Note I am sorry about the content of this but I can’t find an answer anywhere.
My poor husky has bleeding colon polyps and we do not know if they are cancer yet but I need some help on hygiene until I can get her into the vet in the morning.
She had bout of diarrhea in the middle of the night and warm water does not want to work for the cleanup, want to get her cleaned up so I can shave her to avoid this area in the future.
What can I use to loosen the tarry black material enough to shave the hair?
I do not want to use anything that will cause her pain.
Hot water with a hefty dash of vinegar? Soaking would be the best, if you can manage that without causing a lot of trauma and discomfort. Use lots of hot dog slices.
Small sharp scissors - like the type for trimming mustaches - and clipping her as close as you can under the mats ought to get the worst of it off after you’ve soaked her, if you can do that. Also a pick - even a nail or similar - or dematting tool can help by breaking the poopy matted parts apart, then it’s easier to trim them.
Poor goggie. Worst case scenario, you let her dry out and let the vet deal with it tomorrow. I hope she will be OK.
Not a vet or nurse, but: Have you tried a little mild soap, either dog shampoo if you have it, or dawn dishsoap if you don’t (Dawn is safe for animals).
Then you’re going to have to shave out all that dense fur. That’s what my vet did once to one of my cats – shaved right down to the skin. The cat looked funny, but he was a lot more comfortable.
I have been in the same situation with a big, old dog. I put him into the bathtub and poured warm water to rinse away as much as I could. Some Dawn dish soap helped a lot. Then dried as best as I could with old throw=a-way towels. I cut the hair as short as I could with scissors (point facing down please). The next morning I tried to trim with a cheap electric hair trimmers but the dog was spooked by the noise. So, off to the vet we went…area shaved, no more problem with the mess. After that he periodically went to the groomer or vet for the “sanitary area” to be shaved.
I hope this works out for you.
Hey, I just did this, gave an Australian Shepherd a butt cut.
I put on gloves and cut them individually, one at a time, he was actually very cooperative, I have to say. He didn’t look too funny when he was done either, not bad for my first time, and not my dog!
The most efficient method is to use a good pair of electric clippers and just shave the shit-encrusted hair off. It’s a bit of a production to get down the skin with that kind of hair, bu it’s doable. You angle the blade so it’s almost at a right angle to the skin, go down a little and then slide to the side to peel up a layer of hair. Pull that to the side then go back to the starting point and repeat the same process. Keep going until you get down the skin, at which point you’re under the mats and can keep peeling them off.
