Has anyone ever washed a cat and..

Little_Focker

did you survive?

My cat is mostly white and loves going under cars,vans etc - we have a digger at the house at the moment and he came in the other day with a big black strip all down his back. I tried wiping it with a wet wipe but its gone down into the hair so Im thinking the only solution is to wash him :eek: He is a very placid cat usually but if he doesnt like something he will tell you so im not too sure how he would react. Or anyone any suggestions what I could do??

Shane-KornSpace

Yes I did. I wore a heavy rain jacket to prevent her clawing the **** outta me!
never use a shower hose!
Put about 2" of water in the bath and wash your cat gently with a sponge. That's the way that worked best for myself.

Whispered

If he's usually very placid you should be ok. I'd stand him in an empty bath, with a basin of warm water and a sponge. Don't overly wet him. Give him lovely treats as you go along. I've washed mine before like that with no problems.

ElleEm

We've washed our ones a few times, due to them having fleas.

We found it easiest to lock ourselves and cat in the shower cubicle, and use a wet towel to rub them with (mimics their mother washing them). We rub in the shampoo this way. Then use bowls/ jugs whatever to pour water on their backs to rinse the shampoo out. DO NOT LET YOUR CAT HEAR THE WATER RUN. They'll go nuts so it's important to have all your water ready to go.

Our cats usually do a runner the minute we're finished, and they spend HOURS licking themselves.

Little_Focker

Thanks I might attempt it so! Will let ye know how it goes!

Whispered

Little_Focker wrote: »

Thanks I might attempt it so! Will let ye know how it goes!

make sure you use shampoo for cats as they will lick themselves after.

Little_Focker

Whispered wrote: »

make sure you use shampoo for cats as they will lick themselves after.

yep will do thanks

ohmfg

Yes, I washed our Persian in the way Whispered described above.
He's quite laid back and very forgiving as all was well.

scholar007

ElleEm wrote: »

We found it easiest to lock ourselves and cat in the shower cubicle

:eek:

Shane-KornSpace

The last time I washed my cat, all was fine.
Then after rinsing out the bath and cleaning it, I needed to run it for myself.
So I picked up my cat to hold her and walked by the bathroom door. BIG MISTAKE.

She panicked when she saw the bath running and dug her claws in to my neck. It was absolutely excrutiating. I'll never make that mistake again.

ElleEm

scholar007 wrote: »

:eek:

I was afraid she would do a runner if we had her in the bathroom, so she was well contained in the shower!

Lawrence1895

Righteo...I have a strange cat. He sometimes follows me into the shower cubicle :pac:

moomooman

Never had problems bathing any of our cats. 4 inches of warm water and they were usually content to sit and let you wash them but two of the three would make a dash for it as soon as you turned your back, nothing like chasing a soaking wet cat around the house...

Cat number three would sit until the water started getting cold

paddyandy

There's no need they are very good at it themselves but they may need powder for fleas once in a while if they get outside.Washing can Traumatise them They are not Docile like dogs when it comes to contact with water.Worming once or twice a year.

moomooman

You kind of have to wash them if they have been under vehicles. You cant have them licking off motor oil or some of the other industrial slime they can get covered in.

paddyandy wrote: »

There's no need they are very good at it themselves but they may need powder for fleas once in a while if they get outside.Washing can Traumatise them They are not Docile like dogs when it comes to contact with water.Worming once or twice a year.

Themadhouse

My coon is great, just stands there for the 45 mins it takes to bathe him! We have had to wash some of the others for various reasons and they didn't like it. I find the electric shower is too noisy so try and use a shower attachment on the bath taps. It's quicker to wash them with the running water. If we have an awkward cat one of us Scruffs while the other races on with the washing. Johnsons baby shampoo is fine to use as the ph is lower than adult shampoo and is more in line with what the cat shampoo is like.

Just be careful about the weather. Try and have a warm room for the cat to dry otherwise you could risk them getting a kidney infection.

emmabrighton

Hehe, my OH is a bit on the slow side and decided to bring my black tom into the shower with him I have no idea what he was doing - but it was 4 years ago and his first cat. :rolleyes: When he turned the shower on, my cat went ballistic, climbed up over his bare chest, over his face and dove over the top of the shower from his head. :pac: Said act was never repeated!

