Need help with former barn cat - will not clean himself

Hi All,

I am reaching out for help with a cat I have kind of inherited. He was a barn cat in a barn I manage. He has been with us for about 8 years and he has always been strange. This year however, his situation became horrible and against the barn owner's wishes I took him home from the barn about a month ago. I own a boarding/grooming kennel and I am a vet tech, so I have some experience. He was slowly starving and freezing to death and when I got him home I found he was loaded with fleas also. He actually collapsed in the tub when I tried to bathe him. I was not sure he would make it and it was pretty touch and go for a good week. He was literally skin and bones, had some frost bite, diarrhea, vomiting, ear mites, and an ulcer under his tail from packed poop. It took several bathes, which he seemed to actually welcome the warm water, to get rid of the fleas. And I started a careful refeeding schedule. Kept him very warm even giving him warm water to drink and heating his canned food and raw meat. He is now flea free, clean, mite free, happy as can be with one big problem! He will not groom himself at all! Which will be a big problem when I try to rehome him. He leaves poop on his bedding or anything he sits on. I have tried to smear food on his feet, butt, face, but he just ignores it. Does anyone here have any ideas on how I can teach this boy to groom himself?? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

It sounds like his poop is not yet as formed as it should be, or he would not have it sticking to his butt.  You may have to try various additions or subtractions from his diet to help him, or he may well have a non-worm parasite such as giardia.  It sounds like he is on the mend but was close to death, and sick cats don't groom themselves so if nothing else, he has gotten out of the habit.  You have come a long way with this boy but it sounds like there is more work to do before you consider rehoming him.

I lived on a farm, and as sad it sounds he sounds like a lucky one. A lot of times barn cats aren't even fed with the thinking it will make them better hunters because they have to hunt for food. Which of course isn't true, it's mostly play and a well fed cat will be better.

In my experience, barn cats aren't altered, aren't, immunized, and in most cases feral. I'm sure you've seen the same horrors that I have which I won't say here.

Imo, I don't think you can make a barn cat, a domestic cat, including grooming. Some are sweet as can be, but lack cat skills. There is loads of inbreeding sadly in barn cats. I think, you have to take them as they are, faults and all, and there are many and it takes a special person willing to accept that.

You've known him for 8 years, but he could be older, correct? Many indoor only cats stop grooming due to poor health/energy. Grooming is a sign of feeling good, as it releases endorphins and positively feedback loops to increase their feeling of well-being. Does he have enough energy and flexibility still to arch and reach his back, abdomen, bib, and hind end?

I've had many horse barn cats as patients, and as they're around people all day and into the night, many are socialized, and handled daily. In addition to hunting, exercising, and laying on "their" horses. Some are even fat, as they are free fed canned and dry in the barn, or allowed to come and go in the attached or nearby home/carriage house also.

When you've seen him over the years, has he always been in low body condition and poor coat? Or this is a recent development and he once was healthier and visibly licked/groomed himself?

With the adult fleas and flea poop washed away, it will be more feasible for him to take over again, if he also has a mat free coat, improved energy and condition, and isn't incontinent or leaking urine/feces onto himself.

As an older cat in poor body condition with a high burden of parasites, he likely is anemic, dehydrated, and needs time to feel well enough to have the instinct return for grooming behavior. Capstar and Program are benign for ill cats and effective to control fleas. Until he's better, topical parasiticides should be avoided or he could have a neurological/systemic reaction to its application. Revolution is the safest option for compromised pets, once he is feeling better.

Drontal 2-3 weeks apart, 2 doses, should also be administered to treat rounds, hooks, and all species of tapes he may have ingested from fleas and rodents/rabbits. If you have seen soft stool or worms, supporting his intestinal health will boost him while the villi recover from heavy parasite load attaching to the wall. Proviable probiotic daily, 5-7 days of 7-10mg/kg metronidazole, and good groceries in him will help. Compounded metro suspension is best for cats, so they're not overdosed, and it's flavored to improve their tolerance of the med.

Kittens learn grooming by observing adults and mimic the behavior. If he's never groomed himself, he may need you to keep him combed and wiped clean. For my ill patients, I use baby wipes and waterless shampoo successfully for soiled spots, and otherwise just comb/brush to spread sebaceous oils throughout and remove old skin/coat as they shed it daily. Their tongue does a better job, but our grooming them is necessary if they just don't feel well enough to do so.

Is he yours now, or does the barn manager want him back eventually?

Yup fleas, worms etc can be treated.however usually expensive and although most would want to, they just can't afford it. Then get into basic grooming that isn't taught and has to be done, and even the well intentioned and loving just can't take that on.

I'm not saying anthing bad about you at all, it's commendable, but a horse vet doesn't really understand a farm owner and barn cats. I don't mean that in a bad way at all. A barn cat is what it is.

Thank you for the responses. Puck, he kind of looks like your avatar cat!!  He probably is about 11 years old, neutered, he originally came from a shelter in NYC but was not a good house cat (signs of trouble here). So he was either going to be put down or come be a barn cat. He has always been yucky for lack of a better word. While very friendly, he never has groomed himself well, was often matted even being short haired and usually smelled bad. So no one ever wanted to have him on their laps. He has always been thin, but then he often was not fed regularly or boarders would bring all kinds of food including some not so healthy ones. As the years went by, he has gotten worse. Till finally this year I could not take it anymore. We live in Vermont and had a bitter cold winter. Cat had no warm place to go, only a cardboard box that I taped foam insulation around. He lost more weight and was always covered in poop. So basically I kidnapped him.

