Kitten jumped in the bath!!!

[busyxbee]

I was taking a late night shower when suddenly my 10 week old kitten, jumped into the bath which was full of mint and tee tree shower gel!!! He panicked like mad and started running around the house like crazy I wrapped him up in a towel and he just bit and scratched me he wouldn't let us dry him he wanted to lick him self and be alone I'm really bothered about the tee tree shower gel as a heard it can harm them? What do I do!!!!!

He's a little off with us too after chasing him around trying to dry him!! Will he still trust us?

O k, first of all, take a breath.

Do you have a tumble dryer, stick a load of towels in to warm up, get the kitten and into the bathroom sink esp if the shower hose will reach, face cloth in the bottom to give something to grip and turn the shower on, you are aiming for water warmer than yo your body temperature as cats are slightly higher than ours but they chill very quickly. Kitten held standing on side of sink with feet on cloth, hold shower head close to the body and rinse the kitten until all trace of gel etc is gone. Wrap up in a towel to keep warm until you get the now heated towels from the dryer, dry the kittens well and keep warm, he will have lost his cat smell temp and needs to lick it back on him. lo

Tddl: rinse in hot water to get rid of any residue, keep very warm and give treats

I have 2 kittens now 18 weeks, one fell in the toilet around the same age as yours, so don't worry.

Apologies for typos, I was going as fast as possible

Hi OP - I don't expect you to read this until you've dealt with the situation. Frogs above gives very solid advice. Follow that and you'll be fine.

A similar thing happened to me, except I was soaking in a bath with eucalyptus essential oil (tiny beads of oil floating on the top). Inquisitive kitten teetering along the edge of the bath. Very cute until he fell in and all hell let loose. Discovered I have excellent reflexes though - He was scooped out in a nano second.

Husband gently washed him down and cuddled him dry and calm in a warm towel. He was absolutely fine. That was 13 years ago. He's still around, still a daddy's boy and none the worse for his traumatic experience.

@Namaste6 I’m imagining your dh drying him and saying “did the mean mommy try and drown you?” And the cat being all “yes that’s exactly what happened” 😼

All kittens fall in the bath, this is why you keep the bathroom door closed and run the cold tap with the hot tap when they are little. Also keep your toilet lid down.

There are basic safety rules with any baby animal, I suppose. You have to risk assess.

@busyxbee Hope that the kitten has recovered from the ordeal.

@BillywilliamV I hear you on that. In my case, I had literally just stood up to pull my clothes and kitten went plop in the toilet bowl.

Notanother yes, ours did exactly that too! Then scratched seven hells out of me when I tried to wash him and I spent a few days hoping I wasn't going to get infected cuts. He's still a little sod and he's 7 now.

We are very careful to put seat lids down. But it wouldn't have helped on that occasion!