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How can you bath a cat

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archhippy | 13:49 Mon 01st Mar 2004 | Animals & Nature
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Hi doodlebug2 here as you all know we have a old cat but he needs to have a bath but hates water how can we bath him without hurting him?
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My main concern would be how to bath him without hurting yourselves! Here's what I do. Pour soap liquid down toilet. Put cat in toilet. Close lid. Flush.
It's just occurred to me that someone might be stupid enough to try this so - DON'T - it's only a joke!
When we have had to bath our cat, we have got EVERYTHING ready and within easy reach. Get cat into warm bathroom, and close door! Hold your cat very firmly by the scruff off the neck and using the shower, which should already be running with water at correct temp, wet cat from head down towards tail. Put on cat shampoo and gently massage in. If your cat loves being tickled behind the ears, base of spine, as much as ours, she may actually quite enjoy it! Once rinsed off, wrap cat in a towel so that it's front legs are inside towel. Dry head with another towel and then dry rest of cat with towel, and if it is still in the room and hasn't escaped through any gaps in the floorboards, then it might let you use the hairdryer to completely dry fur! Good luck.....
put a towel down in the bath and bath your cat on that, so they dnt feel like they are slipping all over the place and then just bath them with small quantities of warm water at a time, using a jug has been more effective when i had to bath my cat rather than a shower head.....although you could lightly turn the shower head on so the waters just a little more than trickling. then shampoo...rinse etc....
I'm sure you all know this but you should'nt really wash your cat too often (if at all), unlike dogs cats are able to keep their coat clean and in good condition, special oils in the skin do this also and washing it too much will damage the oils. I'm sure all who have responded and doodlebug know this but just wanted to point it out to anybody who was thinkning of washing their cat once a week.
if your thinking of giving your cat a bath ... STOP IT ... i still bare scars from feline bathing experience. I eventually opted for a warm wet towel, the corners of which i used to gently rub the cats fur in the same way i imagined a mother cat might clean her kittens, our grumpy old cat seemed to enjoy this no end, so i gradually increased the amount of water on the towel until i'd managed to get the cat quite damp and cleaned with its "special" shampoo. Oh but be careful to clean off all the shampoo very carefully or you'll get a nasy shock when you find your cat foaming away at the mouth after it tries to get all the shampoo off.
I just can't believe ANYBODY could be this cruel or stupid..!! Sorry for my plain speaking here, but it's the truth. Don't take my word for it...just ask any Vet. As has already been pointed out, healthy happy cats are perfectly capable of keeping themselves very clean, and they do it because it's pre-programmed intuition - they don't have to be taught. If your cat is old, it's almost certainly getting dirty because it feels ill and weak due to a number of common internal problems, and is no longer able to wash itself thoroughly - in this case, the sensible, proper and humane action would be to have it painlessly put to sleep by a Vet, which is very common for an old cat. But the idea of forcibly wetting and washing it while it's already feeling ill and weak doesn't bear thinking about.. How would you like it ? The important thing to remember is that, contrary to popular belief, cats don't just hate water.. They're actually terrified of it..!! So the poor thing would be in blind terror, and probably die of shock anyway if you tried any such thing..!! As a devoted cat-lover, I implore you.. PLEASE don't..!!
ok yeh i better explain myself.........my cat had to be bathed cos she got mud all over her and it stuck to her fur and we couldnt get it out with brushing........i shudda said aswell...they dnt really need to be washed.
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as with dotcom our cat looked more like stig in the dump after snow and heavy rainfull and lets just say he does not like the taste of too much mud and then got it all up our hall which i had only just cleaned.luckily its lino.we then brushed the worst of it out then damped down some kitchen towel wich we then 'stroked' him with.it got the worst of it of he did the rest. but thanks for your advice guys as usual you are best when it comes to acvice.
'When we have had to bath our cat' was the first line to my answer. She is nearly 15 years old and has been bathed 3 times. She doesn't have a bath 7 days a week before bedtime, just when she gets covered in oil from climbing under cars (as she used to when she was younger). So, you don't need to report me to the RSPCA!
TOMMY- cats can be bathed by the wet towel method with little or no distress. in fact they sometimes have to be if, like many of mine over the years, they hide under parked cars and get oily. The distress caused by even a plunge bath would be little compared to the colitis and liver damage caused by it cleaning itself. As for automatically putting down a sick cat- only if it is actually suffering. I had a cat who never could wash himself due to a rheumatic condition after a bad fall. we cleaned him using warm water and kitchen towel in a cat-tongue like way. he not only thoroughly enjoyed it but lived another 10 years and fathered over 50 kittens, which i took to be a sign of happiness. he certainly purred a lot, and loved to be groomed.
yeh coggles i also said when i had to bath my cat....i thought everyone would have understood...as cat owners we all know only to bath a cat if absolutely nessessary. I didnt feel i had to point that out to the thread starter cos i assumed it was probably a one off and that they werent planning to give it a nightly shower. but sorry anyway to anyone that got angry.
HOW TO WASH A CAT Thoroughly clean the toilet. Add the required amount of shampoo to the toilet water and have both lids lifted. Obtain the cat and soothe him while you carry him to the bathroom. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids. (you may need to stand on the lid so that he cannot escape). Flush the toilet three or four times. Have someone open the door to the outside and ensure that there are no people between the toilet and the outside door. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift both lids. The now-clean cat will rocket out of the toilet, and run outside where he will dry himself. If the cat does not appear, you may have to take a trip to your local sewerage processing plant to pick him up.
I agree with TommyC, you never bath a cat by forcing it under a shower nozzle! The only cat that positively likes water is the Turkish Van breed, which likes to swim. Your average moggie or any other breed would be totally traumatised by a power shower or dip in the bath. Cats seldom need any help keeping clean, but when they are elderly they often can't clean themselves as well as the did. The kindest thing is to use a warm damp flannel (water only) and gently 'stroke' the cat to clean the fur. As cats like to be clean an old, ill cat is likely to be fairly amenable to this. If a cat is really caked in muck, then take him/her to a vet as they are the best person with the know-how to sensitively clean your cat.
nobody said to force it under a shower nozzle.............defo go to the vets that what we did and they told us lightly shower them with a shower head or use a jug and flannel.
probably a bit late now but i used to bath my cats. It's quite easy and they don't mind it too much. Easiest thing though is to buy some special bathing wipes. Think they are called QuickBath. They are superb. You can get them in my local tesco so have a look there.
My local tesco (crawley) might be a bit far for you to go so try your local :) note to self: must proof read before posting!!

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