# Dingleberry removal failure



## Alpaca (Dec 21, 2009)

Miu got a dingleberry last night while using the box in her kennel. She tried for a while to get it loose. Failing that, she gave up and couched down to rest. I opened the door, but as soon as I made to get her, she start hissing. Not good. I finally coaxed her to allow me to pick her up. Carried her to the laundry room for removal. 

On the way, she latched onto my arm, clawing and biting. Not good. Had to turn her on her back to see. Bad move. Allowed her full clearance to use all four paws and teeth to resist me. She also curved her tail up effectively blocking my view of the dingleberry. Struggled with her a bit before getting a towel to wrap her in. Sigh. The towel was too small. More struggling, clawing and biting. Finally hollered for help from Dad. Finally got the thing off. Let her go.

Miu = 1
Me = -1

How do you remove dingleberries?


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

LOL, I have to google "dingleberries" to know what you are talking about 

Yep, that happens to my cats a couple of times, a good indication that it's time for another butt fur trim  Fortunately my cats don't struggle, or bite, or claw. They are the kind that will let me do anything crazy to them. I just sit down, hold them like holding a toddler (i.e., let them sit on my laps with tummy up), and then cut the butt fur with scissor. If I do it for too long they will lose patient and run away, so may need to do 2-3 round. But now I'm really good at it 

I do feel your pain though. Good luck next time!


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## Shenanigans (Jul 23, 2011)

Ouch! I thought Apollo was difficult, heh. He doesn't get them often, thankfully. When he was smaller I yelled at him CONSTANTLY to stop eating my hair, as he'd have a strand stuck.. You know. Gross. 

Anyhow, the handful of times he's had one, I've had to show ZERO sign of concern, and walk towards him slowly as if nothing is going on, haha. I am usually able to grab him quickly and get it done. If I jump up and try to catch him the second he steps out of the litterbox, he frrrreeeaaaks out and runs to hide. I don't want to chance him successfully making a mess. 

It's a bit difficult when it's more of a liquidy issue.. Though he does allow me to clean him up as soon as possible, as he doesn't like feeling dirty at all. He gets impatient very easily if I have to do 2 or more rounds of warm water & a washcloth.


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## Cats&Plants (Aug 20, 2011)

Mine are good about it...hubby holds and I remove. If there is hair clipping involved because its messy, then they're a bit less receptive, but still not too bad.


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

Azalia is my dingleberry master. She gets them about 2-3 a year...usually during shedding season. Upside, no hairballs, but I am not sure I like the trade-off....hehehe.

She feels so disgraced when I have to clean her there. She is a very fastidious cat so it's so shameful to her to have this done to her. I usually see her try and scoot her butt on the bathroom tiles when she gets one. That is my cue to lock the door. Once she sees the door lock and the wipes come out, she knows what's next. So after a lot of hissing, scratching and an ocassional bite, the dingleberry is flushed down the toilet and life is good again!


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## cooncatbob (May 27, 2011)

Prevention is the key, if your getting klingon's and dingleberries you've gone to long between butt shaves.
The butt shave or cutting a potty patch is a two person job unless your a professional groomer.
One person to hold kitty by the scruff butt out and the other person to quickly trim the excess fur around the offending orifice, this is preferable done with a good quality electric clippers.


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

cooncatbob said:


> Prevention is the key, if your getting klingon's and dingleberries you've gone to long between butt shaves.
> The butt shave or cutting a potty patch is a two person job unless your a professional groomer.
> One person to hold kitty by the scruff butt out and the other person to quickly trim the excess fur around the offending orifice, this is preferable done with a good quality electric clippers.


I do agee that prevention is key, but Azalia doesn't get them stuck to her fur but hanging by a hair or it's a furball that hasn't quite made it's way all the way out...so for her, it would be brushing more often and pumpking to help them pass more easily. And having said that, I will take my own advice :wink


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## Leazie (Apr 14, 2007)

I feel for you. Molly is a omg, the world is coming to an end and thus I must fight to the death kitty when it comes to anything like dingleberry removal (nail trims too). One time she wound up latching on the back on my hand and I wound up with a raging infection. A screaming, hissing, biting kitty is no fun.

