Bathing Kitties

[NoahsMommy]

Has anyone ever bathed their kitties? We gave Noah a quick bath last weekend because his fur seemed a little oily. It was not fun for him but only took a total of 60 seconds! He is all nice and fluffy!
(He dried off in less than 10 minutes.)

Does anyone else bathe their little ones?

[NoahsMommy]

Hi,
Noah is gong to be 13 weeks old this Sunday, so he is really young. He didn't like the bath, but once I got him out of the water and into a warm towel, he just sat there. He was so cute!

We used kitten shampoo and only did his body. I was afraid to get anything on his face.

We got him a brush but he thinks we are playing when we brush him! Silly kitten! I think I will try brushing him while he's sleepy, maybe that will work?

Do your Persians like baths?

[cr7clark]

Hi NoahsMommy,
You are doing the right thing by starting to bathe Noah at an early age. Eventually, your cat will become used to taking a bath and will also eventually get used to being brushed. Noah may never actually welcome these events, but he will become tolerant of them.
Do you clip Noah's nails? If not, you might want to introduce this bit of grooming to him as well, while he is young. When I clip Bo's nails, I always give her a treat afterwards so she knows I appreciate how good she's been. (Bo LOVES to be brushed!) Cats can be trained to tolerate bathing and grooming, especially if they know they will get a treat afterwards, be it food or lots of attention from their humans.

[TheAntiPam]

Starting young is very good advice. Each cat is different, but if you start young, they will tolerate the attention much better.

I have a 2 yr old cat that I rescued at 2 weeks old. Since I took care of him round the clock, he got used to me touching and grooming him. This has really paid off when we go to the vets. He is much more relaxed because he is used to being touched.

Some cats never will adjust, but give it a few tries. Both kitty and human can benefit!

[thelmalu99]

Hi Noah's Mommy,
I bathed my first and second cats. Sydney, my first cat, didn't like it too much but he learned to tolerate it because I started him very young.
Charlie didn't like it either, although he was easier than Sydney. He learned to just sit there and let me get it over with as quickly as possible.
I now have two new kitties, one is two years old and the other is six months. I'm going to try and bathe Danny, the six month old, but I don't think that Elvis, the two year old will accept it.
The best advice I can give you is START YOUNG.

[wolflady]

Yes, I agree that it's much easier to start the kitties young if you plan on bathing them on a regular basis. My family has always bathed cats because of allergies that run in the family. Bathing every few months seems to help that. It also has seemed to help our Scooter with his "dander-iff" problem (the white flecks just were starting to look really bad against his black fur parts). Although, our boys still do not like baths and it takes both of us working together to get the task done. But, in the end, we have a nice, fluffy clean smelling cat!! LOL

[4 feline house]

Please remember that unless there are unusual circumstances, cats don't need baths. If they are ill, old or injured and therefore cannot groom themselves, a bath may be in order. If they get into something extremely messy or poisonous, like motor oil or anitfreeze, they need to be bathed. Otherwise, you may be doing more harm than good since cats have a tendency to dry skin and chilling. Think this through carefully and get your vet's opinion if one of the above situations does not apply. I hope I don't sound like I'm lecturing, and if the thinking has changed on this among cat experts and vets, someone fill me in!

[anoushka]

Bathing kitties can be a tough experience !

My kids never accepted it. I think I waited too long to introduce them to it. Last year, I discovered Quick Bath, which is a moist towelette. My little boy, Norman, loves to be groomed with one of these. His sister, Isabelle, isn't too thrilled by the experience.

Has anyone else tried these for quickie-baths?

A

[ August 17, 2001: Message edited by: anoushka ]

[NoahsMommy]

Quicki Bath?? That sounds so great! Where did you get it?

[thelmalu99]

Anoushka,
I just bought a package of those quick bath towelettes for my 2-year old, Elvis. I have a feeling that if I try to bathe him he will tear me to ribbons! LOL! I'm glad to hear that your cat likes them. I hope Elvis doesn't give me a hard time.
My little one, Danny, is only six months old, so I will try to bathe him. LOL, I went to Petco to buy his shampoo and I couldn't believe how expensive it was! His shampoo costs more than mine! LOL!!

[Mila's Mommy]

Bathing can be very traumatic at first, but by starting young, eventually your sweety will tolerate it just fine.

We try to make the experience as nice as possible for Mila.

While she is in the tub, we heat up a towel in the dryer, then I wrap her in it after the bath and I rock her like a baby for 15-20 minutes.

Then my husband gets out the hair dryer, which she loves!! ...and he dries her with it. She purrs and walks back and forth in front of the hot air.

We then end the whole experience with a bowl of tuna!!!

(Can you say "Silly Yuppies"?)

Oh well, we have no children and she is our purrincess.

[Ann]

i think we used to bath our kitties, just to get them used to it at an early age... that really didnt work well tho since they both still hate it! heres a lil picture showing just how much Oliver dislikes it:

[AvaJoy]

Originally posted by 4 feline house:
<STRONG>Please remember that unless there are unusual circumstances, cats don't need baths. If they are ill, old or injured and therefore cannot groom themselves, a bath may be in order. If they get into something extremely messy or poisonous, like motor oil or anitfreeze, they need to be bathed. Otherwise, you may be doing more harm than good since cats have a tendency to dry skin and chilling. Think this through carefully and get your vet's opinion if one of the above situations does not apply. I hope I don't sound like I'm lecturing, and if the thinking has changed on this among cat experts and vets, someone fill me in!</STRONG>

I'm in agreement. I have never had any need to bathe my 2 rescues.

I have heard that if you are going to attempt it with a cat the has never been baptized, first put a window screen in the tub or sink for the claws to grip, thereby encouraging a feeling of stabilization and lessening the trauma . . . somewhat like a security blanket. But just in case, don't forget to wear those heavy duty welder's gloves that extend up to the elbows!

[ August 19, 2001: Message edited by: AvaJoy ]

[4 feline house]

Avajoy - baptized! - hehe!

[NoahsMommy]

Baptized!? That is so cute! I am going to tell Noah he is going to be baptized instead of taking a B-A-T-H!!

hee hee, VERY cute!!!