Your short-bodied, flat-faced Himalayan seems to be a master of messy noses. But it's not her fault. Her features make an occasional disgusting nose a reality that you have to help her clean up once in a while. Wet noses are easy, while removing dried-on gunk is slightly more challenging.
Step 1
Enlist the help of your partner or family member, preferably one who your cat doesn't have a psychotic hatred for. Have that person hold your kitty in his lap, with your cat's stomach facing you so that she looks as though she's sitting.
Step 2
Wipe your kitty's eyes with a tissue. Himalayans often have leaky eyes, and that's a direct cause of a messy nose. The discharge from your cat's eyes slides down her face and drips right onto and in her nose. Wiping those eyes with a tissue helps matters.
Step 3
Tuck one finger under your Himalayan's chin and put one finger on top of her head so you have a nice grip, but be gentle! Wipe all the wet, nasty stuff off her nose with a dry cotton ball. Do so quickly. Do not touch her nose and pull back several times. Doing so is akin to someone tickling your nose with a feather, causing you to sneeze. And when a Himalayan sneezes, she often does so 10 times in a row, making for an even messier nose.
Step 4
Wet the cotton ball with warm water to clean up the rest of the mess. Give your kitty's nose a very gentle scrub down. This helps make for a sparkly shine, or at least the equivalent when it comes to a cat's nose.
Step 5
Use a warm, damp cotton swab to take off any dried-on gunk. With most cats, you could remove that gunk with a cloth. However, Himalayans typically come equipped with a not-so-normal nose. Their nostrils are often narrower than most other cats. So a cotton ball is often too large to remove anything that's stuck just on the inside of the nostrils. Cotton swabs are smaller and have an easier time of nicking the gunk right off.
Step 6
Take her to the vet. If her nose is constantly wet, nasty or you see yellowish discharge around her nostrils, that may indicate something more than just a normal messy nose. She may have allergies, a sinus infection or another problem that no amount of nose cleaning will fix.
References
Tips
- If you feed your cat mostly wet food, consider a shallower bowl. With flat features, Himalayans stuff almost their entire face into their food bowl to eat, often leaving them a bit messy after dinner. You can also try feeding her dry food.
Warnings
- Never insert a cotton swab into your feline's nose. Only touch the swab along the very edge, where the cotton ball can't quite reach.
Writer Bio
Located in Pittsburgh, Chris Miksen has been writing instructional articles on a wide range of topics for online publications since 2007. He currently owns and operates a vending business. Miksen has written a variety of technical and business articles throughout his writing career. He studied journalism at the Community College of Allegheny County.