Brown... brown... brooooown

[Shea]

Hi guys! Newbie here- both to the forums and owning a Sphynx! One day our sweet Eoghan was thrust into our lives, and every day since has been better than the last. I never knew I could love a pet as much as I love him. That being said... this cat is BROWN.

He's a rescue, found outdoors dirty and freezing, and he eventually ended up in our care. Things have been going well, and this site has been a huge help! I've read that Sphynxes get oily and brown between washings and we wash him about twice a month without issue. He came to us FILTHY so we've been having to make a dent in the browning one bath at a time, so that we don't upset his skin. We just had him neutered and the issue is he couldn't be bathed for ten days when he was already due for a bath, and now he's just brown as heck!

I've tried coconut oil and cat wipes, and we wash him in unscented J&J no tears baby shampoo, but the brown on him is just unreal (we're also treating his stud tail currently). Is there any particular product out there for returning his cute pinkness that doesn't involve scrubbing? I don't want to upset his skin, so I'm kind of afraid of rubbing him down too hard!

Anyway, thank you for reading, and nice to meet you all!

 

[Catzzzmeow]

@Shea Hello and welcome. Can you perhaps share a few pics so we can see how brown he is or if we might see it is perhaps a skin condition? Congrats on your baby. It is wonderful he found his forever home.

Here is a link about skin issues http://sphynxlair.com/community/threads/sphynx-skin-conditions.4236/

Here is also a poll on what seems to be the most used shampoos. I personally use D'Grease http://sphynxlair.com/community/threads/what-product-do-you-bathe-your-sphynx-with.30125/

Patti

 

[Shea]

Sure thing! It's a really REALLY unflattering photo, but I took it because he looked so silly and unlike himself. I'm gonna definitely check out D'Grease!

He's uh, not supposed to be that colour. When we wipe him down with wipes or coconut oil, the tissue/towel comes back brown :c

 

[MollysMom]

@Shea he doesn't look terribly dirty. His fur is black/ brown, so his skin is going to be a bit more darkly pigmented anyway. They can get pigment as well from the sun, so that can give them a darker colour that can appear dirty. Share some more pics, but I think he looks okay, especially considering his history!

 

[assibassi]

I dont think he is that dirty either. When You wipe him, its always going to be a bit brown, unless he just had a bath. Ours are pink normal and right now they are dirty . He is beautiful .
And welcome here.

 

[Lickleone]

If you use coconut oil on and you don't shampoo it off it will attract every dirt partial within reach. Only use it when you bath him and can thoroughly rinse it off by shampooing him off coconut oil is great for loosening dirt but if not rinsed off with a shampoo then it is a dirt magnet

 

[Catzzzmeow]

What a beautiful boy. His skin looks nice. You might think dirty, but not sure if it is excessive. In this house I wash all 3 weekly and 2 of them after 2 days will leave wax marks on my shirts...lol. It kind of goes with the territory here...lol. I do find if you do not rinse them very well, it can make them turn orangey/brown the next day. Usually we see members complain of this in hard to bathe areas where we rush like, neck, belly, armpits etc. So is it the residue that is troublesome to you? Because the skin looks really smooth from this pic and that usually means healthy. Many of us learned to live with blankets on everything so as to keep them warm and not get wax all over. I could wipe these guys daily with a baby wipe and you would find it comforting that many of us are in the same boat...lol.

If you do use D'Grease rinse WELL! I love the stuff...but again we all can be opinionated about things that work for us.

Hope to see you post in the My Sphynx Cat Tail section with an introduction and a pic of your baby and background story. Can already see you are going to be a concerned loving guardian of this baby.

 

[Yoda mom]

@Shea ,Welcome to you and adorable Eoghan!

I use hylyt shampoo (online)- it's wonderful! and exfoliating gloves that are sold in pairs for $1.5o at Big lots
It does not scrape skin and helps hold a slippery cat

I actually can go for awhile between baths too!

I do an in between baths wipe down -
I put a towel on my lap with kitty , and on the counter a container with a very dilute water mix with a tiny drop of hylyt shampoo And baby face cloths dipped in it

I do not use d'grease or coconut oil since mine hate water and too hard to do a thorough rinse
Hylyt shampoo is hypoallergenic , moisturizing and smells wonderful and rinses easy- very forgiving
Hairless blessing recommended it to me and I am sooo happy!

Really gets brown off - - works better on my 4 nakeds than baby wipes.
I use the baby wipes for nails now

Looking forward to your pics and journey here with us!

