Bathing - Necessary Evil?

I was wondering if any of you bathed your cats regularly?

Sometimes I will do it if Cassie smells like litter LOL, but that might once a year at most.

Someone once made a very valid point to me - Cats are by nature very clean animals so we don't have to bathe them ourselves.

But I wanted to know if anyone did it on a regular basis? Or do you believe, cats should just clean themselves?

I don't. I would if they got into something like marshmallow creme or something sticky while I am cooking but any other time, they can clean themselves and each other. They are forever grooming one another.

I only do it when absolutely necessary, like when I got Persil she was covered in black motor oil that had to come off or she would have died from ingesting it. she still shows a desire to get into substances sometimes - I had to bath her a few weeks ago when she came home all black spots. I have bathed the new kittens I found last week, they were filthy and smelt to high heaven.

Oliver gets a bath once a month... he just had his Tuesday for this month.... it's not exactly necessary, but for me it helps with his shedding and I like to make sure his bum and "boy area" get a good cleaning... plus it gets rid of his litter feet - his little light orange feet get a grey tinge to them from the litter after awhile.... after the bath, he gets his teeth brushed, ears cleaned and the shed tool to his fur.... this is just my personal preference - he preens and grooms himself about 2 of the 4 hours each day he's awake (yeah, he's a lazy one)... Also, Oliver doesn't mind his baths, so it's not a big hassle for me and after working in both a shelter and animal hospital, I've had PLENTY of experience bathing all types of cats, otherwise I never would have attempted it.... my mom is also quite allergic to kitties, so when we're visiting my parents (depending on the length of stay) he gets at least one bath while we're there....

I definitely think it's a matter of preference (and whether it's a show cat or not of course)... I would not suggest a full bath more than once a month though as it may dry out their skin, their natural oils are good for their coat... if you've got an outdoor or indoor/outdoor cat, it would probably be a good idea considering you have no idea what he could get into.....

I wish I could remember who said it, but there is one quote that says "Cats aren't clean, they're just covered in cat spit"

I bathe my longhair once a year, period, any other baths to any of the cats is only if it is required.
Sometimes they do manage to find sticky, stinky, oily or gooey things to wallow in.

I don't dare!!!

spot clean yes bathe no

I was wondering about that too, we have had Harley for about a month now and I didn't know how often to bathe them? He is not smelly or anything so I guess we can probably wait! He loves getting in the bathtub tho, (without water!) I guess when the time comes for the water he will probably freak! Does anyone's cats actually like baths?

Instead of a full bath you can buy pet wipes, similar to baby wipes.

I only bath them when necessary

picture of Arthur having a wash....lol (my bath isn't normally that dirty honest!)

Originally Posted by missymotus

Instead of a full bath you can buy pet wipes, similar to baby wipes.

Click to expand...

Oh yeah! I saw those once somewhere...do they really work?

My show cats were washed before every show (once a month, sometimes twice, depending). I started them as kittens - my 14 yr old retired show will stay in the tub if you tell him.

He gets a bath every month as he's no longer good at grooming and keeping clean.

I've washed our other mixed breed cats a few times (mainly as kittens) with no problems.

Over washing will strip the fur, use a conditioner with it. Nothing wrong with washing them once a month if you want to.

They work really well on shorthaired cats that just smell a bit off.
I've had no luck with them removing wallowed in substances, but for regular cleaning and the occasional kitty bum wiping, they work great.

I bathe my Persians regularly. Some of them more frequently then others. If I had short haired cats I probably wouldn't unless they got into something.