Post Punk Kitchen Forum

We recently (and temporarily) took in a curious stray, got her shots and had her examined. She just got spayed on Thursday and is doing well - only her belly is upset and she now has feces stuck to her tail and rear.

She seems to want to socialize, but doesn't know how to be handled. If we try to pick her up, she hisses and tries to claw. She's decent if you pet her, but anything more gets her on the defense.

How should I go about trying to clean her?

(Also, it should be noted, I have potential assistance from my mother.)

You could try burrito-wrapping her. Wrap her up fairly firmly in a big heavy towel. Wrap her so that her front and back legs are pinned inside the towel, but so that you have access to her rear, and have the towel cover her face up too. This can be very calming for cats, and also then when you are cleaning her, she can't swipe or scratch. Good luck!

How healed is she? I'd be a bit concerned about her stitches and stuff if she struggles.

My cats fight most stuff (petting is usually okay and I can pick them up for a few minutes each before they struggle to escape). Cleaning their rear isn't fun. I tried burrito rolling my cats and it didn't work, even with two people.

My male cat, I do a halfbath... I fill the tub ankle deep, let him hang onto the edge with his front feet so he is facing out then I stand in the tub with him on his back feet. I hold him with one hand and use the other to clean him. I've never bothered with soap, just warm water.

My female cat needs trimmed to keep her rear clean, so she only gets a halfbath if she is super messy. Usually I put her on her side facing the wall (in the bathroom). One of my knees on her shoulder, the other against her back to hold her. This frees up one hand to put an elbow on her and hold tail/feet out of the way (her front feet are pretty useless cuz of my knee on her shoulder) and my second hand can use wipes, a wide tooth comb, and an electric shaver as needed to clean her.

I used to "sit" on her... kneel over her with her feet toward my feet and hold her that way so I could lift her tail and clean her rear. This worked better when I had a rug for her to hold on to. I wouldn't attempt either of these without jeans and shoes on! And I'd be pretty hesitant/careful if she isn't fully healed.

I'd take her back to the vet and have them clean and shave her rear-end so that things don't get messy again for a while.

If she's sketchy about being handled, then the maneuvers required to clean her vulnerable back end won't help her enjoy handling and petting down the road.

They also make wet wipes specifically for animals, which means she wouldn't have to get very wet.