The cat needs a bath.. advice?

SillyMangoX

My cat will need to be washed tonight, this will be his first time being washed since he was a little kitten and was a lot smaller! Back then he rolled in chicken poop.. my god the smell was unreal! For the past couple of weeks his fur is greasy from putting sun cream on him in the good weather, and as well as that a load of coal dust and dirt has stuck to his ears from the cream! And he has a few black streaks on his white fur from coal dust that have been there for the last week or 2 so he isn't too good at getting it off himself!

I bought cat/dog shampoo for white fur today and am going to use that on him, and I'm going to clip his nails before I do anything to save my skin! But has anyone any advise on keeping him calm and relaxed while doing it, and what would be the best way, e.g completely drenching the fur, lightly sponging etc.. Any help would be much appreciated!

planetX

advice? Don't.

Interested to hear how it goes tho...

doctor evil

We had a previous cat who was a total dote. I was able to wash him with a warm/hot wrung facecloth and he loved! He would go into babby kitten mode and start druelling and kneading with his claws.

SillyMangoX

planetX wrote: »

advice? Don't.

Interested to hear how it goes tho...

Believe me I wish this was an option but the poor baba is so uncomfortable having greasy ears Even my other cat grooming him isn't lifting the dirt so unfortunately it is bath time! I'll make sure to take pics :P

twinge

Should have gotten a Turkish van...apparently that breed loves water!
Sun cream on a cat? Really?

SillyMangoX

twinge wrote: »

Should have gotten a Turkish van...apparently that breed loves water!
Sun cream on a cat? Really?

Well on a choice between sun cream and ear cancer, I know which I'd take! Plus if I had a Turkish van I'd have to put cream on him too because they mostly have white ears Now if I had a bengal I'd be sorted! Water loving and non white eared!

dudmis

I gave my cat the (very) odd bath - it was never pleasant but I would do it in the sink and lay a towel on the bottom of the sink so that she didn't slip everywhere. Have everything you need to hand and you'll prob need 2 people, one to hold her and one to wash. Cat baths tend to be very quick ;-) Good luck!

Hellrazer

I still have the scars from the last time I washed mine..

Dont do it.

SillyMangoX

Hellrazer wrote: »

I still have the scars from the last time I washed mine..

Dont do it.

Again, I wish I could but it has to be done! I'll add a few pics of him to show the dirt. His normal grooming just isn't cutting through it unfortunately. I clipped his nails about half an hour ago so hopefully there won't be any scars!

blueturnip

SillyMangoX wrote: »

Again, I wish I could but it has to be done! I'll add a few pics of him to show the dirt. His normal grooming just isn't cutting through it unfortunately. I clipped his nails about half an hour ago so hopefully there won't be any scars!

Gosh! Fair play, I wouldn't go near mine to clip their nails! Good luck with the bath!

SillyMangoX

blueturnip wrote: »

Gosh! Fair play, I wouldn't go near mine to clip their nails! Good luck with the bath!

Ah he's a little dote really, normally lets me do anything to him. I just don't think he'll take to water so well!

Sigma Force

You could give it a go, and so agree sun cream on cats esp. white ones is so important they are so prone to nasty ear cancers which can be prevented.

If all else fails maybe a warm damp facecloth might work to help get most of it off but can imagine the fur would be very greasy so hard to remove wouldn't like to be in the position though although some cats don't mind it.

Main thing is you don't want to cat ingesting too much of the sun cream when cleaning themselves.

I don't mean it in a cruel way but another option could be if it rains on a warm day, pop the cat in a crate and leave the cat out in the rain for 10 minutes enough to get the excess off then bring the cat indoors into the warmth to dry off..no different then washing the cat so I guess it's not cruel if you keep the time short. Or another alternative maybe pop a small crate in the shower or bath with the cat in it already and wash like that even if it's just plain water and a bit of shampoo drizzled on.

I sound mean now but lets face it few animals like having a wash, that's why I love birds our tiel loves a shower. My dogs all hate bath time despite two of them being washed regularly since they were pups.

SillyMangoX

The black tips on his ears are normally pink!

dirty! See where I managed to get a small bit off on his right ear? The difference! :L

Greasy yoke!

Enjoying an ear rub!



Will upload the 'during' and 'after' pictures when the deed is done!

blueturnip

SillyMangoX wrote: »

Will upload the 'during' and 'after' pictures when the deed is done!

Ah he is lovely! Like a thin version of one of mine!

SillyMangoX

He did so so well! Purred his way through his ears being done despite it hurting him since they are a small bit burnt. But then we put him in the basin to rinse him. All I can say is thank god I clipped his nails!! Little dote is curled up beside my Mom on the couch now having a good groom for himself. I have to say I like the spikey look!! Any such thing as hair gel for cats? :L

The wet rat look/my wet mother!



