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Y’all, Arlene needs some advice, and I have none!
My adopted kitten will be two on the 22nd of this month. His name is Harley.
I need moisturizer and haven’t been able to find one that he can stand. Even the supposedly unscented ones make him run. One was so bad that he ran across the room, turned to me and gagged!
Do you have any suggestions? Maybe, your readers would chime in.
He needs nose plugs or I need to accept being dry and flaky.
Any help will be must appreciated and applied ASAP.
The only thing I could think of is unscented lotion (which Arlene already tried). (Also Harley’s gagging made me laugh, because that’s just A LITTLE DRAMATIC.)
In any case, I KNOW someone (perhaps many someones?) out there has a great suggestion, so please chime in!
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Breakfast is served! I love how comfy these four are with each other.
Kate found (and likes) a catnip snake.
Rum is havin’ a think.
Reverb’s fascinated by the ceiling fan.
Reverb, checking in on Kate, to be sure she’s behaving herself.
Rum with his toes in the air.
Just a girl and her pom pom ball.
Ollie in the sunshine, telling me all about it. (None of the cats in the foster room are particularly talkative, but Ollie will squeak at me from time to time.)
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Alice Mo the calico wants none of your nonsense, yo.
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Posted on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Tumblr/ Bluesky) this weekend.
Update on Reverb & Rum:
Reverb is on day 39 of the 84 day FIP treatment (so, not quite halfway through.) He’s doing well, playing a lot, and his appetite has kicked in with a vengeance. He gained half a pound last week! (Side note about his eyes: they are still quite cloudy, and I don’t expect that to change. His eyes were horribly infected when he came to Forgotten Felines as a little guy, and it’s amazing they look as good as they do. They’re not causing him pain, and he can definitely see!)
Rum is on day 43 of the 84 day FIP treatment (so, more than halfway!) He’s doing well, plays (he’s more playful when I’m not in the room – when I am, he prefers to sit like a little king in my lap and survey his kingdom). His appetite is good, and he absolutely adores Friskies Party Mix treats. You can wake him up out of a dead sleep with one single shake of the treat container.
(They get along great with each other – and with Ollie, and Kate when she allows it – but no, they’re not a bonded pair.)
Kate wants none of your nonsense, thank you.
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Kate (and Ollie) really like those little pom pom balls – every morning before I go into the foster room, I have to kick like 10 of them back under the door.
Rumdangling with a friend.
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Everyone (especially Reverb) is playing. Rum even leaves my lap to go see what’s going on.
Rum and Ollie have a tussle in the sun.
Good night innernets. (Reverb, Rum and Ollie)
Happy Valentine’s Day, from your favorite Rumdanglin’ dude.
🎉 Former fosters, in an adorable Valentine puddle! Debra says: “Molly nearest the headboard by herself, Amber [Ambercup, 2015] & Phoenix [2017] cuddling, Truman with his head towards me, and Stardust [2017] being Stardust sort of by herself.” Looks like a perfect napping spot! (Thanks Debra!)
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Kate specifically jumped up onto the couch next to me to be petted, and I think that’s a fine Valentine’s Day gift! Happy Valentine’s Day to me (and to all of you!)
It’s an Ollie pie (my favorite!) lookin’ right at me. I bet he wants to be my valentine. ❤️
Happy Valentine’s Day, from Reverb – the perfect valentine. ❤️
🎉 Look! It’s former foster ChaCha (right) and her sister CeeCee! Meredith reports that “They took a little bit to get along, but they are great friends now!” ❤️ Love it! (Thanks Meredith!)
Good night innernets. (Ollie & Rum)
Someone asked recently if there’s anything Rum WON’T dangle out of, and believe me there’s plenty. Most frustrating is that he REFUSES to dangle out of the disco bowl, no matter how comfy I make it. The boy has standards, I guess, and not everything is a dangle base. (But he still loves that box.)
🎉 Former fosters Maverick (formerly Tango) and Carmelita (Sashay) and their big brother Ezra are doing great! Mike says: “The babies have been little Smoky Mountain kittens for two months now, so I thought you might like to see how they’re doing. They’re both crazily playful, and sometimes big brother Ezra joins in with that, too. Just this week, Maverick has started playing fetch with me, and Carmelita helps out with that as well. They both also love to snuggle, and Carmelita is quite an assertive personality. When I feed the three of them Churu, she reaches out a paw to direct the stick toward her and away from her brothers.” How cute is that? The CUTEST. (Thanks, Mike!)
🎉 Former fosters Marcy (formerly Marsali) and Joni (Joanie) are having a gooood time with their catnip “thank you” toys from the most recent Forgotten Felines of Huntsville online auction. (They’re filled with the GOOD stuff!) And Marcy is showing off her very best Marcydangle. Excellent form! 🏅
Line ’em up! (Yes, there’s a feather teaser up there.) From left: Rum, Kate, Reverb & Ollie.
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Kate does play with the boys – just not often! Today, she’s playing with Reverb.
🎉 Former fosters Rupert (formerly Richie) and Pippin (Carmy) star in… The Ol’ Chomperoo. Both boys have been nominated for Oscars in the Most Violent(ly Adorable) category. Fingers crossed! (Thanks, Sharon!)
Good night innernets. (Reverb)
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Previously
2025: No entry.
