I spent my evening being the manicurist for a furry diva. I’ve trimmed 18 razor sharp, kitty toe nails; and I still have flesh on 99% of my body. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I had nothing else to do…I’m waiting for the season premiere of CSI.
Actually, the real reason is because AJ (the re-in”cat”ion) of Boots, managed to step in a puddle of pine tree sap in our back yard. She was leaping all over the sidewalk, shaking her paw, trying to lick it off. While she was making the most awful faces, I silently had to ask my self, “AJ, you lick your bottom, and you’re making faces like that over pine tree sap?”
Have you ever tried to get pine sap out of a furry cat paw? As a public service – Here is the step by step procedure, if you ever find yourself in a similar predicament.
First, enlist your unsuspecting spouse to hold the cat in question. Wrap the cat in a towel that you wouldn’t mind seeing shredded. That beach towel you got as a wedding gift years ago, buried in the back of the linen closet, next to the raffia wall hanging covered with silk flowers should do nicely.
Once the sticky little ball of fur with teeth is firmly in hubby’s grasp, you’ve got to start getting the sticky sap off. What to use? Don’t use the embroidered washcloths from Great Aunt Myrtle, she might come to visit one day. Try a diaper wipe. You will need several. I swear by Huggies diaper wipes. They get out practically anything. No more diapers in our house, but I still have wipes.
Now that the paw is wet, the cat is annoyed and your spouse is a bit on edge, what are you going to use to breakdown the sticky stuff the rest of the way? How about Vaseline Petroleum Jelly? After consulting the “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cat Care” manual, start rubbing Vaseline into the paw pads and fur. (It works on gum too, but that’s a story for another time.)
If you speak in a French accent as you describe the “kitty spa experience” it lightens the mood, a little. Hubby is breaking into a sweat, as he struggles with 8 pounds of cat that feels more like 80. To the cat your ‘accent’ only sounds like, “Blah, blah, cat.” In any case, you will be getting the ‘evil eye’ from both the husband and the cat.
Note to self…buy a fresh jar of Vaseline, since no one will want to use it after a kitty paw has been repeatedly dipped in the jar….
Time to get off the excess Vaseline. Back to the diaper wipes. By this time AJ has given up. She sits motionless in her bath towel dungeon; and doesn’t make a peep while her paw gets a final rinse in baby shampoo & warm water. The paw in question gets dried off with her terry cloth prison. She’s survived her spa experience; with a heavy sign of disgust, she flies down the hallway, not to be seen for hours. Hubby dries the beads of sweat off his forehead. He leans over, kisses the wife and says, “Next time, we let the pine sap wear off!”
I was the designated “holdee” when my husband trimmed our ferret’s nails. Ferrets are very cat-like so I can relate. It’s like a spa treatment in a straightjacket! Now if only I could get my pig into the shower. (I pay a professional to trim her nails).
Your idea of baby wipes is an excellent one! It would have saved a lot of agony here. My husband and I had to wash off an “accident” when our cat Malcolm got sick. My husband was holding him, while I was going to wipe him with old towels. We foolishly tried the hose with a spray nozzle to gently rinse him because his whole rear was covered……. We thought the pressure was on low, but the water squirted out, Malcolm screeched and bit my husband’s hand through heavy leather gloves. My husband yelled using some choice words. Malcolm took off, still dirty. He’s an indoor cat, but we had to keep him wet and angry on the deck until we could calm him and finish the job. I’m not even sure how we finally got him cleaned off. I’ve blocked the trauma.