What to Do If your Cat Stinks
Tips to Follow If your Cat Stinks
Did You Know?
Cats with thick and dense fur like the Persian cat breed have real trouble keeping them clean, which is or can be the main reason for body odor.
Unlike us humans, animals cannot really deal with the situation if they stick. Just as we need daily grooming to get rid of body odor, our pet too need same grooming even though cats have the tendency of self-grooming.
Cats are very conscious of their cleanliness that’s why they self-groomed but stubbornness and curiosity will take them to anywhere they wish to go even if it is out-of-bounds for them. In spite the effort of both the owner and the cat in the cat’s grooming process; it still goes around to play and pickup foul smells and dirt. The fur can be groomed clean but what about the odor? How can we eliminate this foul odor? What causes cats to smell bad? Is this smell indicating health issues? In this article, we will try to address all the queries and provide suggested remedies to the various problems. Let start first by looking into what are the causes of these bad or foul odors in cats.
Causes of a Smelly Cat
Skin Diseases
If cats have skin diseases, they turn to develop an offensive body odor. Skin diseases such as infected wound on their skin, a weak immune system or infection cause by yeast or bacteria or even fleas. The visible symptoms for skin diseases are, falling or loss of hair, sores and redness. Others like ear infection can also be major cause foul odors in cats.
Old Age and Obesity
The older the cat gets, the harder it becomes for them to groom themselves. Subsequently, when cats get old they also get weak and lazy, which is why they find it difficult to properly groom themselves. Also, obese cats too have a hard time cleaning themselves as they will not be able to get to some areas of their body.
Dental Problems
Older cats turn to have bad breath which developed from the common dental problems in older cats. When these old cats groom themselves, their bad breath is spread all over their body, and if you make more than one cats and they are groomed by this old cat, all the other cats will start stinking. Other causes of bad breath in cats are foods with high protein content and also kidney failure in cats can cause bad breath.
Anal Glands
Cats do mark their territories by spraying pee and also by spraying anal sac fluid. Cats secrete this fluid when they answer nature’s call and also when they get excited or scared or anxious, the sac is located right inside their anus. After secretion, this fluid could get on the backside of the cat and stay there for some time cause offensive odor.
Illness and Fur
Sometimes, cats may feel tired and weak to groom themselves due to illness. The illness in some cases too can cause the foul odors in the cat. Cats like the Persian cat with long and high-maintenance fur, finds it very hard to groom thoroughly because the fur gets tangled easily, the fur gets really long and dry, and dryness attracts dirt.
Remedies
With your patient and time, some of the above issues can be corrected. You can keep you cat clean and odorless even though it’s not a day’s work.
Feed Premium Food
One of the main reasons for bad breath in cats is the food type. Abstain from feeding your cat wet food and switch to premium food and just make sure it gets its daily supplements of dry cat food or treats. High quality food contain less additive and color which is a catalyst for tooth decay, dry foods help in cleaning your cats teeth and mouth. Try brushing your cats teeth with your finger and once it gets comfortable with your finger, introduce tooth brush and you are good to go.
Not Letting It Out
You can’t follow your cat everywhere and know of see what they do or come in contact with. Outdoor cats play with dirt and garbage, which attracts foul odors. You can help by restricting its’ outdoor movements to just your backyard or keep it indoor.
Grooming
Cats can be experts in cleaning themselves, but if you think your cats’ is acting lazy and always looks dirty, step in and handle the grooming for it. Most cats dislike water with a passion, try dry shampoo and make it a daily habit to brush its fur. If the cat has long fur, try to trim it especially towards the tail areas, as this is where feces buildup to odor.
Go for Daily Checkups
Health issues such as swollen anal glands, ear infections and others can cause serious offensive odor. Make it a duty to visit your vet and get regular checkups for your cat to ensure the odor is not a serious health issue.
Spraying
Cats do spray for territory boundaries and also when they are anxious and nervous, but when it start spraying too much and the odor unbearable, consider visiting your vet for diagnoses. This may be as a cause of stomach upset or even stomach infection.
Before trying out any remedies, the best course of action is to first of all consult your veterinarian, get the root cause of the problem before remedies and be sure to live happy ever after with your feline friend.