Anyone showered/bathed a cat?

[DrNortherner]

My cat came home last night covered in dog shit. She stank. Baby wipes would not do it so I ahd to shower her.

Cue screaching, miawing and scratching.

She now smells beutiful thanks to my Dove shower gel

She sulked all evening and now keeps giveing me evils!

Anyone else? Any tips for un-traumatic washing in case it happens again?

Thanks.

no tips. Cats loathe getting wet full stop!

I bathed my cat after she fell in a pot of yellow emulsion.

I still bear the scars.

Best tip? Don't.

I did have a cat who I showered without much fuss - but then he was rather mental anyway. He used to sit in the sink over the plughole if I turned th taps on and not get out unless it got too hot.

He wasn't that keen on the hairdryer tho!

thought so.

She looked liek a drowned rat afterwards. I was about to get my hair dryer out but she legged it. She has only recently returned.

She's all lovely and fluffy today though

We used to put our cat in a pillow case with it's head poking out of a small hole in the closed end and wash through the pillowcase.....maybe not as effective, but infinitely safer for the perpetrators!

A pillow case?

would the cat actually get clean?

We spent 6 months in a mobile home at the end of the garden when extension was being done. cat waltzed in one morning and jumped on bed - she STANK, really musky foxy skunky smell. Something had sprayed her, dh reckons a stoat or something.

I bathed her in an old washing up bowl with some Pantenne. She hated it but she is so obliging she just let me get on with it, just miaowed pitifully. I think she realised she stank and was secretly very grateful. She groomed herself for the rest of the morning and was absolutely fine.

I doubt that there is an untraumatic way of bathing a cat.
Unless it's one of those turkish water cats.

surprisingly yes Dr Northener as all the dirty soapy water could run out the open end......

Oh I see!! Might use that next time - to protect me!

We bathed a cat (not much of a fighter, admittedly), in the days before those anti-flea injections. Did her with puppy shampoo in a shallow bath.

When the fighting cat got shat on however, we left her to clean herself .

You could try placing the cat in a wire cat carrier and showering the cat through that. When you need to use shampoo open top of cage slightly and rub in shampoo, close top of cage again and rinse off cat. We use this technique at work and does stop us getting scratched to pieces!!

Our cat jumped in the (full) bath once. I've never seen a creature move so fast. straight out, across the hall, straight into our bed.

Cheers .

She was dry amazingly quickly iirc. Mostly via transference of water to the duvet but she also seemed to be able to groom herself dry in some way. She's almost done the same thing twice since and just caught herself in time. Stoopid.

Aaaah, good idea!! I gues you work at a vets?

Cats have very sensitive skins and are particularly sensitive to things that would surprise you - eg Lily pollen and Dog flea drops can kill cats in minutes.

I wouldn't use shampoo on a cat without getting advice from a vet.

Still - hopefully looks as though yours has survived the experience!

Yes, I'm a VN and have the pleasure of bathing cats on a regular basis.

DUSTIN - what sort of shampoo do you use?

We use a veterinary shampoo called Episoothe but it depends if they need bathing due to a skin problem.

My cat would NEVER allow this. Amazed you managed it tbh

She's not 1 year old yet so quite small still. I did have 2 male cats and they would never have allowed it.

Just read on tinternet taht a shallow bath is best, with 1 person holding and 1 person washing. It says not to put water on their heads/faces.

Bless her, I held her under the shower head her face got wet.

Hope I ahven't scarred her for life?

Cats are very forgiving. Much more so than people.

DUSTIN - thanks. I have an elderly cat whose coat just looks a bit uncared for sometimes - though I do comb her to make sure it doesn't get tangled. I wondered about bathing her, but she might find it too traumatic - she's 16 and never been bathed before.

Well I gave her tuna for lunch as a treat so she has a full belly and she is curles up on ds's bed fast asleep.

Fortyplus- It probably would be traumatic at that age!

My old vet told me you shouldn't bathe cats if you can possibly avoid it as a. you'll be stripping oils from their coat and b. lots of chemicals are poisonous to cats. So interesting to hear another view here. Think if a fox had sprayed mine I'd have put her in the bath, though!