Do you bath your cat and how often?

Am I just a slattern? I have never bathed my cats (except Moogie - after an experience with a Hartz product). Should I? They don't smell, just "cat" smell. They are short-haired moggies, so won't be going to a "show". Both have soft, dense, shiny fur.

Should I bathe my cats? If so, how often?

I have never bathed a short haired cat, unless something out of the ordinary came up. I have persians now though and bathe them every couple of days. A cat who is npot brought up being bathed is probably not going to take to it either!
Denise

I only bathe my cats if they need it for medicinal reasons- ring worm, skin infection and other problems. Of course the summer I was raising baby skunks to rehabilitate and turn back to the wild, most of my curious crew got baths and often! Here's a picture for you to enjoy.




As far as bathing your cat, it is a personal preference. I know someone who bathes her cats every other day, but then she owns a cattery.

Phew! I was feeling like such a bad mother.

The only time I did bathe a cat was poor ole Moogie, after stupidly using some Hartz anti-flea mousse on her (many many years ago before I heard how terrible that company are). She started foaming at the mouth and shaking. I quickly grabbed her and got her in the sink and washed the evil stuff off her using washing-up liquid - I HAD to use the nearest thing to hand. I wrapped her in a towel and settled her down next to the radiator in the warmest room in the house. She forgave me after about 2 hours! I don't think I could of gotten her in water if she wasn't dying of toxic shock - she was a feisty one!!

Oh hissy those baby skunks look beautiful! Is their fur soft or is it course?

Their coat is very soft and they were a delight to raise! They would hop and skip and jump and trill and clatter........oops and spray! LOL


Cats are great groomers themselves, and rarely ever need baths.

Hissy, was rehabilitating them a long difficult process? Are they endangered? Did you have to get a license to raise them? Sorry for the barrel-load of questions. In the UK you have to get a license to raise any wild creatures, like rescued foxes or bagders, I suppose to stop people from stealing baby ones or breeding them in captivity.

I help with the overflow of a local wildlife and rehab outfit. The ophaned babies are then released back to them or out in the wild. I am monitored closely when they come into my care, and my neighbors are very glad when the skunks are released too. They tend to get nervous to see these black and white fluffballs running around.

LOL

Mine are short haired, and if Fred is not grooming himself, he is grooming Pearl or Georgia. He's pretty compulsive about it, and will groom them until they hiss at him. Then he will groom himself some more. Poor Fred is 14 years old, and not quite right from a head injury. 2 vets have told me that those things can cause compulsive behavior. He also has HUGE claws for a small cat, and I found out real quick I was never bathing him when he accidentally fell in the tub with me. He left my leg looking like hamburger.

LOL!!! Reminds me of when Alf fell in the bath as a small kitten (I was supervising him, but not closely enough).

I'm sure boy cats are more compulsive about grooming than girl cats. Alf gets paranoid about his white fur and making sure it is absolutely spotless. Ronnie will have a lick and a spit for special occasions - he he!

I think I might have to bathe Socks soon. She hasn't had a bath in 8 years, and she's getting a little bit stinky... I've been putting it off though. She tried to take off half of my mama's arm the first time she was bathed.

i bought some "cat wipes" from petco. they are just like a baby wipe. my cat actually likes it b/c i'm rubbing and petting her. she smells like baby powder. it gets a lot of the dander and extra hair off.

I've never given Cooper a bath.... she's VERY clean!!!

One thing......

I take my lint roller (sticky paper on a stick) and roll it all over her body... this picks up all the loose hair!!

SHE LOVES IT!!!!!

once a month. I have persians and it takes a lot of time to bathe, dry, and comb them out after. I am only up to it that often. I also wash our dsh as I don't want her to feel left out! ( I'm sure she wouldn't mind skipping it though!)

once a month I don't try to bathe the bobtail male though. He doesn't like water. AT ALL.

I bath my cats every 2-3 months because of allergies.

In general cats don't/shouldn't stink enough to need a bath... well ever. However if a cat gets something toxic on it, or REALLY dirty, or doesn't clean itself properly on a normal basis, a bath might be in order, just make sure you use a GOOD shampoo and/or conditioner on their coat if you do bath them, specially on a more frequent basis.

There are a lot of dry baths, and coat conditioners/cleaner whipes/perfumes out there too.

Actually I didn't think that a cat can LOVE swimming untill very funny story had happened.
I woke up late in the morning and found out that everyone left the flat for work. So I felt myself ready to take a buth. Taking a bath is a tradition for me now. You should take some juice, a good book/magazine or something else, to prepare a bath with special oil and etc. So I prepared everything. Except one thing. I forgot my book at the sofa... So I had to go and bring it. And after leaving the bathroom I heard that something heavy felt into water. And when I run into the bathroom I saw MY KITTY Kroshechka SWIMMING! And now she always tryes to take bath while I am taking it. So I don't bath my cat - she does it herself! (While I'm trying to stor her)

Hey Helena - Kroshchenka sould like a little monkey - jumping into a bath and swimming around like that!!!

My 2 persians haven't been washed for about 18 months. I will need to give them a bath in the summer (too cold in winter), but I no longer have a bath. I tore it out and built a big shower out of glass bricks, glass panel and slate - so this will mean actually getting into the shower enclose with the cats.

Hmmmm. Definitely have to wait until summer for that one!

I give my cats a bath about once a month, or if they occasionally get into something. Sarah once got petroleum jelly on her fur! WHAT a hard time cleaning that I had!

My cats are good about baths once they get over the initial shock of getting wet. They let out one long loud holler then simmer down.

we used to use a cleaning thing-a-ma-gig on my cat(some sort of spray or liquid or something), but she is feirce so after a couple of times trying to clean her and getting our arms scratched up pretty bad(it takes a while for us to learn) we just realized that her spit is good enough.