How to bathe a cat...

I've always bathed my kittens, but cats that come to stay that are already grown...no. Those go to the vet to get bathed! lol My best friend and her husband were just amazed at how I gave our cat, Duffy a bath. But we had Duffy from a tiny kitten and he was used to it. Plus, he was such a laid back cat in the first place. Their cat...not so laid back. But my friend's husband said he was going to try to bathe her, too. I warned him that their cat was grown and might not like being put in the water...but he had made up his mind. My friend told me that her husband filled up a plastic tub, put it in the sink, put on Playtex gloves and put the cat in the tub. Well, the cat shredded his gloves right off his hands. He had deep scratches and bites, too. I couldn't help but laugh. If only it was on video!

A long sleeved Shirt?! I want a suit of Armour if ever the necessity arises to bathe my Cat again...He climbed me like the north face of Everest on his way out,with a set of Pitons Stallone would have envied in "Cliffhanger"-The physical scars have since faded (mostly),but the psychic ones remain..I never realised how much water a (surprisingly muscular and flexible) freaked out cat could distribute around a small house...I STILL haven't figured out exactly how he managed to get past me and out that closed bathroom door! Besides,he does such a GREAT job himself with the Mk I Tongue...

I never bath my cat. I use waterless bathing clothes. I found it very helpful and easy to use. I do it once a week. My cat is only indoor cat and is so easy to just wipe her with wet cloth made for cats.

I've given baths to cats, and I've not got any scars to show from it. But they were not fun. No, I'm not one to bathe the cats regularly. Heck, I don't bathe the dogs either.

I have to bathe our cat occasionally. She does not like it very much, but she tolerates it. I have to keep one hand on her though or she will jump out of the tub. I also use a cup to get her wet and rinse her with because we do not have a removable shower head. She is de-clawed in the front, because she is an inside cat so she has not scratched me because of a bath. Even though our cat does not like baths too much, she will still hide in the tub when someone rings the door bell. She's weird; so she fits right in at our house.

I haven't really bathe a cat but I know from a friend that it depends on how the cats were brought up. Stray cats were always the hardest ones to bathe and will always give you memorable scratches on the first bathe experience alone. My friend had kittens and she started to bathe these kitties while they're still small. They don't have problems with water and seemed to even enjoy bathing like your cat. Have you just had your cat? You're quite lucky to have one who loves bathing!

I've never given a cat a bath since I know that it is their instinct to bathe themselves.I admire cats because they're clean animals.

lol That is cute how the cat knew when you were done. Lightning, my cat that I had to put down last year, absolutely loved water and would just stand there while I gave him a bath. BUT, being he was a bottle-baby from day 1, he was getting baths every day till he was weaned being he was a messy bottle-baby. lol When he was tiny, I just wet a washcloth and bathed him that way. With his eyes still closed, for all he knew mom's tongue was just very wet. Once his eyes opened, he was hilarious cause he would then bat at the washcloth every time it was in his sight. He got his first real bath in the kitchen sink a few days after he was fully weaned. He thought it was the neatest thing in the world. His own tub with a waterfall he could 'catch'. Once he reached his adult size, he graduated to the tub. That was even better to him cause now mom would let him splash to his heart's content. Ever since then, he would want the water turned on so he could play in it. Once he learned how to turn the water on himself, I had to constantly watch him cause he failed to learn how to turn it off. Had an inch of water in the tub one day as I was getting ready to clean the garbage cans. Lightning discovered it and leaped in. I went in the bathroom to find him sitting in the middle of the tub, in the water, playing with a cat toy he brought with him. Then Tigger came along. A feral 4mo. old kitten. Bout a month after getting him, I thought it was time to give him a bath. I purposely bought the waterless shampoo being he was still too scared of everything but Lightning. I was able to hold him and carry him around but that was it. Well, got the supplies gathered up and went to his room. Yes, HIS room, for the spare room is where he stayed till I was able to tame him so he considers it his room even thou he has free run of the house. Anyways, I walked into his room and closed the door. Sat down in the middle of his room, putting the supplies next to me for easy access. Tigger came up to me after lots of encouragement and I gathered him up in my arms. Got the bottle of shampoo and proceeded to spray some on him. Then started working it in his coat. By this time, he had stopped purring and I sensed he was about to explode. As I was reaching for the towel to wipe him down, here comes the explosion. Straight up in the air and landing on my lap,running as he was landing straight into his box he flew with lots of hissing and growling. Mind you, both hands were torn up pretty bad by his teeth and claws. I got up, gathered up the supplies and let him be. Least his fur was clean now. All he had to do was finish drying himself off. I ran cold water over my hands till they stopped bleeding and then wrapped em in bandages. Flash forward a year now to the day I couldn't put off any longer. 3 cats=3 bathes, one being a new kitten, Tigger, and his big sis Lil' Bear. Started with the kitten. Not too eventful being I have a grooming noose for the tub. Then....here it comes, the main reason I was putting it off for over a month...time for Tigger's bath. I was seriously thinking of letting the groomer at Petco do it since his last bath was still very vivid in my mind. You won't believe this, but Tigg knew what was about to happen. By now he is tame and free roam of the house and adores mommy very much. I put him in the tub and put the grooming noose on him. Hit the sprayer button away from him and he started but didn't go balistic like last time. Once I started spraying him with water, he grabbed hold of my shirt with both paws. I thought he was going to claw me up but no. Like he does whenever someone holds him now, he just wanted to hold onto me. His bath turned out uneventful, totally leaving me in shock. What he really loved was after the bath. I wrapped him up in a big warm fluffy towel and he burrowed down into it so all you saw was his nose. He immediately started his motorboat and it just got louder the more I cuddled him dry. Lil' Bear is boring in the tub. She just stands there growling while you give her a bath. Grumpy is used to it.

