Bathing a cat??

[Bigmumma09]

Hello,

Ive posted another thread about my cat having a bladder infection etc.. and thanks for your advice...but i need more

He stinks!! he cant help it but he does, and i was thinking about bathing him, ill end up with no skin left i know but i think he`ll appreciate it in the end. I dont want to stress him out to much as apparantly this could be the cause of the infection i dont know how hes the most chilled out cat i know!

Is this a good idea or am i nuts?

I've bathed my boy a couple of times when he's had runny tummy. I found the best method has been to fill up the tub with warm water. He was less distressed at swimming around, than being dunked in a sink repeatedly.

If he's had a bladder infection, i would possibly wait until it's cleared, but maybe bella et al can recommend yay or nay.

Great, i might try the sponging first to see if that helps, Like differentid says maybe ill wait till his infection is clear before giving him swimming lessons

yep!!!! great idea especially if he is leaking a little due to his bladder problems. im a vet nurse and we wash our hospital patients daily in this situation.

best to do him under a showerhead in your bath or if you have one of those fancy taps in the kitchen. alternatively you could 1/4 fill the sink with warm water and stand him in it - although extracting the cat from your arm and actually getting him into the water can be tricky!!

you can wash him with baby shampoo as a one off but its not ideal for his skin so if he likes it then invest in a shampoo for cats.

once done give him a real through dry and if he is shorthaired you can apply a little vasaline to his bits and the backs of his hind legs to stop the urine scalding him.

goodluck.x

Ah thank you so much!!

I was worried about the urine and his skin, brilliant. Im going to try just with a little baby shampoo, and see how he goes.

Wish me luck

How did it go, Bigmumma? I hope that you and the cat survived and are OK!

Hello!! Ive just done it.

Im here alive and well, no scratches either!!!

He wasnt to bad actually, just washed the back end very quickly, and he even purred after when i was drying him.

Smelling like a baby!!

I decided to do it tonight as hes much better today and he went out twice too first time in about 7 days, im one very happy moggy mummy!!

glad to hear you survived and it sounds like he appreciated it!

hope he is back to full health very soon.x

I've just remembered I bathed one of our cats once - a boy cat too, as it happens. For some reason he got very whiffy round his back end, so I dunked him in the sink and gave him a quick shampoo with Fairy Liquid.

He didn't appreciate it at all - but he kept himself clean after that!

i am overseas and we have some kurdish staff and they bath thier cat every week.

in the fountain.........

he really seems not to mind. its a whole family affair and he really likes getting dried afterwards.

i asked was he a special breed to like water or something and apparently its all about bathing them in water from kittens.

either way, its a fun thing to watch on friday afternoons!

when I was forced to bathe mine because he had had terrible diarrhoea all over himself I, erm, put him in a big cat cage and put it in the bath and trained the shower on him.

It worked very well.

Although he ignored me for the next 2 years!

Ohhh poor you and poor cat, Heqet!!

oh he was fine, not panicked at all, just gave me The Look, (if you've got cats you'll understand ) and then refused to so much as look at me after that!

Mind you, this was the cat who would shit on my pillow if I went away overnight, so I should have known, really.

I have been on the receiving end of the Look too, Heqet.

Dogs have masters, cats have staff.

haha Heqet!! My mates cat used to do that, anytime she stayed away overnight she go upstairs and crap all over her bed!

Priscilla (my cat) always gives me the stare, shes miserable!!