Should You Bath Your Cat?

Although your cat doesn't realise it right now, after some tender loving care and a little shampoo, he will appreciate it.

Cats hate water, that much is easy to see as he lashes out at you with his claws when he gets anywhere near it. Why would someone want to bathe their cat, then?

Well, they are dirty and can become flea infested just like a dog, so they do need them. Sometimes, you’ll just have to do it. The key is to not bathe your cat more than once a month as you will damage his skin and his hair if you do so more than that. And, you can do it.

BATH YOUR CAT, AND COME AWAY SCRATCH FREE~! :))

You should know right off the bat that almost all cats hate baths, so be prepared. Here are some tips to make the experience easier:

• Cat baths are smoother when 2 people are bathing the cat. One holds the cat while the other bathes the cat. Bathing the cat should be done in the bathroom where you can close the door to prevent escapes. Noise (like rushing bath water) is always an issue for the cat so anything to keep the noise level down will help.
  
• Preparation is everything - Run the bath water BEFORE you put the cat
  in the bath and make sure the water is not too hot and not too cold. The height of the water should reach the cat's underbelly.
  
• A rubber bathmat placed in the tub will give the cat something to grip when it gets nervous and is a good idea.
  
• Use a cat shampoo recommended by your vet, groomer or other qualified pet professional.
  
• Do NOT wet the cat's head. Instead use a moist washcloth or towelette if the cat's face and head are dirty. GENTLY wet the cat from neck to bum using a cup or small pail with the bath water itself and start shampooing at the neck and move toward the bum. Then wash the legs.
  
• Meowing and yowling at this point are normal unless your cat is mute,
  in a coma, or practically dead. Just continue rubbing in the suds gently. Don't use too much shampoo.
  
• The rinsing is the most important part as shampoo left on a cat's skin will make your cat scratch itself thereby irritating its skin. Start draining the bath water. While it is draining, start rinsing the cat's fur with the remaining bath water using cup or small pail. This gets the 'big suds' off. Use or buy a cheap shower attachment for this next part. With warm water from the shower attachment, rinse and rub the fur well from neck to bum. Once you think it's clean do it again quickly making sure there is no shampoo residue.
  
• While in the tub put a towel all around kitty and start gently rubbing
  all around its body. It must be a gentle rub or pat down because especially in a longhaired cat, you don't want the rubbing to create new knots. Remove kitty from the tub and use another towel to further absorb water from the fur.
  
• If you have a hair dryer that does NOT make too much noise you can try rubbing the fur while blow drying. Make sure that if your cat is NOT completely dry that you put it in a WARM room so that it does not catch a chill and get sick. This CAN happen easily.

Note: It is 100% normal for the cat to start licking its fur immediately after you've finished all your hard work.

Below is a video by 'Animal Allies' showing how to bath a cat. Enjoy~! ;)