When to give a cat a bath?

yeti

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Hello! I know cats generally clean themselves and shouldn't need help except in unusual situations, but... well, this is kind of an unusual situation. >.>" I dropped a jar of mayonnaise earlier and my poor cat happened to be standing right in the line of fire. I wiped her off (she was pretty covered in it!) but she's still quite greasy and I'm not sure what to do. Do I just let her deal with it, or does she need to be cleaned? She has medium-long fur, if that makes a difference. 
 

talkingpeanut

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Hello! I know cats generally clean themselves and shouldn't need help except in unusual situations, but... well, this is kind of an unusual situation. >.>" I dropped a jar of mayonnaise earlier and my poor cat happened to be standing right in the line of fire. I wiped her off (she was pretty covered in it!) but she's still quite greasy and I'm not sure what to do. Do I just let her deal with it, or does she need to be cleaned? She has medium-long fur, if that makes a difference. 
I would give a bath in this situation. In general, you go for it when they have something on them that they shouldn't injest or when they are very dirty - should be very rare. Rotting mayonnaise won't be fun for either of you!
 
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posiepurrs

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A bath would be the quickest solution. If that is to difficult, and she will let you comb her, you could try corn starch. It is would be a long, messy process. Liberally powder, allow it to absorb some of the oil, then comb out, repeat. This will make a BIG MESS so do it somewhere easy to clean. Get all of the powder out too because it could cause matting if you don't. Truthfully if she will let you the simplest is to bath her with a 50/50 solution of Dawn dish detergent and water. Don't use the Dawn (or any dish soap) full strength or you will have a hard time rinsing it out completely.
 

di and bob

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They have Pet Wipes in the pet sections of most stores, they are waterless baths. Just make sure you get the ones for cats, the ones fro dogs could make a cat sick if licked. It would be a lot less traumatic for your little one to try this first. Mayo won't hurt them to ingest it, especially in the small amounts that would be left after wiping them off, using a damp warm washcloth with a diluted soap such as Dawn, wouldn't hurt either. My cats always have that 'greasy ' fur when I aqpply Profender to their necks to worm them, that disappears in about a week or so on it's own, because they can't reach it to lick it. Hope this helps!
 

msserena

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 I would give a bath. Wiping her off isn't going to get the greasiness off, you need soap. Stick her in the tub & wash her good
 

Primula

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Give her a bath if she will let you & work quickly. I have done mine in the kitchen sink. Bathtub is too big. You can put a towel on the bottom of the sink so cat doesn't slide around. Rinse the cat with warm running water. Take a tiny dab of dish detergent (everyone says Dawn, but I use Palmolive) & vigorously rub it in. Don't make a ton of lather since it takes forever to rinse off. Then rinse off as quickly as you can. Some people then blow dry, but I think this would be terrifying. I have always towel-dried. They will shake off excess water themselves if there is any.
 

banana queen

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That is a good reason to give a cat a bath. Usually they are self cleaning, but sometimes they get too dirty to do the job themselves.

All of my cats have been bathed a few times in their lives. Socks is the dirtiest though, she has walked through paint and I once had to clean poo off her butt.

I had to bathe her again today. She peed in the cat carrier on the way home from the vet, when I got her out she had pee on her paws, butt and along her belly.
 

fornana

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 mayonnaise is often used as a conditioning product; it apparently causes great shine 

I wonder if your cat's fur will be shiny after you bathe her 


 It might help to have a support person to lightly restrain her while you scrub around her quickly. If she's a scratcher clip her nails before, and wear some heavy gloves. 

Make sure to give her lots of treats after. 
 
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