Steps to Bathe a Cat

Good grooming practices are essential for maintaining health and happiness for you and your cat. This is a forum to exchange tips and advice for proper care of your cat's hygiene needs.

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Dog

AKA DogKitty

Purred: Fri Nov 6, '09 9:23am PST


	11 steps to bathing a cat article from petcentric: http://www.petcentric.com/Stories/Articles/Preparing- for-The-Cat-Bath.aspx?articleid=a9f6e2df-aadf-46b5-9824-a39ee79df563 I have missed step 3 a couple times and paid dearly for my mistake! Thought it may be useful for anyone that dares try. I have actually used some of the ideas in the follow up article since my kitties have expressed a pretty high distaste for water. " Step 3: Clip your cat’s nails. This is a safety precaution that is often overlooked. If you have not done this before, ask your veterinarian or groomer to show you the proper method of clipping." Edited by author Wed Dec 9, '09 3:59pm PST

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Kisu

Japanese Bobtail

Purred: Fri Dec 4, '09 10:38am PST


	I happen to not mind my bathes.. that goes also with my brofur.. when mom got us from the breeder we knew that cats adapt to anything that is introduced early in kittenhood. We had our first bath at 5 months, and the second one 2 months later.. now we recieve baths quarterly .. cat show or no cat show. sometimes we try to get away, but its not a clawing match like with our previous cat whom we would have to sedate (via vet meds) to give one bath a year ! YIKES ! We get the full treatment- shampoo, conditioner, rinse rinse rinse.. (sometimes with a vinegar and water rinse to take out excess residue, then the blow dry and nails followed by a spray detangler/conditioner by Joico.. ahhhhh then we are super soft, super clean.. and super smell like a breath of fresh air... Can ya smell me now? Edited by author Fri Dec 4, '09 10:40am PST

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Miss Tiny- Burr Burr

Love and adore.

Purred: Sat Dec 5, '09 7:11am PST


	we dont give baths unless nesscary, as all of mine have a heartattack. but if you HAVE to, i found giving them a thick towel to grab onto will not only save your hands but save everything under the sun from being dragged into the sink while they try to claw there way out.

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mIcHiS

-iTs aLl AbOuT- ME!!!-

Purred: Sat Dec 5, '09 9:04am PST


	I started to doubt the "ohhh they love it when they're introduced to it when they're young" thing cause Michis' kittens seemed to looove breaking that particular rule. Dogs? Oh dont worry , if they see friendly dogs when they're kittens and are raised with them , no problem. Yeah right. First time they saw my neighbors , small , eldery , quite poddle at about 2 weeks old they threw a hissy fit and fluffed up like halloween kitties! Baths? At about the same age they were bathed with warm water , quiet , relaxed sort of thing and nearly scratched my hands off (I did them one at a time) and as soon as I was done (used baby shampoo and all that) they scampered away behind the fridge to dry off , and came back out about an hour later , covered in dust and with dust hanging from their whiskers, completely ruining my bath efforts! They recived about 3 more baths after this and never got used to it , MOL. THey were little spitfires , tigers stuck in a kittens body. I loooved them But yeah , michis hates baths which is why we now get her bathed at a profesional groomers every 2 or 3 months. Let someone else deal with those claws , MOL. Edited by author Sat Dec 5, '09 9:05am PST

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Namerovsky

From a- distinguished- line of tabby- cats

Purred: Sat Dec 5, '09 9:49am PST


	Where do you put the towel? I can't imagine any way of doing that that he wouldn't use to drag himself out.

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Harvey

Has been COTD!

