Ever Give Your Cat a Bath?

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
Just got done giving one to my cat, with hubby's assistance of course. :eek: He's had some bathroom problems that required medication and a bath was needed today. I fill a basin in the kitchen sink and put on a long sleeved heavy shirt. As I hold his front end/legs wrapped in a towel, my husband cleans his hind quarters in the basin. I try to hold him while he struggles to get loose, and sometimes he manages to claw me in the process. Today I was lucky. Afterward, just like dogs, he seems appreciative for our efforts.

Anyone here give their cats baths, any helpful tips?
 

I did clip the tips of his nails off before the bath, last time he got me good with sharp claws. He's a sweetie, but does not like the baths at all.
 

Nail trims are a whole 'nother story at this house. Yikes. :eek: I've trimmed (most) front ones a few times, but it's not a pretty story. Usually my cat-expert friend has to do it, or the vet when I take her in for shots, etc. But a bath just is not gonna happen.
 
My hubby suggested leather gloves DIM, lol....but I didn't want the cat to be any more fearful of me than he already was. I do turn my face away a bit, because once his front paws come out of the towel, all bets are off. :D
 
Yes, my first cat, a few times when she was younger and still going outdoors. She was real good about it. I just had to be firm and hold
her tight enough that she pretty much knew there was no use to struggle. (She lived to be 17, so I didn't kill her;))

Doubt if it would be so easy on this new one, though. Hope I never have to try. She is strictly indoors, TG.
 
I used to give my cat a bath in the bathroom sink with special shampoo on rare occasions when she had a rash on her back.

I'd hold her facing me standing on her hind legs in the sink with her front legs sort of around my neck. Turn the tap on with warm water running gently. Wet her by gently pouring water over her back, tummy and legs with a large yogurt container, which she liked, a little shampoo, then rinse with same process of pouring warm water over her back, tummy and legs with the yogurt container.

I'd use a wet, not dripping face cloth to do her head. I'd never immerse her, just let her stand on her back legs while I quickly poured the water over her. I got pretty wet myself, but that was ok.

Then I have a large towel ready to wrap her in and take her onto my bed for drying and cuddling.

She struggled a bit but I would talk to her and comfort her, and I just got a few small scratches.

Good luck with the baths, SB, hope it goes well for you and kitty. Your technique sounds good and seems like it works well with two people.
 
My friend who worked at a vet clinic taught me how years ago. You can "freeze" a cat by holding them by the scruff. That`s why their mom`s are able to safely carry them from place to place-they just go limp when held that way. You can do anything with them at that point-their legs just hang there and they don`t struggle. Of course,it then pretty much requires another pair of hands to do the bathing. I have bathed countless numbers of cats. I have had to raise quite a few orphaned kittens that required several baths a day and those cats actually enjoy being bathed to this day.
 
Thanks Cookie, that wouldn't work too well with my cat, he'd climb up my neck and try to kick off my back to escape. He's really not afraid of water, will go near the faucet if it's running, even but a paw in the water bowl now and then. Mrs. Robinson, we've been having to give him medicine in the mouth though a syringe, and I tried to scruff him. He just tenses up and bends his spine backwards to get away...I wish he would go limp, it would be so much easier. I guess if I got him used to baths as a young kitten, it would be different.
 
Dame Warrigal said:
Do cats need baths? Kittens I can understand but adult cats clean themselves, no?

I have given baths to some white rats. They really did need them.
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He was just sick recently with diarrhea and needed to go to the vets for it. We had to help make sure he was clean after elimination, so we used some wet wipes on him as an added step. He did clean himself as usual. We wanted to give him a partial bath afterwards to assure that he was squeaky clean, as he sleeps with me in bed and goes on the furniture. He has thick fur, and some areas had issues.
 
If you hold him by the scruff with one hand and use the other hand to hold his rear feet with your index finger between them (hope that`s clear) he should go limp. I haven`t found one yet that it doesn`t work on...
 
It works. I have used the technique several times with our cats over the years. I have heard it's a reflex action because the mother cat transported her kittens like that. I didn't need to hold rear legs, the cat just goes limp and it doesn't hurt them.
 
Does this help?

How to Wash the Cat

Thoroughly clean the toilet. Add the required amount of shampoo to the toilet water, and have both lids lifted. Obtain the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.

In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids (you may need to stand on the lid so that he cannot escape).

CAUTION!!!!!
Do not get any part of your body too close to the edge, as his paws will be reaching out for any purchase they can find.

Flush the toilet three or four times.

Have someone open the door to the outside and ensure that there are no people between the toilet and the outside door.

Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift both lids. The now-clean cat will rocket out of the toilet, and run outside where he will dry himself.

Sincerely, The DOG
Click to expand...
 
Love this DM !So funny.
we only washed one of the cats once (can't remember why we did so) he was a really placid cat although he hated it and was miserable.Afterwards, he never looked the same, he was a long haired tabby and ever after looked like a badly washed soft toy that hadn't fluffed up properly.We all felt guilty.
 
After one of her rare baths, I would make sure my kitty received a nice brushing with her favorite 'brushy'. I would hold the brush and say 'brushy brushy' and she would come running from wherever she was.
 
My daughter was once house and cat-sitting for my sister. There had been a painter there at the house doing faux finishes on the wall and she had left a large pan of paint on the floor. When my daughter got home from school, the first thing she saw was a totally paint-covered fully-clawed hysterical Himalayan scrambling around the house leaving some interesting patterns on the floor, the table, the couch, the........ Thinking fast, she grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, deposited him in the laundry tub and put a plastic laundry basket over him. Then she ran warm water in the laundry tub, poured in some cat shampoo and "swished" him around the tub, changing the water frequently, until he was clean. Mad as a wet hen, but clean.
 
I had to give one of my cats a tomato bath after he got sprayed by a skunk. Luckily, he was one of those rare cats who likes water although he did not like the tomato bath much.
 
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