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A few nights ago I came home to Big Bear covered with used motor oil. Apparently he got into a drip pan under my MG-B, and just rolled in it. He has never done this before or since.
Anyway, this is not about how he got oily, he did that on his own and I really don't know for certain how that happened, but how I cleaned him up.
This was a Friday night, BTW, so no professional pet grooming was available till Monday. And he was licking himself from time to time so I clearly could not wait that long.
So, after one attempt to wash him with just dilute dish detergent, which did some good, I dried him off good and worked waterless hand cleaner ("Goop") into his fur.
I should note here that Bear has a GREAT disposition, I raised him from an orphan kitten including dropper-feeding him milk replacement. If your cat is not as good-natured the following is probably not practical.
Anyway I got in the shower with him, covered in Goop, and diluted some Dawn degergent in a plastic drinking glass. I wet Bear with the shower (Euro-type hand held on a hose nozzle) and poured the Dawn solution over him. Rub-a-dub, lather, rinse repeat, repeat, repeat till the water came off him clear. He yowled a little but pretty much took it like a trooper. I kept the water good and warm, not uncomfortably warm to my own skin but knowing a cat has a pretty high normal body temperature and being so small would be easy to chill off, I kept the water quite warm.
After the Dawn started rinsing off clear, I mixed up some baby shampoo, and gave him a final washdown with that.
Then I dried him off with paper towels.
That was about a week ago, he seems to be fine now, I'm not presenting the above as "the way" or "the best way" to clean up an oily cat, but if your cat will put up with it, it's one way to do it.
Dawn is very gentle. It's great on my hands and I'm not surprised it worked well on Big Bear. It cuts grease better than any dish detergent I have ever used.
Yeah, that was the logic behind using Dawn, that it's the cleaner of choice for petroleum-contaminated wildlife. But without the "Goop", I would still be washing that cat I think. It really works a lot better starting with dry fur.
Why he decided to roll in that drip pan is a different question...any ideas?
Yeah, that was the logic behind using Dawn, that it's the cleaner of choice for petroleum-contaminated wildlife. But without the "Goop", I would still be washing that cat I think. It really works a lot better starting with dry fur.
Why he decided to roll in that drip pan is a different question...any ideas?
My only guess he was curious. Which gets many cats into trouble. The oil could have been very toxic to him, so you may want to keep an eye on him.
Drooling, falling, trembling, weakness, and liver damage can all be part of ingesting something toxic like car oil.
FYI, in case you don't already know....cats are extremely attracted to antifreeze and will lap it up in second. It is also extremely deadly.
My only guess he was curious. Which gets many cats into trouble. The oil could have been very toxic to him, so you may want to keep an eye on him.
Drooling, falling, trembling, weakness, and liver damage can all be part of ingesting something toxic like car oil.
FYI, in case you don't already know....cats are extremely attracted to antifreeze and will lap it up in second. It is also extremely deadly.
He's actually doing OK now, he seemed to shed a bit more for about a week but I guess I happened to find him before he managed to lick enough oil off himself to cause harm.
I'm sorry I did not see this post in time to be of help to you. Glad Bear is doing OK. For the record, motor oil is not good for cats. Safest approach is to put a cone collar on him until he can be cleaned. Agree with Dawn. Disagree with waterless hand cleaner. I would use oil absorbent pads (available from safety companies) until nothing comes off his fur, then a trip to a bath tub with a half a cup of Dawn in warm water. A good rinse and he will be good to go.
Glad all is well.
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