Never. They bathe themselves and I like my skin intact. They are short haired and they do not get dirty. If they got in to something nasty, I would probably risk it.
I have a short-hair, indoor only. My vet said to bathe her twice a year, but when I talked to my cat owner friends, they said they never bathe theirs. That was nice to hear since Holland barely even lets me trim her claws!! I've had her for a year now, no baths and she's just as clean as the day I got her.
Cats are made to clean themselves. I imagine if yours go outdoors or get into something icky, a bath may be necessary, but otherwise you should be OK!
How old is he? At eight weeks he will be old enough for frontline plus, and that will take care of the flea problem. Just use it once a month for about 6 months, if you live in a colder climate, since you're keeping him inside, you probably won't need it at all after that.
As has been said, cats are self cleaning and do not need immersion baths unless they have gotten into something nasty or toxic, or if they have an illness that has caused them to soil themselves.
Too many "human" baths can dry their skin, and strip necessary oils.
So far I've just given my cats butt-baths as needed. I don't know the hair length/breed of your cat, but what I've read about my Persians is that I'm supposed to bathe them anywhere from once every two weeks to once a month (depending on the source) because of the oil in their skin. I haven't done this yet and have to buy some shampoo soon... from how they react to the butt-dunk, I am not looking forward to it!
One of the many great things about cats is they do not need to be bathed. Yes, if they get into something. But I have never bathed any of my cats. They never have a smell and they do their own cleaning. They have beautiful coats and are healthy. And as has been said, I don't want to have a blood transfusion!
Mine get done once or twice a year and whenever my mum comes over to visit.
They didnt like baths at first but got used to it and Magnum has to be pulled out of the tub when washed - yet he is still scared of it if we are using it.
Quincy has had several baths/showers since we got him last week, I dont think he got the memo about cats not liking water and will hop right in to the shower with you and stay.
I bathe mine about once a month with shampoo and in between that just a rinse off....Now that its getting to be winter and we have a wood stove for heat so its nots regulated with a temp dial I dont bathe them as often...Normally Ill go the whole winter without bathing them because I dont want them getting sick. My long hair I bath the most because after his bath is the only time he will let me comb out his fur he likes the attention he gets afterwards.
My solid white gets baths. He's always playing by the fireplace and comes out gray.
Plus I use a whitening shampoo to keep hi sparkling white and avoid the yellow staining. I probably bathe him every 6 weeks - 3 months depending on what he gets into or if there's any occasion I want him clean for.
My black cat is almost 2 years old and has only had one bath (diarrhea incident
) and my seal/white has never been bathed and he's almost 4 years old.
We usually bathe our groups of foster kittens (who are AT LEAST 2 months old) to make sure that they have clean ears and fur for while they stay at our house. No one likes having ear mites and I find that this is the most effective way to get rid of them (it also makes the kittens smell a bit better... LOL).
We bathe our two grown cats about one or two times a year. Usually we do this in the summer because the boys like to be outside and get rather dirty and covered with sap (we have lots of pine trees in our yard).
One a month during the summer (the day before Frontline Plus) and then only if needed in the winter so no one gets sick. As long as I put a screen in the tub or sink no one minds it. But when it comes to butt-baths thats an all year around thing at my house.