Hello all, it's been such a long time since I posted regularly about my moggy Dango. This is a question about my brand new baby bengal Puck.

Took him in for a check up after bringing him home. My poor darling baby was not having a great time at the vets (he's a bit timid in general) and peed on himself in his carrier. The vet cleaned him up with some baby wipes and declared him good-to-go, but I wasn't sure... I felt so bad for him, he climbed right up me to my chest during his exam, and he fell off the counter twice after failing to jump away. :( He had a really rough day.

Anyway, I've mentioned this before in regards to cat ownership, but I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and I have a really hard time with things being clean. When we got home, I opened a pack of cat wipes that I got in case something like this happened. I rubbed him all over with the wipes a couple of times, which he didn't really mind but wasn't a major fan of, and let him out to go about his business. Is that sufficient for cleaning the pee off of him? I'm guessing so, but I wouldn't mind confirmation... I didn't want to give him a full bath, the poor thing, not after the day he had.

Also, and I may make a separate post for this if it doesn't get better, but -- while I was cleaning out the carrier I noticed a lot of red stains on the door and the side holes. Took a better look at my boy and realized that his front left paw is bleeding. My poor baby hurt himself trying to get out of his carrier! I think he may have damaged a claw, but now that I've noticed he will not let me get a closer look. He doesn't seem to be bleeding from it any more, and it hasn't stopped him from running and jumping and catching Da Bird, but I have noticed him licking at it a couple of times. That may just be because there is still blood on his fur that I couldn't get off with another wipe, but I don't want to aggravate his injury, either. I called his vet and they told me he was likely to be okay, as long as he isn't bleeding any more, but to watch him... Alternatively, I could have bundled him back into the car and taken him back in for them to see him again, but I feel so miserable about taking him in already that I didn't want to just make things worse...

Any advice? I feel miserable for my baby, and they gave him a booster vaccination while he was there that left him groggy and me feeling terrible.

Hi,

Good to see an old friend coming back to the forum! I have to wipe up pee with Gaga periodically when she has one of her seizures. I usually towel her off and sometimes use a very small amount of kitty shampoo, and then make sure to clean off her bed etc. One thing you want to avoid is any anti-bacterial stuff, as that can be hard on cats.

I'd love to hear more about your new kitty, even if he is having a tough time. Take care.

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The little monsters 3

Thanks, Brian! Yes, it's been awhile. The story with Dango ended poorly -- I still lived with my parents at the time and they were making things really stressful for Dango, and forcing him to stay in only one room, or be crated while I was gone... led to a lot of inappropriate litter box behaviors, and ultimately I had to rehome him. Came back that night, closed out of this forum, and didn't come back for years... but, the silver lining is that I was able to rehome him with my best friend, so over the years I've been able to see Dango loads of times. He's a real buddy cat, so he and my friend are bonded very closely. She has him trained to do all sorts of things I wouldn't have thought possible, haha. He's much happier there than he ever could have been with me, given the family circumstances. It was really hard at first, but now they're inseparable.

Now I've moved out, and I did ask to make sure she wasn't secretly being driven nuts by Dango or anything, but at this point she's had him way longer than I ever did. Back then, I had hoped I could move out so much quicker than I really could... lol, no. Only earlier this year, after I completely graduated with my degree. Miserable. But, nothing was stopping me from bringing in a new cat now, so after we got well and settled in I started looking... Almost ended up with an Abyssinian, but Bengals have had my heart for years...

Anyway, I'll post a full introduction for Puck in a few days. I picked him up Thursday, and he spent the first day under the bed and wouldn't come out for anything except Da Bird. No food, nothing but Da Bird. He wasn't a fan of pets on night one, but now on night four we've got him sleeping in laps and cuddling in bed and climbing on the countertops, so we've come a long way. I can actually snap some photos now that he's not all the way under the bed where no one can touch him!

I thought for sure he'd be straight under the bed after I wiped him down, because he's been hiding every time a particularly loud noise or other spooky thing happens. But he sauntered a foot away from the bathroom and just yowled and now he's asleep on TOP of the bed, which I much prefer. All in all, he's doing very well, he's just my first kitten and Dango spoiled me. Dango didn't care about the vet, didn't hide at all when I brought him home, didn't fuss about food changes, nothing! Now I see how easy I had it!

Baby wipes and pet wipes are perfect for cleaning cats. I give mine a wipedown once in a while, especially the paws.

I would personally only give a cat a bath for flea treatment or if they were disabled and unable to groom properly.

Always happy to see an old friend return. Cats are pretty OCD themselves. They do the best job of grooming themselves and only need a little human help every now and then. Kitty wipes work great and I would keep bottle of kitty shampoo on hand as well.

As for the paw .... this happens to cats a lot. As long as the claw is okay -- and you are unable to see this -- make sure it isn't catching on anything which will tear it even more. It should heal on its own. Poor baby has been through a lot in the short time with you. Hopefully, all is well and things will get better. Congratulations.

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The little monsters 3