How often is too Often

I Bathe my 5 1/2 month old kitten about twice a week with plain water due to allergies(mine) which seems to be helping...She also seems to enjoy it I must say. Everytime I go to the sink to wash dishes she wants to join in and help

In any case, I guess I wanted to know if twice or even 3 times a week with plain water is not going to hurt/damage her coat or skin...

Most people say no more than once a month so as not to overly dry their skin and coat.

Zissou'sMom, another member on this site, has allergies as well and I know she bathes Zissou once a month with no problems. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you PMed her with more questions. You can also search the forums for more info. There's definitely an abundance of information here.

Actually you should be just wiping the cat down with DISTILLED water - not regular water. Distilled water will work better for you. You don't need to completly bathe them - just wipe the cat down.

Too much washing can strip the coat and more dirt/dust can accumulate. You'd have to use a good conditioner if you are washing a lot. Even show cats only get a bath before the show - and that would be once a week at the most (depending on how many weekends a month they are shown).

Do you have an air filter? I think this would help a lot with allergies.

I really wouldn't be bathing a cat that often because you're removing skin oils which are a natural defense against ringworm, staph, mange, and the like.

Someone rang?

Anyway. Yes, I also have allergies (terrible, horrible, hives and asthma allergies), and I firmly believe that the benefit to humans with allergies outweighs the minor skin drying done once a month with a bath. But I also strongly agree that baths can be done no more often than once a month.

I put a tiny bit of baby shampoo in the water, and then wash her, and then rinse her again with clean water, and then dry her off, wrap her in a towel, and hold her til she's dry because she gets cold even when I turn off the air and use slightly hot water.

Wiping a cat down doesn't cut it for allergies. It could help between bathings, I guess.

But you also have to do your part. I take Singulair and Claritin and sometimes decongestants, use benadryl if I get hives, vacuum often, brush her daily. I also have two Sharper Image ionic breeze air filters.

Andy has a bath every two weeks. He is used to. I use kids 2 in 1 shampoo.

Just a heads up that shampoos formulated for use on humans are an inappropriate pH for cats. Human skin has a higher pH that either cats or dogs, and pH is a lot of what regulates which bacteria/fungus/yeasts thrive and which cannot survive.
If you bathe really often I would personally use a diluted cat shampoo, and make sure the cat is getting plenty of good fats in its diet, i.e.salmon oil etc.

My cat doesnt like to be bathed at all, he doesnt like water, if just drops of water fell on him, he leaves the place! If we want to clean him, we just use a wet piece of cloth... He loves to be massaged..

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Originally Posted by Cearbhaill

Just a heads up that shampoos formulated for use on humans are an inappropriate pH for cats. Human skin has a higher pH that either cats or dogs, and pH is a lot of what regulates which bacteria/fungus/yeasts thrive and which cannot survive.
If you bathe really often I would personally use a diluted cat shampoo, and make sure the cat is getting plenty of good fats in its diet, i.e.salmon oil etc.

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Sorry I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t mention that I dilute the shampoo. I use 3 buckets of water for a shower. The first itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s a bucket with warm water and shampoo, and the other 2 are warm water for rinsing. I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t use cat shampoo because of bad experiences. The last was with a flea shampoo that I bought from the vet that causes him to have seizures. He takes medications for those seizures. So now I use kids shampoo.