Ever give your cat a bath?

[bigperm20]

If I ever have to do it again, I'm contacting this friend of mine who goes to Renaissance Fairs all the time. The main reason for this, is that I want to see if he can get me a long sleeve shirt made out of chainmail armor

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[aeevr]

Yeah, if it was that hard to bathe my cats, I wouldn't bother. 

 

[odiakkoh]

Only when they're stinky. My 6.5yr old has gotten maybe 3-4 baths in his life. And "bath" meaning shower with cat shampoo and warm water. Never actually thought about giving a cat a bath. Maybe if they were flea infested but never had that problem.

 

[AbbysMom]

Just a reminder to all that one of the forum rules is to treat each other with respect. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion their is no reason to belittle others. If you have any personal comments to make to someone, please take it to PM.

 

[Draco]

I used to bathe Monet when he was younger.. thinking it was OK and you have to, like dogs. I learned they don't need to be bathed (unless certain breed requires it or if they got into something)

I did bathe him, and Cassie, when they had ringworm. I had to use special medicated shampoo every other night for 3 weeks. They hated it and I never knew what set of lungs they had!

 

[catnamedpanda]

My cats pretty much only get one if they need it. Ella sometimes gets out and runs around under the cars until I can catch her and then her pretty white fur is covered in black grease. The worst I have ever seen her was the time she got out in winter and by the time I got shoes and a coat on she had somehow made it into the storage complex next to my neighborhood that was surrounded by a chain link fence topped with barb wire. I still have no clue how she got in there. But she was rolling around on fresh asphalt and was a black kitty by the time I managed to lure her out with a laser pointer and my friend holding the bottom of the fence up so she could run under.

Every new rescue that comes into the house gets a bath for 2 reasons. 1 they sometimes have fleas, and 2 they are either dirty and/ or very smelly from being in the shelter. One shelter I pull from 3 hours away I buy the air fresheners that you clip on to the vent of the car. I know whatever cat I get is going to smell horrible when it gets in my car.

 

[jcat]

Jamie got a bath years ago when he decided to crawl into a bag of charcoal in the cellar, but since then I've only done a little bit of "spot cleaning", usually when he's stepped in something nasty (he refuses to walk then and just wails till I clean him up). Miezi has gotten a bath after rolling in something smelly (usually compost). We've caught her sleeping in compost heaps a couple of times, and I don't like her licking herself after doing that.

 

[angels mommy]

Not amused!!

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• angels mommy
• Jul 23, 2012

"Can I go now?"

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• angels mommy
• Jul 23, 2012

 

[angels mommy]

If I ever have to do it again, I'm contacting this friend of mine who goes to Renaissance Fairs all the time. The main reason for this, is that I want to see if he can get me a long sleeve shirt made out of chainmail armor

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LOL!!!!!

 

[aeevr]

I have a hand held shower head I can take down & use, & this works great!  

Me too - works great for this purpose.

I use this stuff and I have no complaints:

http://www.earthbath.com/shampoo/pints/pint-clear.php

I may be totally projecting and/or rationalizing, but I think the cats are happy with the results of the bath. Once they're dry they go back to their happy selves - no holding a grudge or acting scared.

 

[david's steph]

Nope, never ever, not in 13 yrs. with my 3 indoor only kits. (They smell so fresh ALWAYS too!)

 

[angels mommy]

Me too - works great for this purpose.

I use this stuff and I have no complaints:

http://www.earthbath.com/shampoo/pints/pint-clear.php

I may be totally projecting and/or rationalizing, but I think the cats are happy with the results of the bath. Once they're dry they go back to their happy selves - no holding a grudge or acting scared.

I had an earthbath one too, but the label was pink. It was the aloe one, but still wasn't soothing enough.

I agree. Because Angel is" itchy," I can tell he does feel better after a bath.  He starts jetting around, & playing w/ his toys, & I know he feels good.

Yea, the hand held shower head also makes the cleaning much easier!!

 

[melesine]

LOL I just gave our ragdoll kitty a bath the other day. I was hoping now that she was ours and living inside she would eventually clean up. She was pretty dirty looking from living outside and she liked to roll in the leaves and dirt. Well, she still looked dirty after almost 2 months and I was recovered enough from my fall that I was finally able to bathe her. It went fine. I just put a thick towel in the bottom of the kitchen sink and used the spray nozzle with warm water and pet shampoo. Not a scratch on me. I blotted her dry and she looks so much better. I wish I'd done her head though, that still looks dirty. 

 

[bigperm20]

For her head get some "I Love Pethead" wipes at Petsmart. Weird name, I know, but they are great. They are like good smelling baby wipes that are non-toxic to cats. Asian pear is awesome. My lil meezer Leo refuses to clean his rear end unfortunately. I feel like I've adopted a toddler. He'll use the potty, he just has poopie anxiety.

 

[txcatmom]

I'm following this thread with great interest because my worst fear is giving a cat a bath.  Our 3 young indoor cats have never needed one, but we are considering adopting an older cat from a shelter and she is all dirty and matted.  I'd love to give her a bath if we bring her home and some of your experiences are giving me some hope that it can be done. 

Edited to add....bigperm, I was thinking about your Leo not cleaning his hindquarters and I wonder if the lingering smell of asian pear could be perpetuating the problem.  Cats generally don't like scented things....maybe a switch to unscented baby wipes would help.  Just a thought.

 

[jennyr]

I have given three cats baths in over 60 years of keeping cats - once when a kitten got up the chimney of the fireplace, once when I found Persil under my car covered in motor oil (she needed a bath every night for a week till she was white) and once when Wellington got ringworm and the vet gave me a medicated shampoo. I have never seen any other need for baths.

 

[riccadawn]

I've never done it! I have one who's very interested in water though and might not mind terribly - she sits on the counter and watches me do dishes, is completely in love with my contact solution, and comes running anytime anyone turns any faucet on for any reason. But she doesn't need a bath so I see no reason to give her one.

We did just bring a kitty in from outside and he's slowly getting cleaned up. If he didn't seem to be able to take care of it himself, I'd think about bathing him, but he's been making progress so we'll leave him be.

 

[bigperm20]

I had thought about that myself, but even if I go a week or so without wiping him off, he still won't clean himself. He never has for that matter. When I got him he was not bathing himself for some reason. I don't know if it was the shock of being in a new environment or what. He didn't eat or drink either, but that only lasted a couple of days. His not bathing seemed to stretch on for over a week. He was delighted to be wiped down with the pear smelling wipes when I got fed up with him stinking. He did eventually start bathing, but has never cleaned his butt 1 time.

 

[nicolescally]

Poppy loves bath's and showers i don't know why but anytime i get into the shower she meows at the door until i open it and she gets in the shower with me 

she's a crazy kitty 

 

[GoldyCat]

I'm following this thread with great interest because my worst fear is giving a cat a bath.  Our 3 young indoor cats have never needed one, but we are considering adopting an older cat from a shelter and she is all dirty and matted.  I'd love to give her a bath if we bring her home and some of your experiences are giving me some hope that it can be done.  :bigthumb:

Be sure you comb out the mats before giving a bath. When mats get wet they tighten up and can be almost impossible to get out without shaving the poor kitty.