# Bathing a cat? No really I'm serious



## ebenjamin85 (Apr 13, 2008)

I bathed my mother's cat (maine ****) once in the sink for her. He was fine, very skittish but we all survived. I was very wet (he kept trying to jump on and cling to me) as was the bathroom. I bet you can take him to the vet for a bath if you're not comfortable with it. Good luck!


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## Claire's Friend (Feb 26, 2007)

I bathe cats all the time. Start slow with only a small amount of water on the bottom and pour soapy water from as pitcher over them . Make sure the water is nice and warm. I would have a 2nd person around the first time you try to help. Make sure they get good and dry, but do NOT use a blow dryer on them. (That was the only time I ever got bit)


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

Some cats do like water, ours didn't! We tried to bath our 15 pound cat once, did not turn out so well - never tried it again. He climbed out of the sink as soon as his feet touched the water, ran right up my husband's chest, sunk his claws into hubby's neck and went straight over his shoulder, leaving tracks down his back. I am pretty sure kitty had his paws all licked dry long before the bleeding stopped.
Best advice I can give, if he really needs a bath, take him to a vet, let them sedate him a little, probably less stressful for kitty, and have at it.


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## Claire's Friend (Feb 26, 2007)

It's really not that hard. I have done hundreds of Humane Society cats and kittens. The secret is having the water warm enough, cat's body temp run higher than ours, so luke warm feels cold to them. Just go slowly. Rescue Remedy in some yummy canned food about 20 minutes before the bath might help.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

I've never tried to bath our cat, knowing his personality, I'm not even going to try!


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## maggiesmommy (Feb 23, 2010)

I sometimes watch that Martha Stewart Pet show (with Marc Maronne)...he says, to properly bathe a cat, you need 3 buckets and a soft towel...bucket 1 and 3 are to be filled with warm clean water...bucket 2 is to have soapy warm water...dunk the cat in bucket 1 (leave his head out, obviously) then dunk him in the soapy water and rub him to suds him up...then dunk him in bucket 3 until he is rinsed properly...then squeeze the excess water off of his body, tail and legs, then wrap in a towel...eesh..I'm glad I have a dog.


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## ZeppGold (Aug 9, 2009)

Don't ever get a hairless sphynx cat. We just watched a show on TV about them. They have to be bathed once a week. This one would scream when they bathed him. I'll take my cats with fur and not complain.


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## maggiesmommy (Feb 23, 2010)

ZeppGold said:


> Don't ever get a hairless sphynx cat. We just watched a show on TV about them. They have to be bathed once a week. This one would scream when they bathed him. I'll take my cats with fur and not complain.



And they have a psycho amount of energy...I was watching the same show, different episode where this couple had a Sphynx cat that used to throw itself against their aquariums for attention...


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## Paige&Lily (Nov 4, 2010)

ZeppGold said:


> Don't ever get a hairless sphynx cat. We just watched a show on TV about them. They have to be bathed once a week. This one would scream when they bathed him. I'll take my cats with fur and not complain.


Haha-I saw that on My Cat From Hell last night! Have you noticed how Sphinxes make up about 50% of the cats on that show? Considering they probably make up about .0001% of the general cat population, it's not exactly a ringing endorsement of the breed.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I've seen a type of "bag" they make to put cas in, you just dip the cat into the tub while they are in this mesh style bag, and it keeps them from being able to thrash about


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## Jamm (Mar 28, 2010)

When we tried to add another cat about 4 years ago we got a little fluff ball who was the messiest kitten ever! He would poop everywhere and pee and blah so he was always getting baths. by the time he was 6 months old he was so used to it lol. Jesse I don't think has ever had a bath though.. he's so super clean.. almost anal about it! haha


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## Jennifer1 (Mar 31, 2012)

I've had to give one of mine a bath because of allergies. There is no easy way to do it and you will get scratched if they have claws. What has helped (& lessened scratches) is to put a towel or something in the bottom of the tub/sink so their feet have something to touch that won't make them slip and slide the way the tub will. Go slow, use warm water. I put a towel over my back to give it a little extra protection from scratches


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## Arpeggio (Jun 24, 2012)

I need to give my kitty a bath... He's got some problems so he is very sensitive on his back and tail, and paws. He has one limp paw too.  Because of this sensitivity I'm only able to brush in those areas for a little tiny bit. So it's not able to get the good brushing it supposed to and he doesn't try to clean it so he has dandruff too.  I'm going to try a bath and see if it helps, Leroy likes water, he comes in the shower with me!


