DS used human shampoo on the cat to bathe her. Will she be OK?

[KittysMum987654321]

Cat came in tonight stinking of urine (not like her at all), so my teenage DS offered to wash her. He's done it before with no drama whatsoever so we agreed as we were busy clearing up after dinner, etc. Previously he's washed her with water only, and I assumed he'd do the same today. However, he must have decided she smelled particularly bad as, without telling us his intentions, he decided to give her a wash with human shampoo.

Despite DS's & DH's best efforts to rinse the shampoo from her fur she will now barely let us touch her, let alone anything else. I think most of the shampoo is rinsed off but there's definitely residue on her mid-lower back. We have been watching her and she has not been licking or grooming that area.

Any advice please?

Hopefully it doesn't irritate her skin, but maybe try again tomorrow using just water to make sure it's all off.
🤭

Rinsing in plain water and trying to check if any skin irritation. Is she long hair or short hair?

As if long hair can hide the skin well and shampoo getting trapped so it might not be as easy to get it all rinsed..

Any idea of what the actual shampoo used was?

Are there cats that let you wash them?? I didn’t know this was a thing? My two would scratch us to high heavens if we tried!

Usually not much to worry about might give your cat a dose of the shits though

I used washing up liquid on my cat when he spilled fragrance oil on himself he had a bit of a runny butt the next day but was essentially fine

Our breeder uses Tresseme volume shampoo on hers before shows - they're all fine! ( But of course it's all rinsed off then!)
Just keep an eye on her, she'll probably be fine.

She will be fine. Human shampoo is pretty mild.

She's probably just pissed off you have washed her. Human shampoo will 100% be ok.

I've used human shampoo or washing up detergent on my cat when cat shampoo hadn't done the trick (engine oil is a nightmare to remove and he went through a phase of hanging out in a neighbours garage)!

As a one-off, rinsed well (if you can!) it's fine. I wouldn't do it regularly though as it can irritate the skin.

Maybe she's hoping to be in a L'Oréal advert.... because she's worth it!
Or she could be planning your demise...
It was nice knowing you.😂

If human shampoo is ok fine. Is cat shampoo actually a thing? My cat would go ballistic if I tried to shampoo her??

I used to use human baby shampoo on my dog. Never an issue, though it was just once every couple of months before using the hair clippers.

I never could try it on the cat as he wouldn't let me near him with anything like that. I can't see it doing any harm though. Only to the feline pride and ego. Don't worry about it. Cats generally detest being washed, and good luck trying.

Morning all!

Thank you for all your responses - so helpful (and funny!).

I'd gotten myself into a state last night as I'd read that human shampoo can be toxic to cats due to the pH levels.

Good news: cat seems fine this morning. She polished off her breakfast then headed straight outdoors. Most importantly, she's happy to be petted (so hopefully all plans for plotting our demise are on hold for now 😆).

Thanks again!

No, don't relax your guard... she's lulling you into a false sense of security! I reckon she'll try to murder you with conditioner.....😉