The cat has hated water ever since but on a long 4hr car journey he ended up using his crate as a litter tray and had some of the cat litter stuck to his butt at the other end. I was fearful, but decided he needed a wash. My cat decided it was preferrential to having to lick the stuff off his butt and willingly obliged to an inch of water and a bath from his mom.

This was a once off incident and, to this day, will disappear out through the cat flap if the bath is turned on :P

Zapperzy

I'v no idea why but when my cat was a kitten (well about 7 months) we decided she needed a bath. Put her in the kitchen sink filled with warm water. She jumped straight back out and ran soaking wet underneath the christmas tree with all the lights switched on and beside the socket. Thought she was going to electricute herself. Poor thing looked like a drowned rat and sat shivering beside the radiator all night.

I learned my lesson, I'v never tried giving her a bath since. If she gets something on her (like the time she went to a cattery and came home with an orange head from where she was rubbing against a rusty door :eek:) I just wipe her with a damp cloth.

When I was a kid we had a lovely white tomcat, I was in the bath one day and he was walking along the edge of it, lost his footing and fell in. Shredded my legs trying to get out. He never went near the bath again!

houndsoflove

I have a long haired cat Maine Coon looking but a mongrel really

I clip him and wash him in the dog bath

No hair dryer tho :eek:

ashblag

This thread has made me laugh. We found a stray cat when we were younger decided to give it a wash!!! You could hear the thing screaming for miles i'd say. Mam had to bring me and my sister to the doc for a tetnus after we were destroyed!:o

OP how did you get on?

Hellrazer

I still have the scars from when I washed mine--he`d been rolling around in poo somewhere and was stinking.I put him in the bath and he went mental.

Never again!!!

Heroditas

Lars1916 wrote: »

Righteo...I have a strange cat. He sometimes follows me into the shower cubicle :pac:

One of ours does the same thing, the bloody weirdo!
He also goes nutso whenever we rinse out the milk cartons and insists on batting the water when we empty the carton. I'd swear he thinks we're pouring good milk down the drain.

Oh and for those who say their cats never go near the bath again after they've fallen into it?
Yeaaaaaah that ain't happening with us. Ours insist on tip-toeing around the bath when my wife is in it and then start their own version of kitty gymnastics up around the taps while my wife watches with a mix of fascination and dread.

FloatingVoter

I've got one* who sits in the sink after the dishes have been washed. Fairy washing up suds all over the place. Some do like water - just on their own terms. Weird little people

*not a longhair, just a foundling.

mymo

I had to wash my cat several times (always same cat, he's as clumsy), first time he fell in a pond of green slime, good wipe over with wet towels sorted that, then he came home covered in stink (no idea what but I nearly lost my lunch from 3 feet away, that was a fun wash), another time after he fell in a can of paint (thank god it was water based), it wasn't pleasant.
I did similar to whispered, wrapped him in a wet towel and rubbed while running the shower over him, the yowling was awful, and I was very badly scratched (mainly from the catching him, getting him in the bath and wrapping with the towel.
I used baby shampoo as it was all I had (vet later said it was good for animals once thoroughly rinsed), dilute it first in a little warm water and pour on, rub with towel, rinse.
I put a face cloth over the shower head and rubbed all over, took 2 hours to fully clean him, I will never forget it, he seems to have though, never minds the bathroom(after the first day or two).

scholar007

ElleEm wrote: »

I was afraid she would do a runner if we had her in the bathroom, so she was well contained in the shower!

Oh well whatever yer havin yerself, far be it for me to judge. But, on the small off chance, do you not think it's a little bit strange and kinda dangerous having the cat "well contained" in the shower with you or do you have a large shower room? Do you wear protective clothing or.....

ElleEm

scholar007 wrote: »

Oh well whatever yer havin yerself, far be it for me to judge. But, on the small off chance, do you not think it's a little bit strange and kinda dangerous having the cat "well contained" in the shower with you or do you have a large shower room? Do you wear protective clothing or.....

It's a larger shower cubicle than normal. Both myself and my partner got in separately with her- WEARING clothes. It was just to be able to calm her, and sit down with her while cleaning her without the risk of her running away. We didn't have the shower running, like. We had bowls and buckets of water ready, and loads of towels for drying in between. She didn't freak out this way.

