'Survey: A Bath for your Cat?'

Survey: A Bath for your Cat?

Lee from Montevideo, Uruguay -

Do you give your cat a bath? Does your cat tolerate it?

My wife gives our cat a bath. The cat tolerates very well, though a bit less now that she is approached a year old.

I think unless you start when they are kittens there, its an impossible task.

Comment #1 Jeanette from AZ -

A friend of mine would bathe her cat as well and she loved it. She never gave my friend a hard time about it. My sister's cat cannot stand to have a bath so I guess it just depends...

Comment #2 endora (24.45.126.104) -

Depends on the cat. Ive had a few and i noticed the really young ones dont know the difference and go right in. If you wait to long between baths and its not part of the routine they fight you. Ive often wondered if its necessary for cats since they have oils in the fur and that great comb tongue.

Comment #3 Courtney (1) from The South -

When they are young you can bathe them, but by the time they are adults, I don't think it is such a great idea, unless you like to get clawed to death. Cats bathe themselves remember.

Comment #4 Lucy (66.24.100.217) -

I don't have cats I have labs and of course they love the water but I always thought that cats didn't like water. I wouldn't want to try and give a cat a bath that is for sure. I can picture it now my arms would come out of the bathroom all clawed up. Probably not a pretty sight. They always look funny to me when they get done with a bath. They look like wet rats lol. I will stick with giving my 100 lb. dogs a bath before I would give a 9 lb cat a bath. Less trama to me I am sure.

Comment #5 najdoyza from the mountains -

I've been told that it can be bad to bathe an adult cat too often. They do have oils in their skin and coats that protect them from the elements and frequent bathing washed these away. If they get into something or they are not grooming themselves properly then you done' have a choice, but otherwise my vet recommends against it.

Comment #6 Turtle from Lily Pond -

Absolutely. But some conditions warrant it. My BJ would benefit from somewhat frequent baths to soothe her skin that itches so badly because of her allergies. I'd have to get a cat shampoo appropriate for her condition and then have a death wish to want to bathe her myself.

• Bathing Your Cat

Comment #7 Goldie from Wisconsin -

No I have never given my cat a bath. They say that you should not unless it got into something that may make it sick by cleaning themselves.

Comment #8 Turtle from Lily Pond -

Hi Goldie. Who is they? I don't want to attempt to give my cats a bath because I just don't have enough hands and DH can't really help me. I'd prefer to take them to the groomer. Two of them need it fairly regularly.

Comment #9 Angel (75.44.57.246) -

I have given my cats baths, multiple times. All the recomendations say not to over do it, because it will dry out their coats and remove natural oils from thier skin. But all you really need is patience and not being worried about getting wet, oh and of course cat shampoo. I find closing the bathroom door (because i use the tub for the baths) to keep them in close quaters in case they jump out of the tub, but I also found filling the tub up a little bit, but not too deep works much better then letting the loud water run. And talking to the cat. I usually tell the cats they "are pretty and good" They calm down pretty quick. But when ever they need it, do it. Just make sure they are no where drafty, so they don't get the sniffles :)Happy Bathing!

Comment #10 David Luo (142.22.186.13) -

I have a 3 months Kitten who smells very bad. I bathed it and it smells 2 days later. I dont know how often should i bathe it. Please relply.

Comment #11 Diedra Hayman (74.140.109.248) -

I have a kitten and I have allergies to cats (although I have had cats all my life and adore them.) I bathe him once every week or two with kitten shampoo and very warm water. The first time was a scratching mess, but he had never been bathed before. Now he is relatively fine with it as long as I make it quick. I have found that wetting him down first, then standing him on a towel on the cabinet rather than in water, for the actual shampooing, keeps him pretty calm. then I turn on warm, warm water (think baby warm, not adult person warm) and I use that to rinse him down as quickly as possible. then I grab that towel he was standing on, and wrap him up and hold him close to do the drying. I get him as dry as I can with the towel, then I place him in his crate (which has a very furry padding), close the door so he doesnt go around wet and become subject to draft in some other part of the house. In about ten minutes, he has dried himself to his satisfaction, and I let him out. I love the lavendar shampoo. The other thing I do regularly is wipe him down daily with the cat wipes. But a friend who works at the animal shelter says I dont even need to spend the money for special cat wipes, that baby wipes are just fine for the cats. Now that bit has not been independently verified, and I still am using the cat wipes. so if someone knows something...

Comment #12 Peter (59.162.2.146) - Thu Sep 4 04:11:05 2008

I love pets specially dogs and cats. Dogs are considered to be man best friend.

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Peter

Persian Cats and Kittens - Purrinlot Cattery

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