Avalon's first professional bath

tweetykiss · Jun 17, 2009

Two weeks ago, I took Avalon to PetSmart for a bath and claw trimming. Well, claw trimming is included. They kept her for four hours since she needed time to dry. When she came back, she acted like it was not a good experience for her and her groomer told me that she was afraid of the water. I know there were dogs in there as well but Avalon originally came from a dog household so she does like dogs and when I took her to Banfield for her shots, she wanted to get friendly with the dogs but not vice versa. She just didn't like it once we were in the doctor's office and the tech showed up. She had bad memories of side effects of the shots.

dragulescugirl · Jun 17, 2009

I'm guessing that the groomers are not that attentive and were probably a little rough with her.

Since she is still young, it's the best time for you to get used to cutting her nails! Two of my cats are 7 and have no issues when I pull out the nail cutters. In fact, sometimes I think they like it because they know they will get a special treat after it's over. I used to be really nervous about it, but since you will need to trim their nails more often then you would ever need to bathe her, it's a good thing to learn. Because she is so young, she will get used to it easier and as she gets older you will have virtually no issues doing it.

I would personally not take my cats to a professional groomer. But that's because I just feel like there is no need. Now I do wash my cats once a year. Actually they just got their annual bath. Their shedding of winter coats gets their hair so mangled that I find a quick wash in the shower with special shampoo helps to prevent matting as well as pulls off a bunch of the "dead" hair. Afterwards I wrap them in a towel and cuddle with them in front of a heater, something a groomer probably wouldn't do.

If you can teach her now to let you groom her it will probably save you $$$ and be a great bonding experience.

lmunsie · Jun 18, 2009

You should try to learn to trim her claws yourself. Play with her paws a little bit everyday and she will get used to it! It's a great thing in general to have your cat happy with having their feet touched,

There also is no reason you should have to bath your cat. Sometimes older cats can no longer clean themselves and will need assistance, but as a general rule cats are very clean and do not require submerged bathing.

dragulescugirl · Jun 19, 2009

I knew I should have preempted my response with a big giant "CAVEAT" warning. Hahahah.

Imunsie is correct. For the most part you should never have to bathe a cat. That's definitely one of their perks!

But I know there has to be someone else on this board (oops! I'm doing it again

) who has long haired cats and walks in one day and finds their couches looking like their cats exploded while they were out.

The only reason my babies get their annual bath is they shed their winter coat to their summer coat within a matter of days. And while I own a plethora ("You told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is."

) of grooming tools the poor little guys walk around licking chunks of hair off themselves. And no matter how much I try and comb the boy, he always gets large mattes in his snow pants area and I have to cut them out. After a few years of him walking around with a patchy bottom my husband said "No more!"

So yes, I bathe them to get rid of all the loose hair and to keep them from matting and having excessive hairballs (why isn't their a hairball smilie?).

Other than that, I completely agree that regular bathing is absolutely unnecessary (post restored

).

denice · Jun 20, 2009

I occasionally bathe my longer haired kitty because of shedding. She has a heavy undercoat and the occasional bath along with regular combing really cuts down on the shedding. She doesn't really like baths but she doesn't fight it, just a lot of crying while she's in the water and a few dirty looks for a little while afterwards. She gets over it very quickly.

goldenkitty45 · Jun 20, 2009

IMO that is why everyone needs to learn how to trim nails and wash cats at home. I've never even considered letting a groomer wash any of my cats. I kinda just taught myself

mzjazz2u · Jun 22, 2009

Originally Posted by DragulescuGirl

I'm guessing that the groomers are not that attentive and were probably a little rough with her.

Since she is still young, it's the best time for you to get used to cutting her nails! Two of my cats are 7 and have no issues when I pull out the nail cutters. In fact, sometimes I think they like it because they know they will get a special treat after it's over. I used to be really nervous about it, but since you will need to trim their nails more often then you would ever need to bathe her, it's a good thing to learn. Because she is so young, she will get used to it easier and as she gets older you will have virtually no issues doing it.

I would personally not take my cats to a professional groomer. But that's because I just feel like there is no need. Now I do wash my cats once a year. Actually they just got their annual bath. Their shedding of winter coats gets their hair so mangled that I find a quick wash in the shower with special shampoo helps to prevent matting as well as pulls off a bunch of the "dead" hair. Afterwards I wrap them in a towel and cuddle with them in front of a heater, something a groomer probably wouldn't do.

If you can teach her now to let you groom her it will probably save you $$$ and be a great bonding experience.

Not sure why you are assuming they were rough with her. And I'm not saying Petsmart has the highest quality groomers. But at least there they do everything pretty much out in the open where customers can see. So I doubt they were very rough with her.

There are many reasons some like to bathe cats and personally I don't see anything wrong with it. Cat's are pretty adaptable. Some good reasons are: Allergies, help with shedding, showing, long haired cat that can't keep up, less hairballs with bathed cat and so on. And There are a lot of reputable professional groomers out there and I wouldn't hesitate to take mine if I didn't know how to groom my persian's myself. That said, it is nice to learn if you have the patience and want to take that on. But you do have to have a lot of patience and it takes time.

dragulescugirl · Jun 26, 2009

Originally Posted by mzjazz2u

Not sure why you are assuming they were rough with her. And I'm not saying Petsmart has the highest quality groomers. But at least there they do everything pretty much out in the open where customers can see. So I doubt they were very rough with her.

There are many reasons some like to bathe cats and personally I don't see anything wrong with it. Cat's are pretty adaptable. Some good reasons are: Allergies, help with shedding, showing, long haired cat that can't keep up, less hairballs with bathed cat and so on. And There are a lot of reputable professional groomers out there and I wouldn't hesitate to take mine if I didn't know how to groom my persian's myself. That said, it is nice to learn if you have the patience and want to take that on. But you do have to have a lot of patience and it takes time.

Granted, there was probably not a deliberate attempt to be rough or cruel to that cat. But in my limited experience bathing cats and dogs, cats do have a tendency to squirm and fight far more than any dog I have ever tried to bathe. So when I say rough, I really mean having to concentrate more on restricting the cat for the bath.

I personally think I'm pretty considerate to my cats when I bathe them, but I often have to have a firm grip on them to keep them from hurting themselves.

So to clarify - I didn't intend for it to sound like I was accusing PetSmart of abuse with their groomers, just that being a cat, and being that the staff probably have a certain way things need to be done, Avalon may not of gotten the attention and ease of bath she needed.

Avalon's first professional bath

tweetykiss

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dragulescugirl

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lmunsie

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dragulescugirl

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denice

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goldenkitty45

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mzjazz2u

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dragulescugirl

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