Has anyone tried to bathe a cat?

I wouldn't do my cat now, she would claw my eyes out for sure. But I would have done it from a kitten.

No tips I afraid, but if you think it is a real problem, maybe you could find one of those dog glooming places and see if they do cats as well.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! That is horrid, poor ***! ?

? Fark me that photo made me chuckle!

I've never bathed a cat, but I used to bath my Guinea Pigs.

Sorry I'm of no help but I also wanted to add when I first read your post I thought your cat had been wearing a white skirt ?

We had to give our cat (also a british blue funny enough) a shower in the bath a few years ago as he managed to fall into my mum's pond. He came out covered in pond weed and god knows what and stank to high heaven!

After chasing him through mum's house and fishing him out from under our bed we plonked him in the bath and hosed him down with luke warm water. He didn't like it much and shrank to about half his usual size with having wet fur (it was soooo sweet). Best method was Mr Dooby hanging on to him to stop him escaping from the bath and me hosing him down.

Then we dried him off as much as possible with a towel and kept him in for the rest of the evening. He spent all night washing himself after trying to get his fur back how he wanted it but it did seem to dry quite crinkley and he was not a happy cat! ☹️

Here's a piccie of my boy (sorry it's come out a bit huge)

Oh bless, he looks like he has been crimped! ?

She's a beautiful cat. I've given my stroppy tortoiseshell a bath when she had a massive flea problem. I used flea shampoo and just held her down by the scruff of the neck in shallow water and did it as quickly as I could. I didn't get any water on her face as that's what they hate the most. She didn't like it, and didn't come near me for the rest of the day but her fur was beautifully clean and soft.

I'd do it on a warm day as they can catch a chill really easily when they have wet fur. I tried to towel dry Chloe but funnily enough she wasn't keen on going near me after her bath.

I used to have to bathe my old cat regularly (another British Blue, funnily enough) as he was the expert at getting himself filthy. It's a 2 man job. You should both wear thick gloves and one person holds him in the bath in a few inches of warmish water while the other gently, but quickly cleans him with cat shampoo then rinse him thoroughly with clean warm water. A shower attachment is great for this.

Be very careful with what you wash him with as a cat's skin is very porous. We got our shampoo from the vet.

And you will get soaked. ?

I've bathed Mr Victor before. He's a Ragdoll, so long haired, and if he has an upset tummy it can make a right mess of his rear end! I always bathe him in the basin as it's smaller and a better height. He wiggles at first, but doesn't mind so much. That said, he's the most docile, pliable animal in the world. He lets me lay him on his back and play his legs like an accordian (I don't know which of us is stranger!).

I think Dooby has got the best suggestion of showering him rather than an actual bath. You may find that once his fur is all wet he might not move much but just to be on the safe side, I think you should rope in a helping hand so one can hold the cat and the other get the cat wet and rub the fur.

And I know exactly what you're talking about poo in their fur. Lucy is a Chinchilla Persian, and sometimes gets poo stuck in the fur. I've tried the baby wipes (Lucy cried too), I've tried damp cotton wool but to be honest, the best option we've found is for H to hold her, whilst I cut out the fur, as invariably it' ends up getting really stuck.and this gets the worst of it out as quickly as possible. Althought admitedly, this is easier with a long haired cat compared to a short haired.

Ah, gorgeous. I need to see a picture of Mr Victor. ?

Lucy is gorgeous! Awww!

I'm afraid that it would be impossible for me to bathe either of my 2 cats.their claws are like needles.

it was bad enough getting the big boy's tail wet wiped after he'd pooed all over it after a rather a vicious fight with another cat. he was not a happy chappy i can tell you.

also had to rub olive oil onto his pads the other day as he ran through my newly painted doorstep.

the other half had to hold him on that occasion...did the trick though.

I should add that I swaddle Mr Victor like a baby in the bathtowel afterwards, and have to cuddle him like this for an hour as he's so shocked!

WifeyLind - here he is!

Mr Victor is beeyootiful.....lovely photos aswell.

What a beauty, his eyes are stunning!

Flissy, Wifelind & Dooby your cats are so beautiful! ?

This is Blossom and I. She looks lovely, I don't ? She is 8 years old, but is the size of a 6 month old, she is so tiny.

That photo is hysterical, I think anyone trying to bathe a cat is very brave, I don;t think I'd have any skin left on my arms if I tried to bath my cat - it's bad enough I insult him by picking him and trying to cuddle him

I will be washing her with my boyfriend, won't even try to do it on my own! I think we will use the shower too, I will pop into the vets to get some shampoo.

I'll try to do it this weekend - and do a report ?

Given we can't even get a pill into our cat (last attempt resulted in a backward somersalt over vet's head and a scratched vet assistant), I think it's safe to say that bathing isn't going to be attempted in this house.

Our cat gets a grubby bottom too though - if I'm very gentle and scruff her she'll let me baby wipe it but we have to be careful as she has a tendency to cycle between being dirty and over-grooming the area so it gets sore.

Flissy, that 1st photo of your cat is fab!

I wouldn't like to attempt to wash mine (also a british blue), I think he would scratch me to pieces

L
xx

Sparkly, she is sooo tiny and sweet!!! Awww!!!

I used to use a damp flannel on my boy cat, rather than actully try to bathe hime, I just used to run it over his fur as if I was stroking him. Seemed to work better than trying to dunk him!

Sparkley, I honestly thought this was going to be the start of some sort of joke. If you can afford it I think you'd be better off getting a professional to do it for you. My boy will let me dry him with a towel (but not hold him, just while he's on the floor) if he's got soaked in the rain but I can't see a world in which he'd let me get wet.

Yup.

you can't quite see how good the bruises got in this photo.

we have one person holding the cat by the shoulders (usually the most bitten one) while the other one showers and shampoos. I always do the holding as Dr L lets go when he gets chewed and there is nothing worse than re-catching a shampooed cat to rinse it off.

another technique that the cattery used is to dunk the whole cat (except head in a bucket - claws are contained but you can't shampoo as well

You can buy big cat wipes from Pets at Home. I used to use these on my white cat as he had a habit of sitting under oily cars. I found them a lot better than trying to wash the cat.

It's bedlam here if one of our two need bathing. After a fight we had to clean Caspar's rear end and tail while he healed and the best way we found to do it was to wrap him in a towel to contain his legs and claws and one person hold him tight while the other cleaned with the shower.

If they are just a wee bit grubby and don't need shampooing you can soak them through the towel and rub - there's no way we could shampoo either of ours.

Aw flissy, your boy is gorgeous. He's just such a sweetie.

Hi Sparks!

Yes we have bathed both of ours twice (well actually showered). the first time was when they were little (it was easy!) second time.... not so much!!!

They had really dirty ears, so we would clean their ears and and they ended up with sideburns of black ear gunge all down their faces.

This is a not very happy Keema (as in Naan - Mr Stein named him)

And a not much happier Esther (i named her!!)

Dont they look cute though when they are soggy?

You can safely use Johnson's baby shampoo on cats/dogs. I've regularly used it on kittens I've hand reared with no ill effects. It's what we recommend at our vets practice if you haven't got any pet shampoo in. Good luck ?

We had to swarfega a cat once. She got herself covered in oil, and the vet recommended swarfega. So we sat her in a washing up bowl, and covered her in green goop. I have never seen a more miserable looking cat in my entire life. She was so sorry for herself she didn't even try and escape when we went to rinse it all off. She spent the next two days shuddering (after we dried her with a gentle hair-dryer and fluffy towels), so we took her back to the vet, who said she was fine, but was just being melodramatic ?