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Do you bathe your cat(s)?
- Thread starter emma petersen
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We have never bathed Miss Kitty, an indoor spayed feral calico, as she, being the pretty girl she is, maintains her cleanliness and appearance faithfully.
As does Sam in the case of her show-Persians, we bathe Samwise, our Turkish Van, a couple of days before a show, which, during show season, is generally about every two weeks. In fact, he was bathed this morning -- having a show in San Antonio this coming weekend.
Bathing Samwise is quite an experience. I am going to attempt to paste the instructions we got from his breeder down below. If I exceed the alloted size of this post I will finish it up on a second post. A photo of a very sad post-bath Samwise is attached, since he hopes to get some sympathy from you.
Please recognize that there are probably as many "recipes" for bathing cats as there are cat-owners, and one size does not fit all. This "Turkish Van Bath Recipe" is for a relatively rare breed, a long-haired show cat with an unusually oily fur with no undercoat.
I am attaching this just as an example of how complicated the process of bathing a cat can be, not at all as a suggestion that you should use this process on your cat. Everyone should seek advice from others with experience with cats like theirs, particularly breeders.
Ann
Recipe for a Turkish Van Bath
1. Clip claws
2. Get Goop hand cleaner, (not the orange variety) at Wal-Mart or auto-parts store..
3. Get a small bucket and use a spatula to scoop out the goop.
4. Fill the goop container with shampoo (Acclaim, Flex, or just plain cheap stuff)
5. Pour shampoo in with the Goop and mix 50:50 with a whisk.
6. Microwave Goop mix for 40 seconds
7. Dilute “E-Z Groom Crystal White Shampoo†about 8:1 with water. Mix and microwave for 30 seconds (needs to be warm when you put it on the cat so if you have a helper you can wait to microwave)
8. Gather 3-4 old towels
9. Put on clothes that can get wet. Alternatively, remove clothes within realm of modesty
10. Take cat and Goop and towels into bathroom and shut door.
11. Put one towel folded on the floor in front of the bathtub so you can kneel
12. Put cat in bathtub (or sink) facing away from you and hold by the scruff of the neck. Don't be afraid to hold on hard, it doesn't hurt them. You can also try the armpit restraint method. Grab ahold of the front leg where the leg meets the shoulder and hold on tightly. You can hold both front legs or one depending on the cat.
13. With one hand, pour part of the Goop down the DRY cat's back and tail, and use hand application to get other parts. You can use the tail to mop up extra goop.
14. Work the Goop mix into the dry fur, making sure to get the arm and leg pits and chest. Go up the neck but don't do the face.
15. Dilute some mix (very dilute) and use a washcloth for the face if necessary, being careful not to get it in the eyes or ears (It burns)
16. Rinse the cat. If you have a bucket, use that, or if you have a hand held shower head you can bring the water to the cat. Rinse the head with a washcloth.
16. Make sure you get all the mix out of the cat, especially the underside, chest and arm and leg pits. The fur should be near squeaky clean. You can't rinse too much.
17. Put the warm dilute Crystal White on the cat and lather. You only need to get the white parts.
17. Take the cat out and wrap tightly in a towel so only the head is out.
18. Itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s a good idea to use some cotton swabs to clean the ears at this point since the cat is a cat taco.
19. Wait 5-10 minutes. Apologize profusely and lie to cat, telling him itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s almost over.
20. Unwrap and rinse well.
21. Apply Flex shampoo (green cap) to cat, lather and rinse, rinse, rinse. Diluting the shampoo slightly and pouring it over the cat is easier than putting the shampoo on full strength.
22. Rinse some more
23. Mix 1/3 cup white vinegar to one gallon water and pour over cat to rinse. Use a lot on the tail and chest area.
24. Rinse the cat so he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t smell like a pickle.
25. Wrap in a towel and apologize.
19. Unwrap, and use another towel or two to dry. Fluff the fur the wrong way for faster drying.
20. Vans are wash and wear, after you get as dry as possible with towels let your now unhappy cat go and groom. They get over the bathing thing fairly quickly though.
21 When the fur is partly dry you can brush it up to speed the process, but you don't have to.
22. Also optional: pictures because your cat is funny when itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s wet
23. If the cat is really squirrelly lift the cat partly in the air by the scruff. Much noise will probably be made but do not fall for the pity me ruse.
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Because we're both allergic to cats, I bathe them all (well, the indoor ones at least - I wouldn't try to bathe our feral!
) occasionally. Ideally, to keep the allergens down, they should be bathed every month, but lately I've only been doing it every few months. They don't enjoy it, but they don't fight - they just give me a "why are you doing this to me?" look, and try to escape if I don't watch them closely enough.
ROFL!!Originally Posted by Petnurse2265
I figured if I started bathing and brushing when we got her (she was 5 weeks old) she would get used to it, unfortunately someone forgot to tell her.
If the dang kittens and cats would learn to read their instruction books this would not be a problem!
We regularly bathe our 11 cats, imagine the bloodshed!!! My mom is as adamant about bathing as the cats are about not bathing!
And I have to help my mom. My disabled kitty Moo-moo is soo strong! Eventhough he only has two working front legs, but geez, that's the strongest front legs I've ever seen!
