# Ever Give Your Cat a Bath?



## SeaBreeze (Mar 15, 2015)

Just got done giving one to my cat, with hubby's assistance of course.   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?


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## applecruncher (Mar 15, 2015)

OMG. No way, no how.  My girl would throw a true hissy fit!


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 15, 2015)

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.


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## applecruncher (Mar 15, 2015)

Nail trims are a whole 'nother story at this house.  Yikes.  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.


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## DoItMyself (Mar 15, 2015)

Leather welders gloves.


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 15, 2015)

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.


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## applecruncher (Mar 15, 2015)

Safety goggles are good.


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## NancyNGA (Mar 15, 2015)

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.


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## Cookie (Mar 15, 2015)

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.


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## Mrs. Robinson (Mar 15, 2015)

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.


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 15, 2015)

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.


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## Warrigal (Mar 15, 2015)

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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## AZ Jim (Mar 15, 2015)

I never gave my cat's any baths.  They were always clean and smelled good.


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 15, 2015)

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.



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.


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## Josiah (Mar 15, 2015)

There were two of us trying to immerse the cat in some medicated solution to treat the cat for some skin condition. We failed totally and I got seriously bitten. One of the worst experiences of my life.


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## Mrs. Robinson (Mar 15, 2015)

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...


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 15, 2015)

I'll give it a try sometime Mrs. R, thanks for the tip!


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## AZ Jim (Mar 15, 2015)

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.


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## Warrigal (Mar 15, 2015)

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.
> ...


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## oakapple (Mar 17, 2015)

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.


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## Cookie (Mar 17, 2015)

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.


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## jujube (Mar 17, 2015)

Sorry, just noticed someone else has already posted.View attachment 15993


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## jujube (Mar 17, 2015)

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.


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## chic (Mar 18, 2015)

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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## Ken N Tx (Mar 18, 2015)




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## oakapple (Mar 18, 2015)

Cookie said:


> 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.


Same here Cookie, I would call brush-brush and he would run to me and enjoy a good brush from head to tail, but baths are another matter entirely.


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## AprilT (Mar 18, 2015)

I don't remember the bath scenes I experienced, but, I do remember the cat car carrier experiences and they weren't at all fun.  I had a friend that like to take week to two week vacations and I would keep her cat for her at my place.  Sometimes I would be the one to go pic the cat up with another friend from her home.


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## AZ Jim (Mar 18, 2015)

Not a bath story but a cat tale.  One day I was holding my big boy "Teddy" and petting him, it was a hot day and I had on only a thin tee shirt, my wife not knowing what would happen began carpet vacuuming and when she fired that baby up my Teddy was so scared he clawed hell outta my stomach in his effort to escape.  I still carry the long scratch marks where his back legs dug in for traction.


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## Shalimar (Mar 18, 2015)

Jim, ouch, ouch! The awesome joys of having a predator for a pet, I have a permanent hole at my jawline from bathing a Maine coon who had other ideas. Just what every woman wants, a natural piercing that closely resembles a bullet hole! Lol


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## Cookie (Mar 18, 2015)

Most of my other cats were terrified of the vacuum, but my Russian Blue loved to get vacuumed with the little upholstery attachment.  If I got the vacuum cleaner out there she was like a dirty shirt, pushing her way in and insisting I do her.


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## 911 (Mar 18, 2015)

A few years ago, my wife said that she was going to give the cat a bath. I asked her if she was sure that was a good idea. She got the cat in the bathroom and closed the door. As soon as the water went on in the tub, all Hell broke lose. She never did get the cat into the tub. She asked me if she tries it again if she could borrow my Taser. I told her that may not be a good idea and she asked why. I told her the cat is pretty strong and he may take the gun from you and tag you with it. I never heard any more about giving the cat a bath.


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## AZ Jim (Mar 18, 2015)

Shalimar said:


> Jim, ouch, ouch! The awesome joys of having a predator for a pet, I have a permanent hole at my jawline from bathing a Maine coon who had other ideas. Just what every woman wants, a natural piercing that closely resembles a bullet hole! Lol



Come on, cop out, who really shot ya and why?


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 18, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> Not a bath story but a cat tale.  One day I was holding my big boy "Teddy" and petting him, it was a hot day and I had on only a thin tee shirt, my wife not knowing what would happen began carpet vacuuming and when she fired that baby up my Teddy was so scared he clawed hell outta my stomach in his effort to escape.  I still carry the long scratch marks where his back legs dug in for traction.



When my cat was new as a kitten, I was sleeping with him by my pillow, he was still getting used to the new surroundings.  Early in the morning my dog made some kind of noise, an audible yawn or something, I forget.  Anyhoo, the kitten freaked out and used my face to kick off and run away in a panic.  Got me good, but luckily it left no scar.  I used to have to chase him away from the vacuum though, he's get up close and I was always afraid he might get his paw stuck in there...he has no tail, so that wasn't an issue, lol.


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## debodun (Mar 21, 2015)

I only did once and it was because, like someone else mentioned, for medical reasons. The claw marks are still on the marlite walls of the bathroom. Otherwise, I let the cat see to its own hygiene. They are best equipped to deal with it.


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## jujube (Mar 21, 2015)

My daughter's half Manx/half Siamese cat never needed a bath because he got in the shower almost every morning with the first person in.  He would sit there and get drenched, then he'd jump out and roll around in the dry bathtub.  On the weekends, he'd wander around the bed yowling until someone got up and took a shower.


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