Bath time!

I’ve never bathed any of my fosters. I haven’t bathed any of my own cats in more than 20 years. (Of course there’s a story on why!) But those little ones STANK. I’m calling it “Eau-de-overcrowding-situation” but I suspect cigarette* smoke (corroborated as “likely” by the intake coordinator and there was a distinct yellow tint to the wash water). And I couldn’t take it anymore. So before Tortie and Manxie left, I bathed all four. Luckily I have double sinks in the kitchen. So I set up one for wash, one for rinse, and had a towel waiting at the end. I washed them one-by-one and then put them in my big carrier to dry.

When everyone was clean(er), I took everything out of the crate and washed it thoroughly. Including the floor of the crate. I washed my floor and the wall just in case. By the time everything was clean and back together they were mostly dry. I put them back in and fed them dinner.

They smell … better. Not good yet, but better. I think they’d need a soak and that’s not going to happen! (Though they were all VERY good about the bath.) If things don’t continue to improve there may be another bath in their future. Their fecal test was negative (YAY!) and they’ve been on good quality food for a few days now. I’ve been advised to start pro-biotics, which I have. Things have got to start smelling better.

In the meantime, I’m using a lot of tealights and matches. 😉

*No offense meant to smokers. I work with a couple of people who smoke and I’ve NEVER smelled smoke on them or their clothes. But as a life-long non-smoker and asthmatic cigarette smoke is really brutal on me and I’m really sensitive to it.