American MNers, do you really bathe your cats?

[EmpressaurusOfWitchesBackFromTheDead]

I was looking for advice on how to care for Coco after she was spayed (all better now) and on US sites kept coming across recommendations not to bathe cats after operations.

Is bathing cats really a thing over there and do you have to wear gauntlets?

I have only ever heard of one person bathing their cat, and they were American... but the person telling me was also American, and just as incredulous as me.

i know, odd. The average house cat should be fully self cleaning.

My Persian gets a bath at the groomer. She doesn't need it. But the groomer is adamant that it's essential. She doesn't mind the bath. And I suspect quite likes it. Though her face says otherwise. Id rather she had a good comb out, but cat groomers are tricky to find!

Ps. I'm not American!

I used to bathe my two Persian cats, not very often probably. I'm from the uk. It helps to maintain the coat and prevent tangles as they need regular brushing.

It would be carnage

We only had one cat (out of our 6) who needed a bath on a couple of occasions. He had a malformed tongue so couldn't groom himself properly. Honestly it was a nightmare! More water on us and every square inch of the bathroom than on the cat! 😂Under no circumstances would I wash our current moggie!

I think it very much depends on the breed and environment. From what I understand, hairless breeds like Sphynx do need bathing around once a week for health reasons. As expected cats who go out more are more likely to pick up something on their coats that they can't groom off easily.

But as US cats tend to be mostly indoor cats, I can't see why they would bathe them much?

I've got an elderly cat that I bath on a semi-regular basis, because she just can't get to everywhere anymore. And a younger male cat who will roll around in anything but whose cleaning regime is two slicks on one flank job done - so over the summer he tends to get a couple.

It's s not something anyone looks forward to, it only ever gets done when the stench cannot be ignored.

I never did, unless they had fleas and it was a medicated shampoo. I don't think it's the norm to bathe cats in the US...

I wondered this too after seeing some posts on SM that seemed to imply it was “normal” to bathe cats.

in the US declawing cats is relatively normal as well, so that probably makes bathing easier 😠