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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU not to shower my cat?

108 replies

Eltonjohnssyrup · 14/02/2018 09:50

Met with friend and FOF yesterday. Conversation turned to pets. Both have bog standard short haired domestic cats.

Both of them said that every couple of months they shower their cats. Someone holds it and they spray it with the shower. They are both adamant that this is perfectly normal and cats will tolerate it.

I've always been under the impression that cats are entirely self cleaning and this is not necessary and possibly a bit cruel. They insist not to do it is manky.

AIBU or are they? (I have tried very hard not to make any Mrs Slocombe type jokes).

OP posts:

LadySainsburySeal · 14/02/2018 09:53

Cats are self cleaning.

FluffyWuffy100 · 14/02/2018 09:53

Not normal unless they have got poo or something stuck to them!

dizzy174 · 14/02/2018 09:54

my cat is self cleaning too, just wish my oven was as well

Welshmaenad · 14/02/2018 09:55

I bathe my minuscule longhair when she gets mucky. I make a little bubble bath in the bidet.

fantasmasgoria1 · 14/02/2018 09:55

I only used to shower one of my cats. After a few months he used to develop this weird smell so I used to shower him.

IAmNotAWitch · 14/02/2018 09:55

It would be a bloodbath if I tried that with my cat. By bloodbath I mean the bathtub would be filled with my blood...

mumzuki · 14/02/2018 09:56

YANBE. They are loopy.

TabbyMumz · 14/02/2018 09:56

Absolutely ridiculous, cats are self cleaning. Very surprised their cat tolerates it.

ClareB83 · 14/02/2018 09:56

You don't need to shower most cats.

We had to shower one cat to apply a medicinal shampoo for a skin condition she had.

Otherwise leave them to it.

user1471596238 · 14/02/2018 09:56

It's certainly not manky not to clean a cat. Unless there are exceptional circumstances as alluded to by fluffywuffy then they can sort themselves out.

BigDamnHero · 14/02/2018 09:57

I have never showered our cats. My parents never showered the cats we had when I was a child. I have never heard of people showering cats unless they get something toxic spilled on them etc.

Very odd!

Our stinky dogs are an entirely different matter, though!

Oliversmumsarmy · 14/02/2018 09:57

I have had cats all my life and with the exception of one who got himself caked in mud(no idea how, he went missing for a few days) I have never washed a cat.

FiveShelties · 14/02/2018 09:58

I sill have the scars up my arm from trying to shower my cat - never again.

Ebba84 · 14/02/2018 09:58

cats are completely self cleaning as they groom themselves a lot. I think the only cats that might need some help would be specially bred long hair cats, but even then a daily brush should take care of that.

On a different note, I'm always curious when I hear people washing or showering their cat or when I see those cats in water videos. if I would even try to get my cat anywhere near the shower or bath I'm pretty sure i wouldn't have any skin left on my arms

AnoiaUnstickMyDrawers · 14/02/2018 09:59

I've only ever done this once when my ridiculous cat came home covered in badger poo

TimeIhadaNameChange · 14/02/2018 10:00

I value my limbs too much to do that!

The only time I showered my cat was when she got tangled up in fly paper (my own fault - there were loads of fruit flies along the bedroom window so I unrolled a fly paper thing and shut the bedroom door overnight. When I woke to her miaowing in the morning I'd forgotten all about this so let her in, only for her to get tangled up in it all!). I looked up online how to get the gunk off and it said to smother the fur in olive oil, then baby shampoo, then shower. It worked, and she just about tolerated it (only got one tiny miaow in protest). But there is no way I'd give her another unless it was just as vital, as she's a lot bigger now and more likely to object with teeth and claws!

SweetMoon · 14/02/2018 10:00

I have the self cleaning kind Have never heard of anyone normal showering a cat

Hoppinggreen · 14/02/2018 10:00

I have had cats for almost 40 years and have bathed/showered a cat precisely once when my long haired act came home from a cattery caked in shit

LuluJakey1 · 14/02/2018 10:01

No way either of our two would be showered. It would result in torn flesh - mine.

They both always smell lovely.

MargaretCavendish · 14/02/2018 10:02

I was completely shocked when we got our first cat and DH told me we didn't have to wash them (I'd grown up with dogs) - but no, of course you don't need to shower a cat! Well, normally. I do know someone with a ridiculous white Persian that needs to be washed sometimes because the inbred thing is so stupid that it poos on its tail and can't get it out of its super-long fur...

ronniebarkersauntie · 14/02/2018 10:03

My aunt had a cat with a skin condition which necessitated being washed with some special prescribed medication. It used to willingly stand in the bath and put its little face into the shower spray and appear to relish the warm water, just like a human would. I didn’t believe it until I saw it.

ShimmeringBollox · 14/02/2018 10:03

I have bathed my cat twice, once when she came home covered in. Some sort of toxic smelling paint.
The other time was out of sheer desperation when she was infested with super fleas and nothing seemed to touch them.
I used a flea shampoo which made her smell lovely and her fur was beautifully shiny. I wouldn’t dare do it unless I had to though.

Original poster

Eltonjohnssyrup · 14/02/2018 10:03

Ha! I knew I was right. She showed me a pic of her cat after a shower. It was just a really angry little face poked out of the towel it was wrapped in.

OP posts:

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 14/02/2018 10:05

Good god, no way would I ever shower either of my cats, the results
for me would be cat-astrophic

Your friend and FOF are quite clearly bonkers and are taking the mad cat lady stereo typing a tad too far :)

Sarahjconnor · 14/02/2018 10:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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