 

[Hairless Blessing]

I use the HyLyT Shampoo, it's great for Sphynx. Try washing down your baby daily
with a warm wash cloth. Then bathe once a week. Clean th ears twice a week
with Epi-optic. Here is a link for the HyLyt Shampoo.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=27287

You can Google it and find it at different places. This is as cheap as
you'll find it. It's usually higher at Amazon.

 

[SphynxKid]

He looks pretty good! I have one F-I-L-T-H-Y boy named Moses. He gets dirty so fast. We call him the filthy bachelor. He gets so greasy and the dirt piles up in a few hours. He is so wrinkly that the grease just gets stuck in his wrinkles, especially on his head. I can bathe him and in one day, he looks like he rolled in a dust pile. Your little guy looks like he might have a little fuzz on him. That might contribute to what you are seeing on the towel.

I would recommend the exfoliating gloves for him. Also, giving him a good scrub won't hurt his skin, he will enjoy it. His skin is tougher than you think. They enjoy a good scrub. If your guy got red used from the outdoors, his skin is likely tougher than you think.

This is my dirty bachelor 3 days after a bath. He is pink which makes it worse.

 

[Toa and Ross]

Welcome to you and cute Eaghon!
Glad to hear he's rescued and found a good home at your place.

Good advice is already given. My boys are pink but turn brown one day after bathing. And get a "mushroom" smell after one week . They like to sleep in my vest so most of the time I have dirty brown cloths:wideyed:.
I bath them every two weeks and try to clean them with a cloth and only warm water in between. That was an advice from @Xandria and works really well!

 

[NinaGato]

Welcome
Give it time. His body chemistry will gel as he gets used to eating a good diet and being in a clean environment. We all learn to live with a bit of dirt. Some nakeds are just more oily than others.

 

[Shea]

Oh my gosh, you are all so amazing! So here's what happened- I think you guys are going to get a laugh. I gave him his bath for the week (not realising you'd even replied to me!), coconut oil, went out and bought exfoliating gloves (THANK YOU ALL!) and he looked/smelled really fantastic. The coconut oil is tricky to get off, but we managed.

Three hours later, his belly and legs are BROWN. I was stunned, couldn't believe it, in complete shock. I complained about it out loud to his other cat mom and she says, "Uh, you know he's brown from the walnut hull litter, right?"

:banghead:

It wipes right off... if you get it before it's really stuck to his natural oils, anyway. Then it seems to dye his already naturally brown oils even browner. Gah! Apparently the litter dust isn't sticking to our other cats, but Eoghan's oils are like a magnet for the stuff.

I feel so silly! However, I never would have met you guys if I had actually thought it through, so I'm glad this happened anyway. We're swapping over to World's Best Litter and also, like you guys said, worry a little less. :> It's hard though, he's such an amazing cat. I was one of those "oh god, it has no fur etc" people, but my heart is forever changed!!!

 

[Catzzzmeow]

@Shea Glad all is well...and nooo we would not laugh at you, but we will giggle with you. It is all a balancing act and finding the right things for each and every baby.

Patti

 

[Xandria]

Oh my gosh, you are all so amazing! So here's what happened- I think you guys are going to get a laugh. I gave him his bath for the week (not realising you'd even replied to me!), coconut oil, went out and bought exfoliating gloves (THANK YOU ALL!) and he looked/smelled really fantastic. The coconut oil is tricky to get off, but we managed.

Three hours later, his belly and legs are BROWN. I was stunned, couldn't believe it, in complete shock. I complained about it out loud to his other cat mom and she says, "Uh, you know he's brown from the walnut hull litter, right?"

:banghead:

It wipes right off... if you get it before it's really stuck to his natural oils, anyway. Then it seems to dye his already naturally brown oils even browner. Gah! Apparently the litter dust isn't sticking to our other cats, but Eoghan's oils are like a magnet for the stuff.

I feel so silly! However, I never would have met you guys if I had actually thought it through, so I'm glad this happened anyway. We're swapping over to World's Best Litter and also, like you guys said, worry a little less. :> It's hard though, he's such an amazing cat. I was one of those "oh god, it has no fur etc" people, but my heart is forever changed!!!

LOL... I am so sorry. OMG. I almost went for the walnut litter until I read that the dust clings to cats and are brutal for Sphynx because they're naked! HUGS.

Here's hoping next bath results in a less brown kitty!