Riddle me this...(advice, opinion, experience welcome!)

[badgerpup]

Four cats- Esme (female, 11 yrs old) Riktor (male, 7 yrs old) Wimsey (male, 2 yrs old), Finnegan (male, 1 yr old).
All black cats, except Wimsey- he's pure white.
All DSH, but in Wimsey that 'Short-Haired' coat is incredibly thick...and he counts Projectile Shedding among his arsenal (I'll swear that cat can shoot fur up to 3 feet away).
All the boys show signs of having Siamese, or at least some type of Oriental genes in their background; head shape, body conformation, voice, temperament, etc.

They were all fixed BEFORE the hormones had a chance to kick in...although with Wimsey it may have been kind of iffy- he didn't come to live with me until (judging by his tooth development- he didn't have his adult fangs yet-) he was 8-9 months old.
They get their rabies, distemper and leukemia vaccines regularly and on time. All get the same diet- access to a free-feed station which dispenses Diamond Active Cat.
A bowl of fresh water is placed next to this daily- if not more frequently, as Esme likes to put bits of food into the water.
Treats are tuna water, Greenies and catnip. Everyone is reactive to the catnip.:bounce::party:
They also hunt, and Riktor and Finnegan at least eat some of what they catch (I've seen them doing this- won't swear to Esme and Wimsey, as I haven't seen them doing so). Everybody gets Cestex (anti-tapeworm medicine) 4X a year.

All this to 'splain that everybody gets the same treatment, 'K?

So...what I want to know is...why does Wimsey smell so bad? It's not just the weapons-grade farts :puke: he dispenses so generously (and yes, I can always tell when he's been to the litterbox, too).:yoiks: He himself has an odor that is different from that of the other cats-and it's really apparent when he's come in from the rain and is damp.

I thought at first when he was younger that this was just a 'kitten thing'; something a developing feline GI tract goes through. MacFeegle (who now resides by the Bridge) had it, Finnegan had it (the Deadly Farts part; they themselves didn't stink unless they'd gotten into something that did), but they grew out of it...indeed, Finnegan has grown out of it.

Wimsey's happy, healthy (now that his leg has been adjusted- thanks, guys :hug:), affectionate, curious, opinionated, stubborn when he chooses to be...in other words, a normal cat...except he STINKS.
I'd rather not bathe him unless absolutely necessary; he doesn't like it, and IIRC, it didn't help much with the odor.
I thought at the time it was the soap I used (Dr Bronner's) but now I'm not so sure.
Anybody had experience with this sort of thing with your kitties? :shrug:

Thanks! :pals:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Wow. I have no idea.

All of the cats I have ever known have been pretty odorless -- sort of a dusty fur smell, if anything at all. There have been occasional WMD farts and some eye-watering litterbox emanations from time to time, but I've never heard of a cat with persistent B.O. Have you asked the vet about this?

[badgerpup]

2. That's one of the questions that will be asked...

...when he goes to get his leg looked at by the kitty chiropractor (who is also a vet) on Monday.

Just thought I'd throw it out here first, since I got such good advice about the kitty chiropractor :yourock:
...might point me in the right direction, give me an idea of some of the right questions to ask.

[hobbit709]

3. Maybe he's a mutant skunk.

[haele]

4. How are his teeth?

Stinkiness from tooth or gum disease can be transferred to his coat. You might not notice a mouth problem, especially since he might not have a full set of adult teeth yet. 2 years old is still pretty young (more like late adolescence) for a cat; the kidlet's cat Pixel is around that age and just developing the last of his adult teeth - and still has some nasty stink issues (weapons grade farts, slightly smelly coat...)

Haele

[badgerpup]

5. Vet just checked those out...

...and he said they look good. His Big Kitty fangs are in (he's two and a half), no tarter...but I'll ask about this.
Humans get their 'wisdom teeth' in later than the others (hence, I s'pose, the term 'wisdom'...cause you're older and hopefully wiser)...maybe it's the same with cats.

Thanks! :hug:

[Coyote_Bandit]

6. Have you had any blood work done?

I had a pup once that just reeked. Turns out he had some pretty serious health problems that were not otherwise symptomatic. His health problems required a change in his diet. He still has health problems (which are well managed) - but he no longer stinks.....