That is phenomenal! Kudos for you! I have never gotten my cats to willingly take a bath. They always put up a fight. And, it's bad when I have to give my EB cat a bath. She gets into heat and smells really bad. I have to bathe her daily and she tries to scratch my eyes out. She is a real sweetheart though. And, she can't help herself. My other cats don't like baths either. Once when Big Man, the big cat was a baby, we tried to bathe him and he scratched a big hole in my spouses's hand. He did not like the water. I'm happy that you caught a lucky break.

When I first had a male tabby kitten, I gave him a bath in the sink and he didn't enjoy it. As he grew older I would get a wet bath towel with cat shampoo and warm water and wipe him. He would hide under the kitchen table, or in the livingroom to lick himself dry.

I've had some of both. I've had cats stray cats that I took in and had to bathe right away that did NOT result in a pleasant experience at all (and yes, came away with scars - who knew such little critters had so much fight in them?) I've also taken in kittens that were born to barn cats, and while they fought some initially, their size made them a little easier to handle (and I was smart - wore gloves!). Like you mentioned, though, if you get them familiar with it when they're young and they realize that it's not really going to hurt them, it's not much of a big deal anymore.

i used to give my late cat baths, but i have had her since she was 6 weeks old. so she is used to it and trusts me as her mother. she just sits there and doesnt do anything. but i used to give her weekly baths because she used to get fleas from my late shihtzus. my recently adopted cat i have now is 8, and i dont think i will give him a bath. although he trusts me by now and knows me because he has been with me for 5 months already. he is used to me. but i am hoping he wont need a bath since i am keeping him indoors. and he bathes himself all the time anyway.

contrary to popular oppinion, cats dont hate the water. all the cats ive had (and there have ben MANY) all of them loved having baths and even swimming with me. the only time i had a problem was when they hd fleas.. and it wasnt the water that bothered them.. but the fleas crawling on them trying to escape the water lol added tip for any people afraid to bath their cat.. or bath them and face the consequence of having their flesh tore off to the bone.. tape their paws with medical tape. if they DO start to flip out.. they cant hurt you, they can only bat at you with their mittoned paws, and youll have better control to help them to be calm and comfortable in the water with you. more often than not, the reason a cat doesnt like the water is because theyve had a bad experience in it.. show them differently, and theyll be fine

I probably had the most traumatic experience bathing my cat. Though the scars may not be too evident anymore, am scared to bathe my cat and I just let my aunt do it. hehe.

I've had cats through the years but didn't routinely bathe any of them. The only time I've given any of them a bath is if they get into something really messy that they can't, or shouldn't, lick off themselves. They are usually very clean animals, bathing several times a day. They are very susceptible to chills when wet, so I recommend wrapping them in a warm dry towel after the bath. I've had some dandy scratches from doing something to a cat it doesn't want done, so I'm not likely to take the task lightly. The vet recommends holding them by the scruff of the neck. Well, that's not easy when the cat is wet and thrashing about. In most cases grooming a cat with a pet brush is all that may be needed to distribute their skin's oils and dislodge loose hair. Some cats enjoy that. Some don't. In any event, I'm glad you didn't end up bandaged and bleeding.

I've never bathed any of my cats. They seem to be be doing just fine on their own. I can imagine the reactions of some of my cats though from just standing there, giving me this "why are you doing this to me?" look to "I'm getting out of here NOW, and I'm going to make it hurt as much as I possibly can!". I have heard, though that if you bathe them regularly, they stop bathing themselves and you have to bathe them all the time.

you got it right. and you are very very lucky, because most ppl would have a very hard time and get badly scratched. this cat of yours had routine bathes starting when she was very very young. the first time you give even the kittens a bath they scream. its really good for cats to get a bath. it gets rid of allergic dander and fleas. she is shedding a lot because it is shedding season right now, and maybe she wasn't brushed for a while.

That just goes to show that if you teach them young enough they'll pretty much accept anything. If you let pets get too old before trying to do stuff like that I'm sure it will be impossible to get them used to it. Luckily I've never had to bathe any of our cats. One did come in with a lot of green paint on it's head because he'd been trying to go under the neighbours fence again. The neighbour had just put a fresh coat of paint on it. But he just "washed" that off himself. Okay it took a coupla weeks but he got it off himself. Your story was great and reminded me of this incident. Thanks.

Wow i am impressed. I am the proud owner of three cats all of whom would no doubt rip me to shreads if i even showed them a bath of water let alone put them into it. My kitten has had an interest in watching the loo flush, and sat on the edge of the bath whilst i was in the shower but thats as far as he went with the water interest. I cant say the same for mud and wet dirt though, hes straight into that, i wish i could bathe him on those occasions. anyone got any ideas on how you wash a grubby kitten without getting severe bloodloss?

im the lazy type. i have a cat, which i didnt bring up from young. it used to be a stray cat that steal from the back kitchen. Anyway i tamed it and it lives with us now. No one touches it, but it stays around and it really makes home a better place. we feed it on time and let it eat the rats going around the house. and about the bath?? im thinking if i shud give one after reading your story. cuz my cat is as black as filth. (its actually a white cat)