- Introducing a new pet to other pets so it smells like it belongs in your home by using your other pet's shampoo.
- Just because a cat cleans itself with its pretty-pink tongue, does not mean their fur is clean. Bathing removes house dust, outside dirt, fleas and their excrement/eggs.
- Cats who sit under cars who have had oil dripped on their fur.
- Aging pets or Persians - it is often essential for cleaning their back ends from "accidents".
Physical and Psychological Tips Fur a Paws-itive Experience!
-Trim cat's claws prior to a bath. (Once a month, we trim our cats front claws, especially their due claws.)
- Understand that it is a rare cat that enjoys a bath! Their instinct is to fly out of the sink, dripping wet, and run through your home. The younger and more often you bathe a cat, the more accustomed it becomes.
- Wear something that can be soaked by a bath-hating cat! Or strip down to your ‘barely' essentials. Clear objects from counter tops/window ledges protecting them from gyrating cats' waving paws, and place a towel on the floor to absorb flying water.
Cut the feet out of a pair of men's tub socks and slide them over your arms to protect them from engaged claws.
Because cats' body temperatures run a little higher than humans, they purr-fur warm, but not hot, water. They squirm more if the water's temperature is uncomfortable, and warm water relaxes them.
Cats feel vulnerable slipping on the bottom of a sink. Place a rag, wash cloth, or rubber mat on the bottom of the sink, and on the edge, for them to hang onto. Placing a plastic wash basin in the sink allows them to hang onto its edges and not your arm.
Always! Fill the rinse and wash sinks with water prior to showing it to a cat! Cats have remarkable memories, so it is best to fill the sinks out of their hearing range if you bathe them often.
Put 1 tsp. of pet shampoo in the bath water prior to placing the cat in the sink. This way the cleaning begins when the cat goes in. I place another teaspoon of shampoo into a plastic gallon container to pour over the cat.
We always introduce our cats to their bath "backwards", never facing what is about to unfold. There is less drama when we walk them with their backs to the water, and dip them into the warm water before they can react. Once they are wet, they are resigned to the chore at hand. Encourage your cat with a kind low voice keeping them calm. Tell them, "What a good boy/girl".
Keep water and shampoo out of the cat's eyes, nose and ears! If this should happen, immediately wipe their face dry.
Carefully pour the plastic jug of shampoo-water over them, keeping it off their faces. Consider having one person hold the cat, and another scrub them. It is easiest to wash cats in a two sink set up. After washing the cat, place them in the warm rinse water sink, then rinse with the sink nozzle.
This method speeds up clearing the shampoo off the pet. NEVER leave shampoo on a cat, always rinse over thoroughly. Remember, what is on their fur will soon be in their tummy, from licking themselves dry. A good warm water rinsing prevents tummy upsets.
Once, I lifted our tiny Whyspurr into her bath with one hand. I was still holding her, when someone asked a question. I looked up at them, then felt Whyspurr, still resting on my hand, swimming in the water. It was too deep for her! Adjust water levels to the cat's height!
Have four towels/microfiber cloths ready for drying your cat. Fur absorbs more water than you can fathom! Rubbing cats with a miracle micro-fiber cloth speeds up drying. Micro-fiber cloths absorb more water, faster, than towels. Placing a cat on the floor, on top of a cloth, and then rub them vigorously with two more cloths soon has them almost dry. Use the bottom cloth to dry their tummy.
I then craddle the cats in a dry cloth and walk them around the house to distract them while the cloth absorbs more water. Then we put the cats in a preheated bathroom to blow them dry, along with a treat for us all surviving the experience! Never use a hot setting on a blow dryer! Cats' skin is tender and easily burns.
Place a litter box, drinking water and food in the warm bathroom to keep cats warm until they dry. Soon your fluffy-soft cat will emerge. Once dry, our cats walk with a pride as if they feel clean and look elegant, and they quickly forgive our transgression against them.
Our cats are so used to baths that they sit patiently waiting for it to be over, making both our lives easier. A humorous friend once said, "It is easier to indulge in my favorite pastime of rock climbing out of the ‘Valley of Fire' than to bathe my cat!" So, I am mailing her cat this helpful article!
