Drenched cat

So, let the cat in this morning and he was drenched I mean properly drowned rat wet and covered in mud.
I am assuming he's fallen in a bog or something.
Anyway my question is how to clean him up.
Really don't want to go down the bath route, he's jumpy at he best of times!
He's asleep at the mo on a blanket next to the radiator his do I get him clean without freaking him out?
I don't get nearly enough credit for not being a violent psychopath.

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  • HappyMJ
    HappyMJ Posts: 21,115
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    pukkamum wrote: »
    So, let the cat in this morning and he was drenched I mean properly drowned rat wet and covered in mud.
    I am assuming he's fallen in a bog or something.
    Anyway my question is how to clean him up.
    Really don't want to go down the bath route, he's jumpy at he best of times!
    He's asleep at the mo on a blanket next to the radiator his do I get him clean without freaking him out?

    Either you put him in the bath and wash some of the dirt off or you just wait until he washes himself and removes all the dirt himself.

    If he'll handle a brush you could wait until he's dry and help him by brushing some of the dirt off. My cat though would run a mile at the sight of a hair brush. Although she never did bother about the vacuum cleaner set on the lowest setting with the round brush tool and sucking the fur from her coat. Strange cat.
    :footie:
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  • pinkteapot
    pinkteapot Posts: 8,038
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    For next time (though hopefully it won't happen again!), if you've got an old towel and depending on the cat's nature, you can give them a quick rough rub with a towel to get some of the moisture off when they're soaked through.

    As above, he will clean himself. Our cat's favourite summer activity is to roll around in a very dry garden bed, covering himself in dusty earth. He looks like he's been at work in a mine. :rotfl: We don't try to clean him - he sorts himself out. :) Ours isn't keen on being brushed.
  • tea_lover
    tea_lover Posts: 8,261 Forumite
    Mine did this! Went for a wander in the summer, came back filthy, soaking wet and with a slightly cut foot. I'm assuming he fell in a pond, he was only gone for 5 mins!

    We rubbed him with a towel to start with. Then I got a bowl of lukewarm water (nothing in it) and some clean flannels and gently rinsed him off. I didn't dare actually bathe him properly as he'd have freaked, but I did put his feet into the bowl of water one at a time while I held him (and kissed his little head lol).

    Mad as it sounds, I also gave him a good sniff - if he'd smelt of oil or similar he'd have gone to the vets to stop him licking it and getting ill. He was just muddy so he got a wash at home and I kept a close eye on him for a few days.

    He also had a lot of cuddles and a special tea!

    Hope he's ok x.
  • DaftyDuck
    DaftyDuck Posts: 4,609
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    As above, but an additional technique is to brush/comb gently, repeatedly rinsing comb in a bowl of warm water. Once most of the grot is out, you can either towel him dry (try and make a game of it, drag towel so he can catch and "kill" it), or use the brush on cat, dry it on towel, brush further.

    It also helps if you hug them plenty, and shove them up your jersey. They get warm, dry and cosy.... you get wet and mucky. Seems fair to them.
  • My cat doesn't have the patience to have dirt brushed out of his fur, and is too lazy to groom himself properly when he gets mucky so we've had to rinse him off in the shower on a few occasions when he's come home covered in filth. He doesn't like it (it's definitely a 2 person job) but it's the quickest way to get a boisterous cat clean and is over before he can get too traumatised.
    The he gets swaddled in a towel like a baby until he struggles free and storms off in a huff. Half an hour later he's dry and clean and a few dreamies help him forget all about the indignity of being bathed.
  • krlyr
    krlyr Posts: 5,993
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    Wet an old handtowel and give him a good wipe down to get the bulk of it off. You can buy 'dry' shampoos for cats, too - they're generally a mousse type consistancy that you later in and toweldry off.
  • Shrike
    Shrike Posts: 66
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    When mine fell in the pond I dunked her in a lukewarm bath. Not sure I'd do that again as she resisted mightily! However I didn't want her ingesting the pond water so I would still try to bathe her somehow - maybe just in a sink of warmish water and then a quick towel wrap to take off the worst of the water.
  • pukkamum
    pukkamum Posts: 3,942
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    Thanks everyone, he dried off nicely next to the radiator and so I brushed him, most of the mud is off and he doesn't smell too bad so hopefully he can do the rest.
    Bless him though it really upset him, he's looking very sorry for himself, he really is the clumsiest cat ever, with the shortest legs I've ever seen on a cat!
    Thanks y'all
    I don't get nearly enough credit for not being a violent psychopath.
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