They also employ their coat as a towel. If a cat runs over a rock or limb with a running pin, he produces a tear in the fur that is naturally warm and smells strongly of earth. As nerve endings are basic to the body, while there are fine hairs on the extremities, those in the coat are the nerve-endings that lose most of their properties (privacy, scent) after weaning off the mother’s milk. All of these reasons put kitty’s whiskers at risk.
The most common approach to solving this problem is a simplified Odor Elimination Method (OEM) that is called “detox” (as in eliminating toxins) or “whiskers’ elimination” (whisker elimination).
Detox in Dogs is a form of a “nose-wash” – by massaging the nose, you eliminate odors. This is how dogs cop their farts (or aren’t too embarrassed to make them at least). But how can this be done by a cat? Two obvious points make this non-wise: if you see cats scratch and paw all over themselves, they must have swallowed a bag of Xanax or some other nasal blockage – and much worse, they have likely ingested a grain of sesame seed. Dogs can swallow several grain coins and have no problems; cats cannot.
Once you clean (not gag) your cat, massage the whiskers, and keep the cat access to fresh air for at least one hour. Then brush your cat’s ears, flap their ears closed, and pat their ears.
Also, scruff your cat.
And use dry shampoo before shampooing.
Some people wonder “what’s the point?”
Well…because cats never wash their hands when they clean themselves, they’re at risk of getting contaminated with germs. Mud and blood get caught in their claws, and over long periods of time they lose protective protective filaments that can keep off pathogens. When THIS happens, they can get bacterial pneumonia and other undesirable diseases.
As a cat owner, I hope you’re OK with hand-washing. But I don’t advocate bathing.
I recommend regular scratches and paw-washes to help strengthen the protective barrier between the fur and skin. I use a $20 bottle of Catolite to gently pry the whiskers apart with your fingers. About two-thirds of the original scent is left behind, and this leave behind bit of a glaze that must be cleaned off with a little water. When you are done, keep the cat on a towel and your hair dry, or lather it firmly in an old pillowcase.
And while I’m on the subject …oooh, those feline bone visual aids…
Most cat owners can smell their cat right away. You don’t have to smell like you do in a shop to get them wet and under the microscope. Normal healthy cat urine smells like ivory, vanilla, sandalwood, hay, cedar, fruity canned food, fresh toilet water, or a general odor of wheat and wheat grass. However, sometimes a cat’s urine smells strange in urine-soaked toilet paper or toilet paper dried and left to air inside the envelope. And there’s no other reason for it but the cat did ANYTHING with the toilet paper. Usually this means cat feces, only their way to the earth is via the carpet. If cats used toilet paper as toilet paper, one would expect a shower with pink or blue color to be most common.
Anytime you see a cat in between you and a bathroom or all around a corner, and he is barfs up on the carpet, it is really a good indication something is wrong. Don’t waste your time trying to see what’s up with a cat when you can’t see up and down his bag either.
I hope this helps a cat owner who has tried everything I’ve recommended, but is still afraid to try something else. No one has told him that it is impossible. Cats are wild, they have different needs than we do, and they are not a perfect replica of us.
We can analyze an anomaly and recognize it. We can try and return their essence to a cat, but they are very fussy and have very strong tastes when it comes to introducing new things to their environment (the one thing we all learn in pet school).
What is best for you and your cat to deal with hygiene issues is entirely your responsibility. But there are some simple and good things you can do to help your cat be a model of cleanliness.
Keep cats indoors and away from children (yes, even kittens). They must have somewhere to poke each other using their crops. Charlies, just don’t put them in the meat tray.
