Sunscreeners

[Fio]

I have a rescue cat with white ear tips who loves the sun.
Last summer we struggled to apply a baby sun block that contained a perfume, but
Whitby runs away every time she sees it and appears to be able to sense when we are going to do her ears. The smell is very strong to me so it must be terrible for her.

I have been searching the internet but cannot find any specific creams for cats (in the UK, there seem to be ones in the USA). My vet said they are out there. Does anyone know where to purchase one?
Or failing that an unperfumed baby one that my cat will tolerate?

[Alice]

Hello Fio
I used to have an all white cat who loved to lie in the sun for hours, so obviously needed sun cream on his ears. He also disliked having it put on, and tried to get out through the cat flap before I'd put it on, but got used to it. I'd suggest that you try rewarding him with a food treat each time you've applied it, Dreamies, a scrap of chicken, or whatever he likes, so that he associates it with something good.

Regarding the cream you use, I was advised to use a high factor childrens cream, which I did, and he lived well into his teens without the sun causing any problems. When choosing a cream perhaps you could ask in the shop, or discreetly open the top to try to check for any strong perfume, and even colour. I once unwittingly bought a tube which turned out to be a lovely bright turquoise colour, so be warned!

[MarkB]

I'm with Alice on this. Apparently the E45 one is good. The higher the factor, the better.

[Crewella]

My Daz is mostly white and spends most of the day outdoors, so I've tried several. The best I've found was an Amazon buy of No-Ads SPF 30 sun stick for babies. I like the fact that's it's a small stick that I can carry around to grab him when I spot him in the garden, and it's easy to apply quickly. It's colourless and not scented, but it is a little greasy and Daz had filthy looking ears for most of last summer as he likes to roll in the dust. I did reckon that the dust was probably giving him extra protection, though.

[Hazel]

We got some Boots Soltan lotion last year, it's the hypoallergenic Factor 50 baby one. I've just gone and had a sniff and I can't particularly smell anything. (although as good as my sense of smell is I don't suppose it compares with a cat!)
I don't like the thought of him licking it off so I did look at specific stuff for cats, I think there was something available that you could paint on and it lasted a few days, but in the end I figured I was spending that much time researching (aka faffing about on the internet) that the ~5 days of nice weather would be gone if I didn't just buy something!

[booktigger]

I used to use a specific pet sunscreen, but it was really hard to get hold of, and it was in a col gate style pump that was awkward when using. I now use some kids factor 50. Buster hates it though

[leannelove]

i have a cat who also has white ears, i use a baby sunscreen, its 50+ one. I always put some on my hands then just approach him like i want a cuddle. then he doesn't suspect anything.

Good Luck!

[meriad]

Same as the others, when I had Jasper who was all white I used Tesco own brand factor 50 baby lotion; unscented. He also ended up with rather grimy ears but hey - as said; the dirt probably added extra protection.

My problem is one of my current cats Ava who has a white nose - she should ideally have sunscreen on there as well, but I worry about her licking it off so haven't tried yet. Thankfully she seems quite sensible and spends most of the sunny days lying under a shrub or in the house where it is cooler

[Crewella]

I worry about Daz's nose too, but haven't tried sunblock for that. I've always been very grateful for the three blacl spots on it!