Purred: Sat Dec 5, '09 6:49pm PST


	My kitchen and bathroom sinks are too small to bathe a full-grown Maine Coon. I do this prior to taking my own shower, so I am au naturel (otherwise, my clothing will get wet, and I can't find my bathing suit. And who's looking, anyway?). I sit on a low stool and use all my limbs to keep the cat in place. I use a shower attachment, which is good for reaching all areas of the cat, and the shower head's water force helps get rid of excess shampoo and rinse. None of my cats LIKE the shower, but they put up with it because they know I'm bigger (a LOT bigger) than they are. I find that once they've gotten thoroughly wet, they resign themselves to their fate. True, most of them shiver with fear when I'm doing it (the water, of course, is comfortably warm, though not too hot), but they endure. I run into trouble with blow drying, however (necessary for long haired cats and show baths). Harvey, Leila, and Chibi don't like it but put up with it, but Currier's nails and teeth sent me to the hospital with a bad infection. As much as they resist baths and being dried, however, they seem to enjoy feeling fresh. The bath removes a lot of dead hair, which means that they are less likely to get hairballs, too.

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Miss Tiny- Burr Burr

Love and adore.

Purred: Sun Dec 6, '09 5:35am PST


	harv MOL mommy pictured a lady in the buff bathing some drenched, sorry looking cats who arnt happy in the bathrub going "mrrooow" in that sorrowfull tone cats do whilebeing bathed!!!!!! nem, i ment ball the towl up mostly in the sink on the side because it keeps there claws busy into the towel insted of toe deep into your arm. Edited by author Sun Dec 6, '09 5:36am PST

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Harvey

Has been COTD!

Purred: Mon Dec 7, '09 6:46pm PST


	Tiny--That's exactly what it's like. Mostly the cats stop screaming once they're thoroughly wet, but they shiver with fear through the whole process. MCs have greasy fur, and depending on the individual cat, they can get pretty gross looking if they don't get the occasional shower. And they do like that clean feeling afterwards. Show cats get a bath before every show, which means around one bath a week. Good old Harvey went through that for a year and a half. Speaking of which, today I have to bathe the kittens and take some more PR pics. It's a nice sunny day, and they should dry off soon.

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Smudge

I play, therefor- I am!

Purred: Tue Dec 8, '09 5:12am PST


	OMC, I just had to bathe a kitten with anti-fungal shampoo last night. He struggled at first, but then kind of went limp and shivered even though the water was warm. I'm glad to hear that other cats do the shivering thing too. I hope that I rinsed him enough. What happens if you don't, anything really bad? Also, what about washing their face? I was afraid to get the shampoo if his eyes. Do you use a wash coth or something to wipe the face down? Lastly, I tried to blow dry him, but he hid under the vanity and I didn't have another adult to hold him. Is it ok to restrain them a bit for blow drying, or is it better to just let them air dry after toweling off if they are nervous about the dryer? Thanks!

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Bumpurr

RESPECT The- Star!

Purred: Tue Dec 8, '09 3:21pm PST


	Harvey, had to laugh, mol, I have to put Bumpurr's front half, in the other sink, to do his back half. Smudge, ya do have to rinse, rinse, rinse, to make sure you get all the soap out, or it can irritate their skin, kinda like us not rinsing out all the shampoo. But with LH show cats, we have to rinse, rinse, rinse, and rinse some more, some more, and rinse again, mol, or the soap reside makes their coats greasy, dirty and weighs them down. We even have a final rinse, that is a vinegar rinse. If your not showing, you really don't need to go above the neck. I go right to the top of their head, but I been doing this along time, and Bumpurr and the kittens are very well behaved, you have to be extremly careful, not to get water in their ears. I do wash their little faces with a wash cloth. Kittens start showing at 4 months, so they start their training baths/blow dry at 8 weeks. The first few blow drys are never easy. I wrap them in a towel, kinda like a coocoon, so only their head sticks out, they aren't going anywhere. Then slowly over time, get used to the noise and the air blowing on them, and slowly I take the towel off, and do parts one at a time. Bumpurr and Cowboy caught on right away, Cruiser had to go to summer school, to graduate blow drying school, mol, which I didn't think he was going to. Now they all just sit there, for the bath, for the blow dry, looking at me, like, are we done yet mommy. Bumpurr's process is 3 hrs, start to finish, the kittens I can get them done in 1 1/2 hrs each, but they are smaller.

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