Bathing Cats

[Moli]

I have bathe kittens, and used baby shampoo on them, very watered down though...Never done an adult cat, not that brave!

[Midnight]

Originally Posted by kado

I wouldnt reccomend anything with Tea tree in. I am sure that its poisonius for cats. I had to bath lucky when we first got him he was realy dirty. We got one from Pets at home Orange/red in colour its especialy made for kittens. Tried bathing him about 5 wks ago to help get some of his fleas off until i could get proper stuff. I would never bath him again he now hates it. OH got stratched to bits i was the sensible one and stood well back

Ha ha ha,

but poor oh.

[yola]

I use an organic shampoo/body wash which I use on the boys . . . Halos and Horns it's called. Has no tea tree in which as Jane rightly says is very toxic for cats. As long as it's diluted you should be able to use most products as long as they are not too perfumed and personally I would try to use ones that contain as few chemical additives as possible.

[random]

Oh haha I remember bathing Tabs, I was shredded to smithereens! Only one of my others I have ever bathe was Princess quite frequently when she was younger she used to get in a mess in the litter tray before she successfully learnt how to squat with her wee 'peg leg' as wee call it, she was always messy and even bathing from a kitten, she always swore and hated me for a wee while. But she was notably easier than Tabs was.

And I always washed her in a tiny bit of baby shampoo diluted in a jug to make soapy water and did her in the bathroom sink.

[jan]

I well remember bathing TWO cats together before flying out to work one morning when they came in with engine oil on them! I bathed Max many years ago too - he has very long fluffy hair and my son helped me, lol it was the funniest thing, Max kept jumping out the bath and soaking us and the bathroom. Finally got whatever was in his fur soaped out and opened the door and let him streak upstairs, picture this - one black very irate cat, very fluffy dry head and neck, completely dry HUGE fluffy tail, but the bits inbetween completely flattened and he looked so weird! My other cat sat at the top of the stairs as Max charged up and he reared up in horror at the sight confronting him and fled under the bed! Still makes me chuckle - but do it again, no thanks! Jan x

[dandysmom]

ROTFl, Jan, I can just picture that, soooo funny!

[Gumby Cat]

Originally Posted by jan

I well remember bathing TWO cats together before flying out to work one morning when they came in with engine oil on them! I bathed Max many years ago too - he has very long fluffy hair and my son helped me, lol it was the funniest thing, Max kept jumping out the bath and soaking us and the bathroom. Finally got whatever was in his fur soaped out and opened the door and let him streak upstairs, picture this - one black very irate cat, very fluffy dry head and neck, completely dry HUGE fluffy tail, but the bits inbetween completely flattened and he looked so weird! My other cat sat at the top of the stairs as Max charged up and he reared up in horror at the sight confronting him and fled under the bed! Still makes me chuckle - but do it again, no thanks! Jan x

Can just imagine it, Jan!

As a teenager I fell for a ginger kitten in a petshop and bought him (I know, not wise!) He turned out to be riddled with fleas so my mother popped him in the sink with warm water and a few drops of Savlon. He loved it - must have been such a relief as all the fleas gave up the ghost and floated away! He was rinsed well and towelled dry, with no ill effects. I don't think I'd care to try it with an adult cat though, certainly not Solomon!

[Catkin]

We have bathed our cats quite a few times for several reasons e.g long haired cat getting loads of poo stuck to her back end etc.

My very first bit of advice is make sure you have two people as it would be far more difficult or even impossible by yourself. You preferably need two adults or one adult and an older child.

As for shampoo there are lots of pet shampoo's around, ones for kittens, one for adults and much more. Pets at home do some great ones and so do Johnsons. We have one from them that is called Johnsons Puppy & Kitten Shampoo and it works perfectly and is nice and gentle. We have also used it on adult cats with no problems.

You can also get non rinse shampoo, not ever used it though however it could be good for cats that hate water so much you couldn't hold them down to wash them. You can probably find this in some pets stores and also if you search ebay for example you'll come up with alot also.

If you need any more advice give me a yell as we have done it so many times. Once your used to it it gets even easier and it can be great for there coats. E.g when we did our NFC it helped with her coat condition so much I think we'll do it every few months .

[orlando]

The best way to bath cats; firstly never use anything other than a proper cat shampoo,mainly because they have a low level of soap in their makeup. Always dilute the shampoo,never put neat shampoo on the coat,ratio; 1 part shampoo/5 parts water. The best way to work is to have plastic boxes(stacking variety) filled with tepid water (3) first you immerse cat and thoroughly soak,having clipped cats nails before bathing,2nd box has diluted shampoo mixed into water,immerse cat in this,then go to 3rd box and immerse and rinse through,make sure you completely rinse out all shampoo. If necessary replace water in 1st box and rinse cat again. Make sure you have a good supply of large warm towels and wrap cat in one and rub dry. Then if your cat will tolerate it,use a hand dryer and pin brush to brush dry. Some cats really do enjoy this and then obviously there are those who hate it Good luck!!

[Phoenix]

I've only bathed Dylan once when he had his wound last time (cat fight wound) on the vets advice. Dylan was very good and let us do it no scratching or biting or anything