First bath

Ok, so my cat, who is about seven years old is basically a little dirty. She has very dirty paws and also I have noticed she has some visible cat dandruff. As long as I have had her I have never given her a bath, just rubbing her with a wash cloth. Problem is, she is very scared of water and pretty much everything else. (she has had a rough life). So she is scared but, I want to get her completly cleaned so should I go out and get some cat shampoo and wash her myself or take her to PetCo or somewhere and get her groomed. I'm trying to think what would be best on her since she get nervous just riding in her pet carrier.

Originally Posted by chloe3404

Ok, so my cat, who is about seven years old is basically a little dirty. She has very dirty paws and also I have noticed she has some visible cat dandruff. As long as I have had her I have never given her a bath, just rubbing her with a wash cloth. Problem is, she is very scared of water and pretty much everything else. (she has had a rough life). So she is scared but, I want to get her completly cleaned so should I go out and get some cat shampoo and wash her myself or take her to PetCo or somewhere and get her groomed. I'm trying to think what would be best on her since she get nervous just riding in her pet carrier.

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It might be a nice bonding experience if you do a bit at a time. . . .then if it doesn't go too well let someone else handle it. She'll probably never want another bath again though.

There is a waterless shampoo you could try. If you do want to do a regular bath dont fill the tub just use the spray nozle. I find the cats are alot less freaked out.

My first cat was terrified of water baths. I think someone tried to drown him or something.

Anyway, I'd use the waterless shampoo on him most times. But once or twice I had to give a water bath. What I did was fill 2 buckets with warm water. Then put him in the tub (dry) and take a washcloth and wet him down slowly until he was all the way wet. He handled that pretty well. After shampooing, I had to do the same thing with the clean water - it took a lot longer but I got it accomplished without Mitten getting a heart attack!

I fill the tub up while Zissou's not in the room (about 2 inches) and then bring her in, but she doesn't mind baths all that much. Just tries to get out, doesn't hiss or scratch or flail around or anything.

When I first started doing them (I'm catllergic) I started off just holding her in the sink and wetting my hand and wiping her down with it, and then wetting a paper towel and wiping her down with it, and then eventually a bath. She was only a baby then though, it will be harder with a seven year old who hates water. Try to get as much of her clean without water as you can to make it painlesser.

My cat Oscar was terrified of water too. I rescued him so he was really dirty, the first time I placed him on a small bowl and I used lukewarm water to wet a small towel, as I can't bring him in the tub, he was dead scared.

I did that several times, before I actually used a mini-shower, so that I won't scare him.

It was daunting task for me, God knows how many scratches I got from Oscar, but it was well worth it.

Shadowsoul

We find that a lot of cats that come into the shelter have bad kitty dandruff. We have a few different brushes, and the volunteers discover what sort of brush they like, and we all give them lots of brushing, and within a week or so, the dandruff is generally gone. They need regular brushing though generally to keep the dandruff away.

I find cats with "slick" short coats like the rubber Zoom Groom type brushes, long hair cats like the long pronged type brushes to keep the mats away.

Omega-3 fish oil added to food is an excellent remedy for cat dandruff. I had been using human gel caps, but recently I found it in a pump dispenser in the cat section at Pet Supplies Plus. More expensive, but more convenient than pricking a hole in a gel cap.

When Pixel goes outside in her yard she always lays in dirt. Either hiding in the "jungle" of flowers or on a patch of cool dirt. We live in the desert but have a lush yard. I gave her a bath with pure water the other day just to cool her down. She probably didn't need it as much as I thought she did but she seemed to be pleased afterwards (not during).

However you manage the bath, I'd like to offer a suggestion for in between baths: simply wipe kitty down with a couple of wet paper towels. I buy a roll of the heavier duty type towels just for this purpose. The kitty "wet ones" are pretty expensive but they have aloe in them.

I just dab a tiny amount of aloe into the paper towels I've wet and wipe her down with it. It keeps her dander under control and you can also wipe off the paws and ears. She actually likes this, maybe your baby will too.