2024: Napping with kittens.
2023: Cinnaspin stomped off, and Linzer said “Where’d she go?”
2022: “This belly needs a rub.”
2021: With her feets up in the air like that, she strongly resembles a dead armadillo.
2020: “Oh hey, look at that! It’s No Kittens O’Clock!”
2019: No entry.
2018: “Ma’am, we’ve had reports of people floating down here.”
2017: “LADY! STOP WATCHING ME! GET A LIFE! MIND YER OWN BEESWAX!”
2016: “Hey, lady, I think I felt the baby kick. HA HA HA SUCKER!”
2015: Toby, meerkatting.
2014: No entry.
2013: No entry.
2012: My seedshake brings all the boids to the yard.
2011: No entry.
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: And then he darted out the front door of the carrier. Because why would it occur to me to check to be sure that the front door was closed? THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE, STUPID.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
It might be worth persevering with a lotion that Harvey “can’t stand.”
Many cats react _quite_ dramatically to unfamiliar things, and then don’t mind them at all once they’ve got used to it. (Also, they can make some impressive faces when they’re trying to understand a new scent that can look like a grimace or gag to a human.)
If it were me I’d give him a chance to figure it out, and try to pair the unfamiliar smell with positive experiences like a favourite treat to help the process along.
Robyn, that’s no mere “toes in the air”, but Rum executing the difficult “four paw upside down back dangle”! A gold medal performance!!
Turning around and gagging at her made me laugh. Maybe she could try baby oil if she hasn’t already.
I am a big fan of Rum rumdangling.
Hello, what works well for my Kitty, is to use Vaseline. Hope it helps.
Cat
Coconut oil?
I came to suggest the same. It can make the fur feel funny but I don’t think it would be worse than lotion. And I have used it on a couple cats who actually like the flavor and will just lick it off my fingers. It also has antibacterial properties.
I use jojoba oil.
Suggesting to Arlene to use coconut oil, as Holly and Lara said. Coconut oil is not only good for humans and their skin, but we use it for our Foundling Clowder to help eliminate hairballs. We leave it out in ramekins and just let whoever of the clowder wants consume as much as often as they wish.
Also, Arlene could consider tallow based creams. There are some with limited to no scent available, as it seems Harley is possibly reacting to that more than the texture of the cream on mama’s hands. Tallow is amazing for moisturizing.
If Arlene needs suggestions on where to purchase coconut oil or tallow creams, we have a few places we reach out to for those. Just ask away.
Arlene, Pure lanolin is an amazing moisturizer.
I was also going to suggest something with lanolin! Several years ago I had to *stop* using my favorite lanolin based hand cream because my cat *loved* it! She would grab my hands and start licking it! (Fortunately, it was all natural, locally made, with nothing in it to harm the kitty, but still!!! 🙂 )
There’s a woman on YT who made skin lotions specifically for cat ladies! All her cats tested them and approved.
She lives in South Korea, has 10 cats and used to make the cutest vids, but since she became more popular, and wanted to start focusing on her cat’s kidney failure, she quit her main channel, which I can’t remember now. If anyone knows, let us know. She has a site that sells the lotions. Her cat’s names were odd, like Dodo, Momo, etc.
Kittisaurus is one of her channels (I just searched YT).
I myself am allergic to many lotions. I started using glaxal base. The plain base pharmacists use to build medicated lotions. Non scented and rich moisture. My skin loves it and my cat is fine with it.
Good luck!
I use baby oil and sugar. MIx the two making a scrub for your hands, then wash the sugar away in warm water. The baby oil moistens and the sugar exfoliates.
I so love updates. So many smug and snug kitties!
Thanks Debra!
Thanks Meredith!
Thanks Mike!
Thanks Sharon!
How about Vasoline? No scent and fairly effective.
I’m assuming the lotion question is regarding flaky skin? This may be allergy related. This is not a quick solution but you will need to completely eliminate certain foods for multiple weeks at a time. You’ll have to get OCD about reading and understanding ingredient labels. First to eliminate is any grains in any food: corn, rice, wheat, oats, barley. Most food brands will state “Grain-Free” plain and clear on the label, but you still need to read carefully.
Even if you experience no change after a month or two, don’t go back. Cats are not meant to eat grains. Next, start to isolate proteins. This will be more difficult as many foods, include multiple sources of protein: chicken stock mixed in beef, or turkey based foods. Do the best you can to stick to one protein for 6-8 weeks at a time. This will allow you to see how these diet changes affect skin.
One thing you can change immediately, is to add additional fat to his diet: olive oil, beef tallow, etc. (avoid seed oils). Good luck!
I’m no help – my Ivy used to LOVE lotion (she was a licker). I would maybe try a shower oil and then it should hopefully soak in before she gets ready for the day. Geez cats are weird… haha
Are Rum’s front paws particularly large compared to the other cats?
Yaaaay at everyone continuing to do well, Kate wanting to be petted (!!!) and all the happy foster updates. I still want to pet all four of your current foster crew. I volunteer as a lap provider if you’ve got things to do other than cuddle with a purry paw-dangling tabby-patched goofball all day. Distance what now? Never heard of it. XD
Special shoutout, hi Carmy! <3
I’ve used almond oil and no one seemed to mind.