Suncream on cats

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susand
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Suncream on cats

Post by susand »

Hello everyone. I have finally acquired a new companion for my cat Walter. His name is Harvey. He is grey and white, semi-longhaired and totally stunning. However, he has a big bald patch on his back, between his shoulder blades which is either scarring from an untreated flea allergy or a chemical burn or something. Who knows (I'm told he wasn't looked after very well by his previous owner).

Anyway, mindful that he doesn't have fur there to protect his skin from the sun I put some sun cream on it today (kids factor 50) but he licked it off. I thought he wouldnt notice it or wouldn't be able to reach it but he did the whole twisting his head right round like something out of the Exorcist and cleaned the lot off. However, he didn't do this immediately it was applied and it was on for a couple of hours before he embarked on his grooming session.

Now, my question is, given that he does keep it on for a bit, should I just re-apply it every so often? Only I'm not sure if its toxic and I wouldn't want to inadvertently poison him. I know vets advise putting suncream on white cats ears and noses, which suggests its OK but does any one here know if suncream is harmless or toxic to cats if they ingest it? Any advice welcome.
booktigger
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Re: Suncream on cats

Post by booktigger »

if it had been a couple of hours, it should have pretty much absorbed. I've always used pet sunscreen to be on the safe side, although I haven't used it for a while due to Lucy's temperament
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Mollycat
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Re: Suncream on cats

Post by Mollycat »

I would definitely not apply human sunscreen to a cat and especially not keep reapplying it so he can lick it off again.

I haven't verified all the claims in this article but it's exactly what my gut instinct tells me https://intl.petsafe.net/en-gb/sunscreen-for-pets

I had a cat that had skin cancer on her nose but even after it was treated we never put human sunscreen on it.

Would your cat wear a light harness so that you could keep the area physically covered up?
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susand
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Re: Suncream on cats

Post by susand »

Thanks Mollycat. That is a very informative article and really helpful. Its quite a large area of baldness so he will ingest quite alot if I keep putting it on so I'm not going to risk it as it seems even the safer suncreams may not be all that safe. I'll have a think about a harness but I'm not sure he'd tolerate it. Thankfully he tends to sit in the shade when it's hot but he spends quite alot of time outside so has high UV exposure.

I dont want to keep him in full-time because he really loves the garden. He spent the whole day out there today. He eventually came in at tea time but wanted to go straight back out again after he'd eaten. I might just have to limit his access to the great outdoors when its very sunny to just a short time, with longer time allowed first thing in the morning and in the early evening once the sun's gone in (but before it gets dark). I don't think I'll be very popular though if I do that.
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