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.

DUSTIN - I did think so! She's a sweet old thing and trusts me implicitly - follows me around the house - just lies on the kitchen floor when I'm ironing, etc. So I'd hate to upset her.

I had to bathe my cat after he got in a fight with another cat. Apparently he had opened his "anal glands" (the vet's analysis) in shock and he stank to high heaven. I had to lock the two of us in the bathroom and don a pair of marigolds and set to work. By the end of it I was covered in scratches, the bathroom was 3 inches deep in water and the cat didn't speak to me for 2 weeks. Never again!

Yes bathing should not be done on a regular basis. If they have got something horrible on their coats then bathing is the only way to remove it otherwise they will clean it off themselves and ingest it. Some cats have to be bathed due to skin problems such as ringworm. You are right about some shampoos being toxic so it is best to buy a 'cat friendly' one.

I had to bath our cat twice, once for getting covered in oil from under a car and I was worried he'd lick it off and poison himself (washed affected area with diluted washing up liquid and a flannel) and another time when he had a bad tummy and paddled in his diarrhea so it looked like he was wearing yellow boots

I'm afraid that time he got unceremoniously dunked in a shallow warm bath, paws swished around and given a quick scrub in the mildest soap we had. He looked bemused and made a few feeble attempts to get out but he tolerated it really well. I suppose he must have been dreading having to lick that off his paws, poor little sod.

When we used to have older less tolerant cats we used to use babywipes/damp flannels as the first port of call, and if they really really needed a bath and the wipes weren't cutting it, we used to wrap them in a towel and wash segments of them while someone stroked their head and reassured them at the other end. It's never usually easy though, they usually turn into a whirlwind of claws!

I had a cat that I had to bath fairly often as she had bowel problems and was long-coated so tended to pong a bit. She was very good and would just sit and cry but never tried to scratch or bite. She had a forgiving nature and never held it against me either. I just used Johnsons baby shampoo as even with her various allergies she was ok with that. I would never ever have attempted to bath the other cat that we had at the time, she would have ripped me to shreds without a doubt!

I've now got another long-haired cat but I don't think he will get a bath unless in desperate circumstances. The vet has already described him several times as 'feisty' which is a polite way of saying 'vicious brute' .

Oh and not all cats hate water. My friend had one that used to sit on the edge of the bath and then after she got out he would get in for a bit of a swim!

my cat loves water

seiousley though, i started bathing mine when they where young to get them used to it, they hate it and i get scratched, but i manage, although i don't do the older evil one, she'd kill me!