It may seem strange, and we have another cat that wouldn't go near water at all, but the little madam NEEDED to be washed. The method works for her but each cat and cat owner is different.

The Sweeper

I wash mine, if needed, by sitting them on a folded towel on the tiled bathroom floor. I have two buckets and two sponges - one with mildly soapy water with a pet shampoo, the other with clean water and a clean sponge. Both waters are warm.

I also use a packet of treats and a roll of kitchen towel. Gently scruff the cat and begin to wash with the soapy sponge. The sponge helps get off whatever grease or much they got into too, because most cats just aren't ever going to sit still and let you massage shampoo into them.

Take as much of teh sud off with the sud sponge as you can, and then start rinsing. Rinse by taking the wet sponge and squeezing it gently next to the fur. The more you can minimise the cat's awareness of running water, the better - so for instance don't sit them facing the buckets and sponges!

When the wash is over, I keep massaging the cat, then bring in the kitchen towel (great for drying) and the treat packet (let's pretend this was quality 'us' time!)

My cats would be quite a feisty bunch in terms of handling - they can all be handled, but none of them are that sort of placid, 'turn me over and I won't react' ragdoll temperament.

Mars Bar

We have a white cat and not once in the 7 years she has been with us, has she ever had a bath. She has come back black from head to toe on occasions but we never even thought about bathing her.

Our vet described her as "the wildest pet cat" he'd ever come across. So yeah...we won't be attempting to bathe her.

wolfpawnat

Lars1916 wrote: »

Righteo...I have a strange cat. He sometimes follows me into the shower cubicle :pac:

I used to be minding my own business washing myself in the shower, and you know that feeling when you know someone is looking at you, one day I turned around, and there in the bathtub with me was my mid-length haired moggie Queen wandering up to the water and allowing it mist onto her, then she went to the back of the bath and licked it into her coat!!!! Mad yoke.

With my cats I started bathing them the week I got them, they just accepted it and never really had a problem with it, they didn't adore it, but they knew, like our dogs that it was just part of life!

Dodd

Op show us your wounds.:)

One of my earliest memories is of a kitten hanging from my thumb by it's four pointy front teeth.
I was about 4 and only got it to let go by putting my hand on the ground so it could let go and run away.

scholar007

ElleEm wrote: »

It's a larger shower cubicle than normal. Both myself and my partner got in separately with her- WEARING clothes. It was just to be able to calm her, and sit down with her while cleaning her without the risk of her running away. We didn't have the shower running, like. We had bowls and buckets of water ready, and loads of towels for drying in between. She didn't freak out this way.

It may seem strange, and we have another cat that wouldn't go near water at all, but the little madam NEEDED to be washed. The method works for her but each cat and cat owner is different.

Sounds like a lot of work, do you wash her often? How do you keep her calm while the ablutions are in progress?

ElleEm

scholar007 wrote: »

Sounds like a lot of work, do you wash her often? How do you keep her calm while the ablutions are in progress?

We only washed her about 4 times ever, three times in the last couple of months as she was riddled with fleas and nothing else seemed to work.
We would be chatting with her, cuddling her and keeping her warm. I think there's an element of her that knew what we were up to, as she would be quite allowing and accomodating with us. She always seemed at ease after the wash, so we thought she knew it helped.

Graces7

For the laughter, thank you so much,

When I bred and showed Siamese, I would bathe them before a show. I had a mesh carrying cage, so in the cat went and I showered them through the wide mesh.

One cat however, used to enjoy jumping in the empty bath. You guessed; I was in the bath one day when in she raced and leaped. Claws everywere with the idea that I could save her.

After that she would come in and tightrope walk along the side of the bath as if wondering what I could be doing in all that water.

My present boy is so laid back and obliging that when he has come in fillthy he will let me bathe him and enjoy it. And the rough and tumble of being towellled too, exceot he hates his feet being held

comongethappy

I've been bathing mine since they were kittens. I used to fill up the basin in our kitchen with water, wet their coat, shampoo, then back into the basin for a rinse. Now I shower them, I put a folding step ladder (with the wide steps) into the shower, and wet/shampoo/rinse. The process is much faster and they don't seem to mind it anymore than the bath, not that they particularly like either! They'll complain and give me evil looks when they are wet, but they don't scratch or bite.