Angels with dirty noses

Hi,I'm new here! I've just got two new kittens(both 8 weeks old)from the same litter.They came from a foster home of an animal charity.
They seem quite healthy,but weren't too clean when I got them.
In particular,their noses seem to have black,caked-on "dirt" around them.
I've tried to clean it off with warm water & cotton pads but it's quite ingrained.
Should I be worried,will it eventually come off of it's own accord,and will the kittens start cleaning themselves soon?
I'm taking then to the vet soon for their first vaccinations,so will mention it to him.
The dirt probably isn't a health risk(I hope!),but looks ugly as they're pale-coloured cats with pink noses.
Thanks for any help/advice...

Is their nose runny? And their eyes? If not, then don't worry, their little noses were not cleaned properly at their foster homes by their humans...

Just clean it daily with warm water and cotton just like you did. Give it a few days and they will have back a lovely pink noses.

Hi,Studio 224! Thanks for your reply....No,thankfully they seem to have no discharge from their nose or eyes and as you say it has been that they were not cleaned properly(or at all) by their human "carers".
I'll persist with the warm water/cotton pads routine-if I can keep the little darlings still and acquiesent for more than one nano-second!(LOL)

If you could keep them quiet for more then a second then something would be wrong!!!

yeah, what IS that stuff? i took in some street kittens recently and they (one in particular) have black marks on their noses. my gf was convinced it was just their markings, but finally it seems to be coming off. i almost want to say it was tar or something, nothing gets it off but time!

Hi,Jimmylegs(and Studio224 again)-thank you both for your posts!
The person who handed the kittens over to me tried to say that the marks were because they had been sniffing each other's bottoms...No doubt kittens and other animals do this,but I've kept cats all my life(I'm in my late 40s)and this is the first I've seen,obtaining kittens from all sources(friends,shelters etc)
Interesting that you mentioned tar,Jimmylegs-as I said in my original post the "dirt" seems to be waterproof & ingrained.
Can I ask,Jimmylegs,how long it took for the black marks to wear off in the case of your own kittens/cats?
It's definitely not their natural colouring-they're very pale ginger and white.

Cats are very clean and even when they sniff their bottom, and they do..., they don't get dirty, most of the time they look quite dazed with the mouth a bit open and vague eyes... but dirty... never!

The foster home was not doing their job as far as cleaning is involved. At the shelter where I volunteer, no cats is handed dirty, be it a kitten or a full grown uncooperative adult. Everyone goes to its new home, clean and shining, with eyes, ears, noses clean, dewormed and deflead. We do recommend that their new owners bring them to the vet ASAP, to be double sure that everything is ok in case we had missed something. But not every foster home or shelter is like that.

Hi,Studio224-yes,I'm very disappointed in the conduct of the cat shelter-which is part of the foremost British cat charity(who will remain nameless at present),and I had expected much better from them.They had also messed me aound on contact/admin issues(but that's another story!)
I asked if they had been de-wormed/de-flead etc and was told that they were "too young" for it(at 8 weeks)-can that be correct?
I now think they have ear mites,as they are scratching their ears/shaking their heads etc
Will get it checked out in a few days when I take them for their first vaccinations(I'm wanting them to settle in a bit first before I subject them to the vet's,unless it's a dire emergency,of course...)

On the part of any humane society/rescue/shelter....here we have 70 cats(down from 90+). There are...I think 3-4 people who care for all those cats, 2x a day, every day. I'm not saying that the foster home not cleaning their faces is OK....just remember....it's easy to get overwhelmed or burnt out.

That said, my Dorian Grey often has a dirty/crusty nose. He has chronic "snotties". I've had him vet checked & it is normal for him.

Hi,White cat lover,many thanks for your reply! Yes,the work that the shelters do is amazing and largely voluntary too-and thank all the stars for them.
However,I had been lead to believe that the kittens I now have had come from a private foster home and temporarily raised in a "family" environment-maybe I mis-understood or was mis-informed?
I have checked my cat care books and from them I see that it's OK to give de-worming medicine at four weeks old...
I had not actually seen these kittens before agreeing to take them-feeling sure that I would love them,and feeling reassured(as I had been)that rigorous health checks would be done on them before I got them.

