cat smells after op!

tfak85

hi guys, over the past few months i've posted a few questions about my cat pickle and i'm sorry but i have another...

the thing is, he smells really bad!! his whole body smells like tom spray! i know it's too soon after the op to bath him or anything but can anyone tell me if this is normal or not?

thanks, sorry for the rambling post!

Magenta

No it's not normal, ring your vet.

The Sweeper

tfak85, do you mean you've recently had him neutered, and he smells like urine now?

If he's just been neutered, it's not that major an operation for a male cat, but the experience of travelling to and from the vet can be very stressful. He may have urinated on himself in the cage or at the vets or in the transport crate to and from the vet, and just hasn't cleaned it off yet. Can you be sure he doesn't have an infection or other complication as a result of the operation? (e.g. any redness or swelling, lethargy in the cat, curling up small, fluffing up fur, pain when moved or lifted, even to the point of growling or biting when touched - any of that and you need to be straight to the vet).

If he seems 100% apart from the smell, then try giving him a sponge bath with some warm water. A lot of cats hate baths with a passion and will decimate you with their claws trying to escape a bath. I find the easiest way is to fill two buckets with warm water, and have a baby sponge and some pet shampoo on hand. Put a few old towels on the floor of the bathroom, and now shut you and the cat into the bathroom.

Position the cat on a towel, and scruff him very gently to hold him still. Dip the sponge in the first bucket, squeeze out most of the water, and use it to wet the cat's fur. Then put some shampoo on the sponge (a little bit), work up a lather, and soap the cat (the less suds the better). Use the second bucket of clean water as the rinsing bucket, again dipping the sponge in and wetting the cat down.

Dry the excess moisture with some kitchen towel - works better than a normal towel, and lots of cats are terrified of the hairdryer. Do get all the shampoo suds out though - because the second you release the cat they'll start to groom furiously to restore themselves to their former glory!

Lollymcd

The Sweeper - you are very brave.

tfak85

hi guys, thank you the sweeper, i think that may have been the problem... the smell has gone today so i'm assuming he's cleaned it all off himself, there are certainly no signs of infection, i've been keeping a pretty close eye...

you are very brave to bath your cat, i'd love to do it myself but his claws are pretty big

thanks again.