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## Dexter12 (Feb 10, 2012)

We have an older cat who's at least 10 years old named Bificus, and she's been putting on weight and not grooming herself. She's got long fur that's been matting all over, so we've been trying to brush her to get out the mats and help her out. I would never bathe her though; she's never been bathed before and the experience would be way too tramatic, and she would have no problems ripping you to shreds for trying.


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## Nyahsmommy (Jul 23, 2011)

I bathed all three of mine and it is doable but it is something I would not like to experience often. When the 2 cats were kittens we tried bathing them to get use to it and it didn't help. They both hate water and if they even so much as hear a running tap, they will take off and hide. My tuxedo, Anna, hates it.... when we bathe her we need to wear a coat or thick sweater... the first few times we bathed her the same thing as someone else here happened... she climed up bf's chest, over shoulder and down back. He was clawed bad. So I recommend two people bathing the cat. One to pin it down in the sink and the other washing. Make sure the water is warm and be quick. My third cat doesn't mind baths as she was a show cat and use to it I guess.

I usually only bath them is they made a mess.... had messy poo, got into something, etc. They don't need bathing to often. I attached a few pics... you can see how happy the look post bath


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## Claire's Friend (Feb 26, 2007)

Well, maybe I should start a business !!! lol I really like giving cats baths, and most of them don't have a problem with it. They always look and smell so good after. I would take these gross, filthy, flea ridden kittens and get them all cleaned up and within hours someone would be walking out the shelter with them saying "Aren't you the most beautiful perfect kitten in the whole world?"
Cats who were covered in fleas before their baths would sleep for hours after because they finally had some peace.


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## goldenbrowneyes (Nov 10, 2010)

I'm Lucky my cat loves her groomer. Depending on ther hair you can begin with a wet warm wash cloth and see how that goes, thats how I do my other cat and he accepts that.

Good Luck


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## Aislinn (Nov 13, 2010)

When I ran the foster care and hotline for our humane society I used to wear a winter vest when I had to bathe a new cat. As others have said, very warm water and work as fast as you can. Have a second person there to help if necessary. We would do it with one holding the cat and one doing the bathing. Luckily it was rare to need to bathe a cat.


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## Suni52 (Jan 18, 2012)

I'd make sure you start by clipping his nails.


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## Alliegator (Jul 30, 2012)

If you don't want to deal with bathing your cat the old fashioned way (I tried this with mine and she's left marks on my chest and shoulder trying to get up over my shoulder and away from me, she's declawed in front so that was just the back claws) you could look into getting bath wipes for cats. They look like baby wipes but they're specially made for bathing cats and are available in major pet stores. 

For heavy duty dirty kitties I would go the traditionally bath route since these wipes aren't going to be as effective if your cat is really dirty, but they're great for maintaining your cat after that. They even come in different scents.


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## BajaOklahoma (Sep 27, 2009)

My son rescued a Maine **** from a parking lot several years ago. She loves bath time, any time, any where.
Warm the bathroom, have a couple of towels. Some cats hate a sprayer, some hate the bucket. A towel on the bottom of the tub. Rinsing is critical.


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## MissLibby (Aug 6, 2011)

There is some good advice in an older thread: http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/other-pets/103429-how-bathe-cat.html

I have used the method of a small towel around the cats front legs as suggested in the the above thread and dunking the cat in the bucket (we actually used a large plastic bin). Not pleasant, but do-able, especially if you have 2 people - one to hold the cat while the other washes and rinses.


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