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Degreasing cat skull that was buried 2 years

Discussion in 'Skulls and Skeletons' started by jayjay5531, Sep 22, 2018.

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  1. Sep 22, 2018 #1
    jayjay5531

    jayjay5531 New Member

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    Hi all,

    When my cat died, I buried her body and then two years later recovered the bones, hoping to articulate the skeleton. Needless to say, by this point there was no visible flesh or soft tissue left on the bones. They are, however, discolored. I heard of degreasing in acetone, so I have the bones currently soaking in a sealed glass container full of acetone.

    I'm wondering, if a skull was buried for that long do you expect it to still have a lot of grease? It's been soaking now for about a week and the acetone is still clear and colorless - am I supposed to be observing something to notice that it's working? When my cat was alive she was only ~7 pounds, so the bones are relatively small.

    How long should I wait, how do I know if the degreasing is working, what am I supposed to be observing, etc? Thanks so much!
     
  3. Sep 23, 2018 #2
    Sea Wolf

    Sea Wolf Well-Known Member

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    After 2 years, chances are that there is little grease. The discoloration you are seeing is more than likely mineral stains from the dirt and will be more or less permanent. Take them out of the acetone and let them dry out for a day then put them in a container or a Zip loc bag and cover them with hydrogen peroxide and let them soak for a while. Chances are you will be using the 3% used for cuts so let it soak for a few days in that. That will whiten the bones and you will be able to see better where your problem areas are.
     

  5. Sep 23, 2018 #3
    jayjay5531

    jayjay5531 New Member

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    Thanks so much! I will do that.

    I was wondering, in general, with skulls that are greasy, what can you observed during the degreasing process when they soak in acetone? Does the acetone become discolored? Does solid wax precipitate out?
     
  6. Sep 24, 2018 #4
    Sea Wolf

    Sea Wolf Well-Known Member

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    Acetone is a solvent and, at most, you will see it get cloudy or discolored. You might see particles of fat/grease on the bottom of the container. I do not use acetone unless something is having issues or I am doing fish or small delicate bones. It is expensive as well as volatile. Dawn dish detergent is what I use in a heated solution. Sometimes with a shot of ammonia and sometimes straight ammonia. Dawn dish detergent is cheap and easy to get, store and use. Try the peroxide first and see what it looks like. After 2 years, I doubt there is much grease there. If there is any in the bone, after 2 years being buried it will be pretty much petrified by now. Any remaining fat will be converted to adipocere by decomposition and that is a pretty inert organic wax.