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Cat cleaning problem

My cat is having problems cleaning around anus.  He is very loving.  How do I help him?
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the assist on the mineral oil instead of baby oil, and yes he has a good appetite.  He goes in our backyard and our second cat chases him.  Hopefully that will help!

Jamie, dadthegolfer
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Avatar universal
Thanks and I thought you meant mineral oil as well. :-)
Jamie
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441382 tn?1452810569
I am so glad you caught that, Opus!  I was thinking "mineral oil" as I was typing and the puppy came into the room and DH said to me "have you taken the baby out" and I typed "baby oil"!  Oy, that could have been disastrous!   The reason I suggested oil at all is because if there are feces stuck to the skin around the anus the mineral oil and warm water can make them a lot easier to remove without pulling at the skin or hair.  Thanks again for catching that!

Ghilly
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874521 tn?1424116797
Ghilly gave some very good instructions....but sorry I just have to warn you here, never ever use baby oil on a cat..in the event that he somehow manages to ingest some its very toxic.
I would suggest using just plain warm water only.....and if you do decide kitty needs to loose some weight this needs to be done very gradually....start by taking away just a tablespoon of his food away per day...or about 10% of the total portion..
its not healthy to be overweight but its not fair to reduce what kitty is used to eating real drastically either..you would have a very unhappy fella..
good luck.
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441382 tn?1452810569
It depends on how easy your cat is to handle.

If he is easy to handle and agreeable to being brushed and preened and fussed over, then you can probably handle the job yourself.  If he doesn't like to be brushed or if he's just plain fractious over being restrained, you can wrap him in a big towel and leave out the part you want to work on, in this case, his butt.  Being wrapped in the towel will pin his legs to his body so he not only won't be able to scratch you, if his head is covered it should also help to keep him calmer while you work on him.  Just make sure that the towel isn't wrapped so tightly around his head that he can't breathe!

I would take some warm water in a bowl along with some cotton balls and some baby oil, but not a lot of baby oil, just a bit on one of the cotton balls.  If he's a long-haired cat, I would use scissors to trim the hair under his tail.  You don't have to give him a crew-cut, you just want to trim the hair so that it isn't all there under his tail for his feces to get stuck in.  Then I would take some warm water on a cotton ball and wipe his butt, reserving the baby oil on a cotton ball in case there is some feces that is difficult to remove.  The oil will make it easier to remove with hurting him.  

If he is a short-haired cat, I would take a comb like a flea comb with the teeth very close together and comb through the hair under his tail.  This should remove any feces that are stuck in the hair.  Once you have cleaned him up, you can just keep an eye on him to make sure he isn't collecting any more 'baggage" back there.  I would check him at every opportunity (as he walks by with his tail in the air) and remove anything there as soon as I saw it so that it didn't cause an irritation.  

Why does he have problems cleaning there in the first place?  Is he very overweight and can't reach the area?  If so, then the next important thing to do is to put him on a strict diet to knock off a few pounds so that he IS able to reach the area himself.  Lots of people, myself included, love fat cats, but there is a point where it is no longer healthy for them to be that overweight, and not being able to groom themselves is a signal that he has reached that point.  It's in his own best interest to remedy that situation as soon as you can.

Ghilly
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