Give the cat a bath???

Well, I generally worry about the cats and spend a lot of time fretting over their hygiene and one major thing slipped my mind, their fur.
I was sitting down with Sebby, he often likes a lot of attention and he rubbed his head against my cheek and I was like "awww you're so cute", but then I was like "Wait a minute when is the last time I washed you" and he and his sister are almost a year old and they haven't been washed yet!
His fur must be filthy, I mean I wouldn't go a year without washing my clothes... I know they lick themselves, but it's only spit.
So my question is, are you meant to give cats a bath and if so, how often.
Oh and don't judge me, lol.

 

I wouldn't judge you... it's a very good question. I've heard both sides of this argument time and time again. One side says cats don't need baths like dogs because they clean themselves... and the other side says they need a bath once in a while.

Our cat doesn't mind the bath part, but it's the trying to dry her off that she has a problem with. Hates to see that towel coming. We give her a bath usually twice a year. There are shampoos that are supposed to help with hairballs because believe me, after a bath, they lick for the rest of the day and yep, it usually results in a hairball.

There are also "wipes" like wet wipes that you can use instead of a full bath, but I have no experience with that at all. No idea if they work, if they're safe, etc.

 

I've heard you're not suppose to give your cats a bath more than once every two weeks. I personally only give my cats a bath about once a month. They are indoor cats and do clean themselves very often. My cats are difficult to give a bath. One tries toi climb the walls, the other cries the entire time, and my last one is the only one that actuallky sits in the water calmly. It is sometimes very difficult to give a cat a bath. But cats are not as dirty as dogs in any way and so you do not have to give them a bath near as often.

 

Our cat did not like water at all. I think we tried to wash her once and she scratched my dad so we never tried again. It did not seem to cause any problems. We kept her indoors all the time so she never had mud or anything like that on her anyway. I think she was able to keep herself clean enough.

 

When I got my first cat I would give her a bath every couple of weeks, then when I got my second cat it was about the same. When I got my third cat, I tried the bath thing on him and he was so scared and started howling. I didn't force it on him because I didn't want to stress him out or get scratched to pieces. I haven't given the other two cats baths in a long time either. They all stay in the house and they do clean themselves. I probably should do it every once in awhile, but it seems like I just don't take the time to do it.

 

All of my cats love to take a bath, but we got them when they are all small kittens and started giving them a bath almost immediately. I was a little intimidated just thinking of giving my cats a bath, but introducing it to them slowly seemed to calm their nerves. Now they actually look forward to bath time.

 

I bath Bob one month, because he is now a cat that is 100% an indoors one, so he doesn't really needs to be washed more often than that. Plus the first time I washed him he ran and hide behind a couch, he was meowing a low and got himself dirty again with the dust behind that couch. It was a mess, I thought he'd hate me forever... he was looking at me and meowing as if saying: ''Why have you betrayed me, why????''.

 

Oh my! It sounds like your Bob has gotten use to his baths,since he has them on a routine basis! Or does he still give you that look, like why do I have to get in this tub? Or do you bath him in your sink?

We are pretty lucky that our two current cats do not mind a bath. Matter of fact, after one of us is one with a shower, Eddie likes to jump into the wet tub. She pounces around, gets all wet, and then comes to find us and shake it all over us!

In the past, our other cats, did not care for a bath. Sometimes, it would take three of us to get it done. One person would hold the cat down and comfort, another person would pour the water, and the third person would run in the other room to fill up the water pitcher. We could not have any running water by the cat or she would have a bigger panic attack. I am thinking specifically about our Powder, a beautiful white cat. Oh, my my daughter misses this cat!

 

The first time it was done in a bucket, lol. He was a little cat, I was surprised he didn't scratch me... Despite the fact he probably thought I was torturing him or something. Poor thing!

Well, sounds like we are all having an easier time around the bath time Glad to hear that. My cousin had a cat who would scratch her bad if she tried to bath him.

 

My son washed Twinkle off once he brought her own but besides that I don't remember him being bathed. He was such a "licker" and even though the original said it is spit, I think Twinkle had good spit because he never stank. On the contrary, he almost always look clean. Then I would wipe him a lot especially when he started to go outdoors.

 

There is a really heated debate about this topic every time cat owners sit and discuss this Some people say cats don't really need to be washed more than once a month, some say they do it once a week. I personally think cats don't need to be washed often, specially the indoors ones. But again, cats are so self sufficient.... unlike dogs!!! But you never see a cat with ticks... or anything like that! They can take care of that for themselves

 

I just realised I made a mistake or two in my last post. I said "once he brought her own". I actually meant, "once he brought him home". You see how I still speak of Twinkle as a girl. About the baths; I really wanted to give him more baths but I was always afraid he would not co-operate. I am quite fascinated when I see video of cats who actually enjoy being in the water. I don't think Twinkle liked it any. He would always run the once or twice I attempted it as I vaguely remember.

 

Oh don't worry, I didn't even notice the mistake until you pointed it out I have encountered very few videos online of cats who actually enjoy taking a bath, but here is one of my fav ones:

 

Cat's generally don't want to be bathed, and when wanted it is indisputably no stress-free, with the exception of you're lucky adequate to have a cat that doesn't mind water. You bathe them the an identical method chances are you'll a dogs. Lukewarm water, shampoo, rinse, i prefer to counsel 2 people- 1 to hold the cat whereas the opposite rubs in the shampoo, and long thick gloves or you can too show bleeding.

 

OMG Trellum is that cat for real? I would swear it's ill. I have seen one or two. Abu Sayed makes a good point about using gloves and having a helper. I always figured I'd have to have help with Twinkle. The cat in my video looks a little vex but still.