I did worm him with Drontal about 2 months ago, before I took him home. He was also given Ivomec by barn owner. He has not been vaccinated since he came to the barn however. I am keeping him in iso still. His stool is nicely formed now. But when he sits on his towels, he does leak a bit of stool. And even with his better stools he still manages to get some stuck to his butt. I wash it daily, he seems to love being in the bathtub! What I am noticing is that he NEVER licks himself. Even after a bath, he will not lick himself dry. I have tried to leave a bit of him wet, no luck. Has anyone ever tried spraying something enticing on a cat to encourage licking? As I said, food on his paws does nothing. He also does not seem to know how to lick a bowl of food clean, he only eats what he can bite into. I am feeding him a good grain free canned food with probiotics, small amounts 3-4x/day. And his current environment is flea free. 

He is in really good shape right now, still very thin but improving, no mats, fleas, very clean. Just can not seem to help him make that connection to LICK! He is physically able.

The barn owner has said she wants him back, but in reality that would be a death sentence for him. I have actually given my notice at that barn. I want to rehome him or keep him myself, but need to fix the poopie butt thing. I realize he needs to see a vet sometime soon, but I really do not want to put much more expense into him if I just have to send him back.

Wait. I'm confused, you live in VT and the cat was in a NYC shelter? So not I took him home barn cat, and not a vet visit? Ever?

Yes, that cat came to us (the barn I manage) in VT from NYC where he was adopted by the barn owner's sister who lives in NYC. Sister did not want to keep him so the barn owner offered him a home in the barn.  He was vetted before he came to us. But since he has been at the barn, he has had no vet care. One of the reasons I do not think he should live there anymore. I tried to make sure he was wormed regularly but that was not always successful either. I realize he has had a tough life, but I am trying to help improve it.

I'm still confused

Yeah, the avatar was a hospital dumpster diner I finally caught, fixed his urethra and abscessed mouth, extracted teeth, and is rotten, sleeping on me and numbing my leg right now. The Puckster.

He may be an old fart of a boy that just ain't gonna groom himself now. He's an old 11, and sounds like he is just going to need help keeping clean. Once his stool stays consistently solid, with no leaking in between litterbox bowel movements, he'll be a better "pet quality" cat that can live in the home. A lifetime of mats and keeping himself covered in feces is not reversible. I do not see you being able to encourage or train him to groom himself after such entrenched behavior. If he's gonna be indoors now, you could just clip him down with a #10 blade, below neck to back to tailhead, and all of his ventral chest/abdomen. If he's going to be outdoors seasonally though, removing mats and feces will be part of his maintenance care, to keep him clean, dry, and warm once the warm months pass again. If he still goes out some, it's likely he will limit elimination to the outdoors, as cats with a history of indoor/outdoor lifestyle usually prefer not to use a litterbox if the natural land is their toilet option.

If he is energetic now, with pink/moist mucous membranes, clean/clear skin, normal urination, and just intermittent soft stool, he's healthy enough to have his rabies vaccine, muy importante. And he likely still has tapeworms if he only had a single dose of Drontal. He needs either Drontal, or other dewormer that contains praziquantel, such as Tape Tabs or Droncit, once now to kill the existing adults in the intestines, then repeated in 2 weeks, to kill the adults that will emerge from current eggs, as eggs are insusceptable to dewormers.

As he's 11, it's likely he has something else going on with that amount of weight loss and poor coat. If he gained weight since you took him home, some of the more common geriatric cat diagnoses are less likely, but letting any potential new adopters know he hasn't had an exam or diagnostics and he is an older adult is the only ethical thing you can do, and they will need to take him to a vet after adopting him.

Keeping him clipped and indoors only may be the best way to adopt him out, so he's observed closely, kept warm and clean, and elimination is closely monitored. He could have infectious disease, such as herpesvirus, FIV, FeLV, and a statement to that effect should be included to the no exam/no diagnostics clause when he's adopted.

Glad he's in better care now, and hope you find someone that loves special cases and that feeling of being needed by a kitty, and they can dote on him to the benefit of both parties ;b

Puck, thank you so much for your well thought out advice. I greatly appreciate it. It has been a few weeks since I last posted here and your thoughts are pretty much spot on. While he is now clean, warm and well fed, he is still a really strange cat. I will say, with his stools being firm on a more regular basis, there is less mess on his bedding. I do worry about some sort of illness and hope to get him to my vet soon. I am still keeping him in isolation away from my cats and boarders, just to be on the safe side. Now that he is being regularly and well fed, he has lost some interest in eating even though he is still very thin (maybe a 3 body score). He is very affectionate and will allow me to groom him thoroughly, so clipping will not be necessary. I am starting to think he may end up staying here, just cause I can not imagine anyone that would want to adopt him! On the other hand, my two cats are 13 and 19 yrs and I really do not want to upset them.

Here is a picture of the cat when I brought him home and started to bathe him. Poor boy, he sure was hard to look at or touch.

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