Moo has to regularly bathe, he's our "sweeper". Everytime he walks, he sweeps dirt onto his fur. Poor fella.
I'm somewhat allergic to cats. My step-daughter, who visits occasionally, is severely allergic to them, so I do need to bathe them at least occasionally. I don't bathe them myself, but I take them to a professional groomer.
Red Cat has had three baths in the six years I've had him. The first two times an assistant at the vet's office bathed him, but they had to tranquilize him first. The new vet doesn't have a groomer working with him, so I took him to a professional groomer. He went ballistic and scratched her. She told me never to bring him back.
It has been nineteen months since his last bath. I'm going to try a different groomer next time, who I think is better equiped and more experienced.
Purdy is a long-hair. I have been taking him to a professional groomer every three months, but will start making that more frequent. He is allowed outside, so he gets matted easily. A regular bath makes it so much easier to get him combed out.
Sheba, the latest addition to my family, produces more allergens than the other two combined. Though her hair is short, I'll be taking her to a groomer monthly.
Red Cat has had three baths in the six years I've had him. The first two times an assistant at the vet's office bathed him, but they had to tranquilize him first. The new vet doesn't have a groomer working with him, so I took him to a professional groomer. He went ballistic and scratched her. She told me never to bring him back.
Purdy is a long-hair. I have been taking him to a professional groomer every three months, but will start making that more frequent. He is allowed outside, so he gets matted easily. A regular bath makes it so much easier to get him combed out.
Sheba, the latest addition to my family, produces more allergens than the other two combined. Though her hair is short, I'll be taking her to a groomer monthly.
Since my cats are all long haired persian's, I bathe them regularly. It's not their favorite thing but they tolerate it well. They just get a little impatient toward the end of the bath! I started out filling pitchers and dish pans with water to avoid the running water fear. But after a few times they seemed to get used to everything and it sure makes it a lot easier. I bathe mine in the kitchen sink with a rubber mat in the bottom to avoid slipping and sliding. The slipping causes a lot of fear and stress for cats so the rubber mat is #1! I have a lot of bathing tips on my website if anyone is interested in having a look. The link is below, in my signature.
Just wanted to say that we had to dry shampoo Max yesterday because he was a bit stinky. I doubt he would've handled a real bath, he's easily startled to begin with so putting water on him might've freaked him out... but he likes being brushed so it worked out well, and now he smells pretty.
Bath, frequently, NO WAY HOSEA ! My Himmies don't usually require it, thank God! Rusty and Babycakes aren't a lot of problem to bathe, Yum and Rurnt are a little worse, but Blue Hef-Cat will tear you limb from limb no matter what precautions you take. Haven't bathed Tigs and Gizzy yet........they like to play with my bathwater and jump in and out of the shower with me, so maybe it won't be too bad......maybe, that is!
I use dry shampoo on Peaches occassionally to fluff her fur up and it works well! Now Jake, on the other hand, tends to get greasy on his chest and belly and the dry shampoos seem to make it look even worse. I thought it would help but I guess it's back to the sink more often for poor Jakey!
I found something that's a life saver for me. They are pre-moistened wipes made for giving you cats baths. Though the cats don't really like them, they tolerate it a whole lot more than water. My CJ doesn't like water that much, though I have never actually tried "bathing" them, because I found these wipes when I first got them. They deoderize, and dry quickly, and is safe for the cats. You can buy them at Wal-Mart, that's the only place I've seen them. They sure are a life saver. My cats are domestic shorthairs, (see pic below signature.) so, I don't know how well these would work on a longhair, but I know they help me!
No. Never. Just clean his ears (he has allergies).
I never bathe my cats, although one of them misjudged the depth of the bathtub water and fell in...
Originally Posted by portdevoix
I never bathe my cats, although one of them misjudged the depth of the bathtub water and fell in...
I have only bathed Beau when it was absolutely necessary, which it has not been for years now. In the early part of his life we lived in a city that had a terrible flea problem and this was before Advantage or Frontline was available. I bathed three cats and a dog every single week. (what a drag for everyone). Beau has always been good about being bathed. I can do anything in the world to that cat: trim claws, hold him upside down, bathe, give pills. If he doesn't like it (like bathing) he will yell bloody murder and threaten and snarl and sound as though he is going to kill someone but he has never once in his whole life scratched me, not even during bathing.
(Beau is a remarkable cat)
(Beau is a remarkable cat)
Yep, he sure sounds like it!! And he's so gorgeous, too!!!Originally Posted by D'Elle and Beau
(Beau is a remarkable cat)
actually we only bath him a few times during the days that we got him. he scratched and fought but it was worth it because he didnt smell very nice.
well, poor charlie got stuck in flypaper once, i hate that stuff, the only thing it ever caught was a bat and charlie, but not at the same time, it was up when we first moved in, and then he needed a bath, it's amazing my fiancee lived to tell the tale. we woke up with him yowlin in the night, flypaper all around him, it was terrible. he was ok though, after bath. i took the bat to rescue as well, they have some stuff that takes it off bats, apparently it was not new to them.
Sierra hasn't had a bath since she was a little baby!
