the chimney! DH is now fitting a chimney balloon, but in the meantime she's pretty grimy. She seems fine - perky, good appetite - but I'm wondering if we should try to bath her in case she ingests the dust. She's grubby rather than covered in it. And given that we don't have any cat shampoo and the shop is shut, is it ok to wait 24 hours? Would just warm water do the job? Any advice appreciated!

hi if shes just grubby a damp cloth wiped over her with warm water should take the worst of it off her then repeat when she has dried

Ash contains lye, that's pretty toxic. Are talking bit grubby or covered in ash?

Thanks for replying! The cats are new so I'm feeling a bit paranoid. A bit grubby describes it best - she's totally white so it shows up a lot! She's a bit skittish but I'll have a go with a damp cloth.

It depends just how filthy she is. (Firstcat got up a chimney as a pale white kitten and came out as a jet black kitten. We had no option but to bathe him and I carry the mental scars still.)

I think you can use baby shampoo - perhaps diluted a little for ease of application- if you can source that but the critical thing is to rinse really, really well. (And rough dry but leave them to finish off.) I'd recommend a groom first to remove any tangles.

x post. Sounds fine.

I always use people shampoo.