Help, pine sap in fur!

How does one remove pine sap from fur? Our complex hacked off some branches of a pine and Misha smooshed his head in the tree wound sap. Normal soap/shampoo definitely does not work :-( Any suggestions?

Aww...I once had a cat that got caught in fly paper and the only remedy was to cut his fur.

Well, I am a wildlife rehabilitator and we often get birds, squirrels and baby opossums that have been stuck to the sticky gluey rat traps that people put out. The feathers and fur are often matted down and stuck together so badly that it looks hopeless. However, we have had really good results using slightly warmed canola vegetable oil on the gluey areas. Gently rub it into the sap covered fur and hopefully it will easily rub off. After we get all the goop off, we rinse with diluted Dawn dishwashing liquid, as this breaks up any leftover oily substance left behind. Both are very safe and approved for use on wildlife, so it is something that you might want to try before your cut off your pups lovely coat!

Thanks! The canola oil and dishsoap (I just had hippie seventh generation stuff) worked a charm!

Great! Glad it worked for you and your pup!

Mom2Lola said:

Aww...I once had a cat that got caught in fly paper and the only remedy was to cut his fur.

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I'm not sure about pine sap or the fly paper, but for the "sticky traps" that are used to catch rodents and insects, vegetable oil does a great job of breaking down the glue.
I have released a number of animals from glue traps by applying a little bit of VO.
Good luck.

What a good tip, we have so many experts on this board.

Glad this worked. On our last trip to Carmel Shelby had sap all over her feet and we had to cut it out. This is really a good tip to keep handy.

Two other common food products that would work are mayonnaise or peanut butter.

You rub it in, wait a bit, then wash it off. Voila!

We might need to have a sticky for all these pet solutions!