AIBU to consider giving my cat a bath?

[PatheticTrumpet]

Tbh we never have - she's an old girl now of around 12.

It just occurred to me that people routinely bath their dogs and should this be something we should do with our cat? She's not minging at all, but ....

^Yeah, I don't know why people bother with the tablets, when you can just get the back-of-the-neck flea and worm treatment? My cat is an expert at eating the cheese from around a tablet.

Brilliant! We just gave ours worm pills and had an episode exactly like that. Dh is still nursing the scratches now.

Had to bathe a very pale coloured kitten once when he'd gone to hide up the chimney and was pulled out coal (for obvious reasons) black. It took four people at the kitchen sink - one on each leg - and the horror of the memory lives with me still.

Don't do it unless you really really need to.

Grooming, however, is excellent. They grow to like it very much indeed and it helps to minimise furballs.

AKMD

Please don't get a furminator.
I have used it twice on my Ragdoll. Each time his fur has grown back in matted. Ended up cutting his fur with a pair of scissors and him having bald spots.
Never again. Will stick to a comb in future.

I remember having to bathe one of my cats once when, while we were decorating, she jumped straight into the bucket of wallpaper paste.

I would never voluntarily bathe a cat again

DD1 used to 'bath' our cat when she was little and the cat loved it. I think it's rare for a cat to like baths though.

My cat jumps in the bath as long as its not too deep. Supposedly it's common in some breeds - he's Turkish Angora. He also switched on the tap the other day and flooded the kitchen. He has a thing for water clearly...

We shower our cats and have done since they were kittens - one is meant to be a water loving breed although she disagrees :o and the other needs to be washed as he is prescribed shampoo for a skin condition by the vet. They are used to it though and never scratch or bite.

I'd say - if you've never washed her before and the cat doesn't look like she's struggling to clean herself, and isn't smelly, no need to bother.

bettyanddon

Turkish Van cats are supposed to swim. Maybe he's got some of that strain in him?

I had to bath my old cat when she got covered in oil. In the end I was wearing odd oven gloves in an attempt not to get scratched and she even managed to go through those. She was a farm cat though, with the 'cattitude' to match.

I have a very long-haired cat now and if he has a bad tummy he needs bathing around his back end. Last time he jumped out of the bath, onto my shoulder and ran down by back. I'm still scarred.

I'm in the never bath unless you have to camp. My other cat does walk around the edge of the bath when I'm in there - she's only fallen in once, and that was more unpleasant for me than her!

My cat LOVES to be brushed/combed. He gets this look of pure ecstasy on his face every time. I think it must scratch all the little itches that he can't reach.

On his very first solo trip outside at six months old my kitten came up against The Big Nasty Cat from across the road. He er.. messed himself and came in covered in liquid cat poo. I threw a towel round him to contain it, held him under one arm while running a sink of water to bath him in.
He looked like a drowned rat afterwards.

Are you mad? You will be scratched to bits

my cat smells, not too bad but she does have a smell although i am used to it, she cleans herself regularly. NOWAY would i attempt to give her a wash, not unless i wanted to lose the use of my fingers :-) i have been tempted to wipe her bottom but she has so much hair (very long) that her poo gets stuck on a bit sometimes but she seems to lick it clean (gross) although once recently i had to cut off a clag' :D

When my Blossy got really old, she stopped being able to wash herself, and she had some continence issues, incl poo stuck to her fur. I used to bath her all the time. She liked it.

Well, perhaps not liked it but she quickly realised that it meant being clean and no poo stuck to her so she would sit there and let me.

Then she became a bit senile and I don't think she really knew what was going on

So try it, if your cat is unable to keep themselves clean, they will hate that maybe more than a bath!

I remember towelling Blossy down after her bath, she'd be there purring away.

i've just looked up on the internet (out of curiosity) local cat groomers (didn't know there was such a thing until i read this thread). REALLY expensive but handy to know for desperate times. my cat hates being fiddled with. i dread the monthly flee adding moment, takes me AGES, i have to do it in bits, she moves away when she gets wind of what i am doing. she isn't the sort of cat you could scoop up with a firm grip and just do it. her fur is so bloody long that i never really know how much has gone into her skin and how much is on her fur...

Good luck. You any good at stitching up major wounds? :o

If you own a full suit of armour, I'd say go for it.

I speak from experience.