The potty patch is a must. I use scissors to trim to area instead of clippers only because I am not sure if the kids would tolerate the sound of my clippers. I am not a groomer, and the hair is often not the same length but who cares.


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## cooncatbob (May 27, 2011)

dweamgoil said:


> I do agee that prevention is key, but Azalia doesn't get them stuck to her fur but hanging by a hair or it's a furball that hasn't quite made it's way all the way out...so for her, it would be brushing more often and pumpking to help them pass more easily. And having said that, I will take my own advice :wink


My previous cat Meme was that way, she didn't throw up hair balls she passed them out the back door.
For that I found the best method is to be sneaky, get a napkin in one hand and pet kitty with the other hand and when she's been lulled into purr city quickly snatch the offending mass .
I didn't now about pumpkin back then so I used Petromalt which she didn't like so I'd smear some one her front paw so she was forced to lick it off.
Samantha on the other hand would lick the Petromalt right from the tube.


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

Cats are so funny...figures the one that doesn't need the Petromalt would love it...lol


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## Milky's Mammy (Oct 17, 2011)

The first time Milky had one was the morning after we just brought him home. We had no idea what to do because he wouldn't let us touch him. We ended up my husband holding him flat on the floor while I trimmed his bum area with a small scissors. It worked well, but we were inexperienced and didn't realise we had to trim it down more so it happened again shortly afterwards.

The second time we ended up getting it done at the vet because he kept squirming and clawing and wouldn't let us do it like we had done the first time. This is when we took him to be groomed at the pet shop so we could be taught how to groom him ourselves.

Methinks it's almost time for another shave...


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

Beauty Betty Berry said:


> Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing someting wrong with Beauty because she'll scratch sometimes when she does't want to be petted.


I know it's off topic, but I wanted to respond to your previous comment: Some cats just have a lower tolerance for affection and being bothered; just like people. Don't take it personally, and in time, this may change as long as you don't push the cat's boundaries.


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## Alpaca (Dec 21, 2009)

Sigh. Dingleberries make me worry. Certainly the removal wasn't exactly pleasant and I was afraid she'd be turned off bout pooping in the box again. She only had dingleberries one other time and that time made her start pooping outside the box.

I agree prevention is better than cure. I have to work at getting her to accept butt trimming as a regular exercise. Altho an electric shaver makes the job better, I'm hesitant as I'm unsure she'll accept it. If she doesn't, it'll be a big waste. Not exactly a cheap purchase. 

The only way I can think of to get her to accept safety scissors is using treats but even that is an iffy thing since she totally detests ppl fiddling with her behind. 

@beauty betty berry: yeah. My Miu is a 'I'm the princess and I call the shots' kind of cat. She can come to you for cuddles but if YOU go for cuddles and it's the wrong time, she'll smack you to put you in your place.


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## Milky's Mammy (Oct 17, 2011)

Alpaca said:


> I agree prevention is better than cure. I have to work at getting her to accept butt trimming as a regular exercise. Altho an electric shaver makes the job better, I'm hesitant as I'm unsure she'll accept it. If she doesn't, it'll be a big waste. Not exactly a cheap purchase.
> 
> The only way I can think of to get her to accept safety scissors is using treats but even that is an iffy thing since she totally detests ppl fiddling with her behind.


My Milky hates us fiddling with his behind with a vengeance! Sometimes we try to lift his tail to see if it needs wiping and he sweeps around ready on all fours like he's in attack mode!!

Bum trimming is done every couple of weeks and we started quite soon after we brought him home so he should be well used to it by now but he's a squirmer!! Once he hears the electric buzz he just knows and starts struggling. I'm not sure how long it'll take for him to realize it's gotta be done!


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## littlesushi (Jun 8, 2011)

we take our kitties to the vet every couple months to get their butts shaved...because yes when there's a dingleberry, it means a butt shaving is overdue..sometimes we trim their leg hairs with scissors, but we dont quite feel comfortable to using the clippers on them ourselves...so off to the pros they go. luckily it isn't too expensive at our vet, $13 for each of them and it includes a nice nail trim as well.


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