AIBU not to shower my cat?

[Eltonjohnssyrup]

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).

I have my cat for almost four years (tabby white) and she has NEVER had a shower. No plans for one either.

We bath our old cat every few months and have done so for the last year or so. He doesn't object as much as you'd think! He doesn't exactly like it, but doesn't fight back either.

He's never been very good at the self-cleaning thing. Now he's officially ancient (22 this month), he has pretty bad dementia and is rather wobbly, so he tends to fall over when he tries to wash himself!

Nope. My late cat used to like to parade up and down the edge of the bath while I was in it, but that's as near as mine get to a wash.

I've had cats all my life, currently have three and have never felt the need to shower them

They would remove all my skin if I tried

I used to have a beautiful long haired silver/grey tabby. A gorgeous specimen of puss-hood and placid as to go with it. Twice the silly bugger fell in the pond trying to catch fish so had to have a bath (stinky pond water and weed 🤢🤢🤢). Otherwise, I have never intentionally washed a cat. They clean themselves duh!

Although cat did not actually object to being bathed in a bowl with baby shampoo.

What is it with cats and motor oil? We also had a cat who came home covered in it and needed washing and swarfega-ing.

We don't shower them but we do have one who likes to be watered. It is probably the main time we use the watering can. She likes to run underneath it and try to catch the water. She gets totally drenched. We only do it in the summer and she either sunbathes or we towel her down which she also enjoys. She is daft though!

We used to bath our old rescue cats, but only because they were covered in fleas and stunk to high heaven! We did it until the fleas had gone and the cats had grown big enough to warrant chain mail in order to do it.

Having said that, one of our younger cats is quite obsessed with water and will sit on the side of the bath if I am in it, dibbling her paw in the bathwater. I'm sure she wouldn't mind a shower.