Can you bath a cat?

H

Happy Girl

Registered User
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Can anybody tell me if u can or cannot bath a cat. Some people say cats clean themselves naturally, however I have been shampoo in Tesco for shampooing cats.
 
Ours are 8 & 7, always cleaned themselves. Unless you have a death wish or steel plated gloves I wouldn't attempt it ! Then again if you google "" you get some interesting results.
 
they are self cleaning, unless the particular cat is REALLY lazy
 
Well according to: [broken link removed] as they get older they can't reach certain areas so require a bit of help!
 
I'd rather not think about the areas a cat can't reach

We don't bath ours except on the one occassion she was chased up a tree by an over amorous tomcat. Suffice to say he scared the whatsit out of her! Otherwise we leave her to her own devices.
 
Sounds like it:


I'm watching my cat doing grooming/washing herself at the moment, she's just moved onto one of her back paws.
 
How To Clean A Cat

  1. Thoroughly clean the toilet.

  2. Add the required amount of shampoo to the toilet water, and have both lids lifted.

  3. Obtain the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.

  4. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids.

    Note: 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 surface they can find.

  5. Flush the toilet three or four times. This provides a "power wash and rinse" which I have found to be quite effective.

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

  7. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift both lids.

  8. The now-clean cat will rocket out of the toilet, and run outside where he will dry himself.

    Sincerely,
    the Dog
 
Cats spend an awful lot of time grooming/cleaning. Hence the occasional side effect of furballs. The only areas a cat can't reach with its tongue are between the ears & its eyes & a lick on the paw then a rub of paw to the site in question usually does that. Elderly cats may, as mentioned require help. Oh that some humans were as fussy about their appearance .
 

Brilliant!
 
Another tip - Don't try to put trousers on a cat either. I still have the scars from that episode.
(Our cat was in an accident which necessitated special care and much improvisation)
 
From a Vets Assistant's point of view, cats do groom themselves and keep themselves very clean normally, the only time we bathe cats is when they are particularly dirty or covered in a lot of something, i.e. mud, their own poo (or any other poo!), food, etc etc. If there is a lot of it they cant get it all off themselves and their fur will get all matted. If you do end up washing a cat towel dry them a good bit afterwards so they will warm up. But as I said, washing a cat only needs to be done when they are abnormally dirty, their regular grooming is usually good enough.
 
I assume Eileen Alanas detailed guidelines apply to female cats as well as toms
 
I had to wash my cat when she was a tiny kitten and got the runs.

Then realised as she lay wet and almost motionless on the towel that it might not have been a good idea for such a young cat. Ran for the hair dryer and it warmed her up again, thank Heavens! Lord knows how I would have explained that one to the children!
 
We got our youngest cat from a sanctuary - it was 8 weeks old and had a very bad stomach virus. When we first saw it was covered in you know what from the neck down, of course Mr Ney fell in love with it!. Anyway everyday for three whole months this cat had the runs and rolled around in it so every day I would have to come in and wash it cos god help poor Mr Ney he has a delicate stomach . So I'd get suited up, long wooly jumper two pairs of gloves, apron, scarf around the face and wash her as quickly as I could whilst trying not to get the eyes torn from my face (which nearly happened on many occasions). The upshot of all of this is that three years on, the cat loves Mr Ney more than anything, hates me more then anything and up to a year ago would routinely go to the toilet on any item of MY clothing left on the floor!. The cat is so wary of me that I had to drug it when we were moving house in order to catch it! -the moral of the story is don't wash your cat unless absolutely necessary - or this is the result
 

Off the point but we had a hamster once whose cage inadvertently ended up on a concrete floor in winter for a bit, came out one morning & he was stiff as a board(almost) , opened griller door in the cooker and left him lying on the open door (not under the grill ok) with the grill on low. Lo & behold he came round & lasted over a year longer. (Not to be recommended with damp cats )
 
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