Yes, we usually give the kitten their first deworming at 4 weeks. And of course, white cat lover, we don't clean each nose daily at the shelter... we couldn't do that (like all shelters we are understaffed) but I had understood that these 2 kitten came from a foster home.

Anyway, that's not the most important, most important is that these 2 kitties have found a family.

To be honest, I don't think that going for the first time to the vet wil be very stressfull for the kitten, and even if it is a little... if they have never been dewormed, they should be quickly as parasites are dangerous for babies.

Scratching and shaking head could also mean ear infection.

Don't wait too long to take your kittens to the vet, they should be dewormed, deflead and they definetely need their ear checking.

Otherwise, are they eating well?

And what about photos... i would love to see them!

Originally Posted by soulchaos

Hi,I'm new here! I've just got two new kittens(both 8 weeks old)from the same litter.They came from a foster home of an animal charity.
They seem quite healthy,but weren't too clean when I got them.
In particular,their noses seem to have black,caked-on "dirt" around them.
I've tried to clean it off with warm water & cotton pads but it's quite ingrained.
Should I be worried,will it eventually come off of it's own accord,and will the kittens start cleaning themselves soon?
I'm taking then to the vet soon for their first vaccinations,so will mention it to him.
The dirt probably isn't a health risk(I hope!),but looks ugly as they're pale-coloured cats with pink noses.
Thanks for any help/advice...

Click to expand...

My Little Kitty got some food stuck on her nose, I took it off with a q-tip and saline nose drops. it came right off

Hi,Studio224 & mbjerkness-yes,they've found a doting home with me and I'm typing this now with one of the babes lying full-tilt on my lap-they've settled in quickly!
Unfortunately,I can't post a photo at present as my digital camera has gone belly-up,but will get help from a friend to do so soon.
They're ginger & white,from the same litter,and partly fill the sad gap left by my last beloved adult cat who passed away aged 18....
I can't believe how lucky I've been with previous kittens-none of them have needed worming,treatment for ear mites or even dirty noses(LOL!),though there was a flea episode in mid-life with two of my cats(my "fault" for petting a stray dog which obviously had had little visitors about it's person...)
Will try the q-tip/saline thing,but the kittens are extremely touchy(literally & metaphorically)about having their sensitive little snouts probed-will wait until they're in one of their kitty-dream states...
Cats,eh? As Leonardo said:"the smallest feline is a masterpiece.."

My Portia used to get nose crusties It was just food that she hadn't quite wiped off yet - So I'd just get at her with a wet cotton ball (which of course she loved )

Now her nose is pink and clean all the time!

my kittens came off the streets with the marks on their noses, i suspect from rooting around looking for food and such. it's so hard for cats to remain clean when they're outside like that. but they've been in with me for about 3 weeks now and the mark finally is gone!

Yeah, I could understand it if my two had been left outside to fend for themselves,but I was led to believe(rightly or wrongly)that they had actually been BORN in a foster home! The mother had been taken in(she was roaming the streets pregnant)and therefore I can't understand why my kittens were so dirty-I had thought that between the mother licking them,and the foster carers,the kittens would have been squeaky clean!
I've been persisting with the wet cotton wool routine,and it's helping a little,but the kittens hate it-so I don't push it as I don't want them stressed out(it sounds like they've been through enough already...)
I wasn't happy that the woman from the shelter patently got it wrong about the correct minimum age for starting worming etc-it doesn't give me much faith in believing her story about the foster home either....

Anyhow,now I'm worried that they've got ear mites-they're doing the ear-scratching,head shaking stuff...Will get them checked on Monday by the vet.

Berach had dirt in his little nose and chronic dark "eye boogers" when I first adopted him. He was and is perfectly healthy though and his foster parents kept him clean...
don't know what is was but after a few months here with me his nose is clean and his eye boogers aren't nearly as bad as they were...

Thanks for the post,saya...I wonder if it's just an "age" thing and the kittens grow out of it and/or it's a body-defence thing-the gunge acts as a barrier against germs etc?
Or maybe the kittens just grow up and groom themselves more?
It's strange,but I've never had it with any kittens before-only these two latest lovelies!