Submitted by Popular-Entrance4049 t3_11c3456 in tifu
I feel like a terrible cat parent. I have two wax burners, one in my bedroom and the other in my bathroom. I had a friend spending the night with me, and knowing my cat, he would try to sleep on top of her. So, I left him in my bathroom to sleep. This isn’t uncommon even when I don’t have guests, as he loves to sleep in my bathroom sink for some reason.
The wax burner I keep on the bathroom counter I usually turn off every night, but I guess in all the excitement of preparing for my guest, I forgot to turn off the burner before bed.
At around 6am I heard him crying so I let him out of the bathroom, but I didn’t think much of it and went back to sleep. A few hours later my alarm woke me up and the cat came over to greet me. That’s when I noticed his tail looked wet. Upon closer inspection, I realized his tail was covered in a hard waxy substance, as well as a small spot on his back. I look in my bathroom to see spilled wax all over the sink and floor and genuinely start sobbing. I called the emergency vet line and they told me to shave the cat it would cost me over $200, which I simply cannot afford right now. So I asked how I could remove it without shaving him, and they advised using some sort of oil to break down the wax and using a small comb to pull it out.
So, I spent the next 3 hours using a warm washcloth, a lice comb, a mix of olive and coconut oil and scissors to remove the wax from his tail and back. Luckily he wasn’t burned, just oily and very angry because I had to remove some fur from his back and nearly all the fur from his tail.
Fast forward to now, I gave him and wet wipe bath to remove the oil and he’s sleeping in his bed. I feel like I traumatized him by removing the wax and now he won’t trust me anymore.
Any comforting words would be very appreciated.
TL;DR: I left a wax burner on overnight and my cat dipped his tail in it, so I had to spend most of my morning using oils and scissors to remove it from his fur.
Unclebatman1138 t1_ja1cemn wrote
I know those kinds of situations as a pet owner are really upsetting. Don't blame yourself! It could have happened to anyone, and your car will forget it sooner than you would imagine. We just had a lot of issues with a recovery cone where she'd get her jaw stuck under it, or a claw caught, et al, leading to all kinds of chasing her/cornering her/holding her down etc, and I was always amazed how quickly she just bounced back.