I guess you can figure out by the title why I am making this post. Today, I needed to know how to get paint out of pet fur. My cat’s fur to be specific.  I have been reno-ing for about a month, and I just finished painting an outside door. Odin, my cat, must have come along and gave it a big leisurely rub, resulting in his full side being covered in paint.

Oil paint.

So what to do? I looked it up on the internet, and some really stupid answers. I ran around deciding what to use to get it off. turpentine….ummm no. Nail polish remover? Yikes! The problem was, obviously that it was oil and not latex.

Usually I use latex, which is water wash up and really, what I should have bought, but no use flogging a dead horse.

Anyway, Odin, knew something was up. I brought out the wet food, and although not the most intelligent of the many cats I have had, I guess just the fact that I was trying to feed him wet food in the middle of the day, he knew something BIG was up. Or maybe the fact that half his side was white and sticky might have helped him clue in.

He started to run away from me and the chase was on. He ran by my couch and brushed up against it,leaving a streak of white on the bottom, and that was when I realized that he had also stepped in some paint and I had a trail of white dots on my hardwood floor.

He ran outside and I stopped hunting him to get to work on the hardwood. I decided to try a non abrasive sponge and soap. Amazingly, it came up right away. Hmmm

By this time, Odin’s Mum, Jinx, was eating the wet food and Odin came out of hiding. I captured him and took him to my bathroom. Now, my bathroom is the size of a postage stamp, so he knew he wasn’t going anywhere.

He stood on the counter while I ran the water. I got some liquid pet soap, and put it over the painted area. I really rubbed it in, and he just sat there, actually started purring. (Like I said, not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree) then I got a towel and soaked it, and started rubbing his side.

Luckily, the purring got louder, and the paint started to come out. I cupped my hand and poured more water on his side, and rubbed out the soap and paint with the wet, then dry towel. Well, I have to say, it worked pretty well. The remaining parts we will just cut off slowly, but the main paint is gone.

SO If you want to know how I got paint, and oil paint to boot, out of my cats fur, this is how I did it. Hope you don’t get into the same boat, but if you do, try this before anything else.