Cat brings in Poison Oak!

Ok, this is a real stumper. Our 3.5 year old male is an agressive hunter and demands to go out daily. He scours the neighborhood which includes wild land across the street. Fortunately, he's smart enough to come in at night [usually] as the area has a heavy coyote population. The wild areas are also thick with poison oak. We'll I avoid this stuff like the plague, as I'm highly allergic to it. I had the gardners get rid of all of it from our back yard. But then I started getting it again, and realized I was getting it from the cat! Yes, when I pick up the cat, he's got it all over his fur, and I get it on my arms and hands. What nightmare. I can't even pet my own cat now. And to top it off, everywhere he sleeps inside, including our bed, gets the damn poison oak oil on it and has to be washed. I'm becoming afraid to touch anything.

The only solution I can think of is to keep him inside all the time. But this would be torture for this animal. Has anyone heard of this problem? Any other ideas about what can possibly be done? Is there such a thing as poison oak repellent for animals? Hmmm, maybe I'll Google that one.

Thanks

I realize this is just my opinion, but I don't believe keeping a cat indoors is torture.

Our 2 go out for various periods of time with a harness and line and only under supervision. This keeps them safe, gives us less worry about them being hit by a car, hurt by an unleashed dog, attacked by raccoons or other wild animals or fighting with other cats and getting hurt.

True, the cat would be safer, and we would worry less. I guess the cat would get used to it, but he would still definitely be tortured and confused, for awhile anyway. As it is, he sits at the door and cries every morning. Oh, well, it may be the best solution. I cannot live with poison oak as a constant irritation -- I would go mad.

Uh oh, I just realized, that my home office gets way too hot in the summer, and I have to leave the doors open for the breeze. The cat will get out. If I put a leash on the cat he would soon require therapy. Hmmmm, back to the drawing board.

Thanks

Originally Posted by metrov

True, the cat would be safer, and we would worry less. I guess the cat would get used to it, but he would still definitely be tortured and confused, for awhile anyway. As it is, he sits at the door and cries every morning. Oh, well, it may be the best solution. I cannot live with poison oak as a constant irritation -- I would go mad.

Uh oh, I just realized, that my home office gets way too hot in the summer, and I have to leave the doors open for the breeze. The cat will get out. If I put a leash on the cat he would soon require therapy. Hmmmm, back to the drawing board.

Thanks

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Metrov, the cat would get conditioned to it I'm sure. Bijou certainly is - he never cries to me to go outside because he seems to understand that I don't like him to go outside. My husband on the other hand thinks it's not fair to keep him inside and will take him outside so as soon as my husband comes in the house from work or wherever, Bijou starts crying to him to go out. His meezer howl can be heard for blocks I am sure.

Screens are a quick fix so you can open your doors for the breeze and we find that Bijou and Mika love to sit by the door and watch the outdoor world through the screen.

You are right about one thing though, your cat may not appreciate a harness and leash and just possibly could require therapy.

It took us a couple weeks of letting them wear the harness inside so they could get used to the feel of it. Now Bijou actually sits at the door and waits for us to put his harness on so he can go out. The next step would be to teach him to bring it to us in his teeth -

I don't recommend applying it to the cat, because he'll probably try and lick it off and get sick, but for YOU: are you aware of the product called Tecnu? I know REI sells it, and I recently saw it at a Raley's (I was surprised). It was originally sold to foresters and wildland firefighters. It both prevents poison oak rash and reduces the severity of the rash if it's already too late. Regular soap doesn't do the trick, because (as you noted) the allergen is an oil and thus is hard to get off with just water. Tecnu is an oil-based soap specifically designed for poison oak/ivy. I am also allergic to poison oak, so I used it quite faithfully when I was doing field research on oak woodlands. I'd shower with it after every field day. I did get it once unexpectedly; started getting an itchy rash. I used Tecnu on it and the rash disappeared. It won't work if the rash has already had many hours to set in, but otherwise is great. Just thought I'd let you know about it, in case you weren't aware.

Can I get money from the company for that promo?