How to clean dirty noses (serious topic!)

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Kito's nose has been much cleaner since I posted this.  Perhaps he's ready this thread and been shamed into washing it better 

[an4rew]

a little salt and warm water on a dish cloth but don't rub too hard.
a little baking soda works too.

for nostrils i use a toothpick, you can actually swipe straight out the the sides because cats have a opening at the corners.
be careful though.

[maryas]

Susanne, I know you said this was a serious topic but it's got me in stitches 

Funnily enough, Kitty gets a dirty nose too    I've noticed ever since I got her that when I give her Dreamies or other snacks she moves them away with her nose first and then gradually eats them.  But she does wash it when she washes her face.  Sheila's idea might be worth a try, sounds a good idea to me.

Mary

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I think he's just going to be one of those cats who always has a mucky nose    Its not around the nostrils but further up.  It gets wet/food on it when he eats and dries on his nose.  I did try rubbing coconut oil on it yesterday (he loves it) but minimal improvement.

[maddercow]

Funny!

My Izzy doesn't get a dirty nose but she does get food on her chin the grubby little minx & I sometimes have to pick it off 

[hollycat]

Astrophe always has a dirty nostril  I use a piece of tissue, stick it in his nose and clean it. He's not impressed but he just sneezes and shakes his head then purrs 

[sheilarose]

I had the same problem with the white kittens, I ended up putting a dab of butter on the dirty bits, they soon started washing!

[Cherry24]

Gobi often has a dirty nose. I asked the vet about it and he said  it's just the way he is and he will always have a grotty nose. Anyway, he cleaned it while we were there by sticking his fingers / nails up there and just pushing out the dirt (gently). It did work but I've noticed it's started to get dirty again. General advice I have found online is to use a damp cloth and gently wipe it but that wouldn't do much to this gunk.

[Nicola (RockysMum)]

My goodness....could this be one thing that I've actually managed to avoid so far? 

Having said that, I had to clean food out of Chesters EAR last night!!!

I had a tabby who was forever getting crusty food on his nose but my other cat usually pinned him down and cleaned it off for me 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Kito has black nostrils and edge of nose but it extends too far up and I've realised it's mucky    I may try rubbing a bit of oil on it.  It's really hard to tell where his natural colouring ends and where his dirty nose begins but when I look at pictures of him as a small kitten his nose is less black 

[McKitties (Katie)]

That's so funny you're asking that because I was thinking about that today. Archie had black nostrils when we picked him up, Bonnie might have too but hers is black anyway so you can't see

I thought it was just because they came from a country place, you know, with muddy boots n stuff as I did notice one of the other kittens had a really dirty nose.

So do kittens get dirty noses? I tried to wipe it off with a wet cotton bud but without much success.

How sad are we thinking about our dirty nosed cats at 3 in the morning?! 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

There's no other way to say this (and I really didn't know which was the best forum for asking  ) but Kito always has a dirty nose    Seriously - he gets food on it and mustn't wash his nose because there is often crusted food on him.  For a while I actually thought it was his colouring but it is dirty further up his nose than the dark nose leather and it's just plain dirty    I've tried rubbing it with washing up liquid (not popular) but can't seem to clean it properly.  Anyone got suggestions as to what is best thing to use to wash it?