Seems to have lifted some of the dirt anyway, should have seen the state of the wash cloth!




I'd hate to see the damage if I didn't trim his nails!



Having a good wash for himself, apparently we didn't do it right :rolleyes: It's gonna be a long night for him :L

The Sweeper

ROFL

Okay, few things:

First, there's a pet-specific sun cream called Filtabac. See if you can get some of that. The greasiness is less and there's nothing in it toxic to pets. Alternatively see if you can get a zinc stick, the kind surfers use to put a stripe down their nose and one on both cheeks. It's a total sun block. It comes in white, and also flourescent colours (you may want to stick with white...). It's far thicker than sun cream and would provide a total block, may get less dirty and won't come off as easily when washed by the cat.

Secondly, to spot-wash a cat: Fill two buckets with warm water. Get a sponge or a good, rough cloth. Get some pet shampoo. Get a large, folded towel. Take all those things into an enclosed space with you and the kitty.

Sit the kitty on the towel. Saturate the cloth or sponge in one of the buckets. Wring it out gently until it's not dripping. Holding the cat on the towel, wet the area to be washed with the cloth or sponge. Then apply a dab of shampoo to the cloth and work it so it begins to foam. Use that to wash the dirty area.

Then rinse the cloth in the first bucket (or use a non-soapy, second cloth in the second bucket for your rinsing). Use the clean, wet (not dripping) cloth to rinse the cat. Then finish by drying with the towel - and a tip is to bring in some kitchen towel to help with final drying because it's very absorbant.

The cloth or sponge needs to be a bit rough because otherwise it won't get grease off the fur, and the things that make cats start to fight are the feeling of water on their feet and up their legs, and the sound or sight of running water near to them. You can effectively wash nearly the entire cat with the bucket and sponge method as long as they're supported on a towel and don't feel they're being immersed in water, and as long as you don't let the sponge or cloth stream water into the bucket near to them.

SillyMangoX

The Sweeper wrote: »

ROFL

Okay, few things:

First, there's a pet-specific sun cream called Filtabac. See if you can get some of that. The greasiness is less and there's nothing in it toxic to pets. Alternatively see if you can get a zinc stick, the kind surfers use to put a stripe down their nose and one on both cheeks. It's a total sun block. It comes in white, and also flourescent colours (you may want to stick with white...). It's far thicker than sun cream and would provide a total block, may get less dirty and won't come off as easily when washed by the cat.

Secondly, to spot-wash a cat: Fill two buckets with warm water. Get a sponge or a good, rough cloth. Get some pet shampoo. Get a large, folded towel. Take all those things into an enclosed space with you and the kitty.

Sit the kitty on the towel. Saturate the cloth or sponge in one of the buckets. Wring it out gently until it's not dripping. Holding the cat on the towel, wet the area to be washed with the cloth or sponge. Then apply a dab of shampoo to the cloth and work it so it begins to foam. Use that to wash the dirty area.

Then rinse the cloth in the first bucket (or use a non-soapy, second cloth in the second bucket for your rinsing). Use the clean, wet (not dripping) cloth to rinse the cat. Then finish by drying with the towel - and a tip is to bring in some kitchen towel to help with final drying because it's very absorbant.

The cloth or sponge needs to be a bit rough because otherwise it won't get grease off the fur, and the things that make cats start to fight are the feeling of water on their feet and up their legs, and the sound or sight of running water near to them. You can effectively wash nearly the entire cat with the bucket and sponge method as long as they're supported on a towel and don't feel they're being immersed in water, and as long as you don't let the sponge or cloth stream water into the bucket near to them.

Ill make sure to do this in future What I did was fill the sink with warm water and dilute the shampoo according to the instructions. I also filled the basin with clean warm water and left that to the side. I got my Mom to hold him so he was nice and comfy, wet the wash cloth and scrubbed! That worked for his ears as I had to go with something soft because of the burn, but it wasn't really working for the coal dust in his fur so I put some shampoo straight onto him and massaged it, brushed it through with he Furminator and rubbed it again with the cloth. I then went to rinse the shampoo off...my pouring warm water over him like we used to with our dog! Won't be making that mistake again Next time I'll use a clean wash cloth!

I've looked everywhere for that FiltaBac but it doesn't seem to be available in Ireland. I asked my vets to see if they could order it in but they didn't seem to be able. Do you know of anywhere that has it Sweeper? If all else fails I'll get my brother to buy some in England and bring it to me when he comes home for Easter!

The Sweeper

monsterpetsupplies.co.uk will deliver to Ireland - for a f*cking outrageous £20!! :O

I don't live in Ireland so can't help you with a store name unfortunately, but you might have some luck on eBay or some other pet websites that don't try pounding you with delivery costs to ROI.

Zinc sticks are really good - you might be able to get one somewhere like boots.

kylith

The only tip I can offer is to put the shampoo on before adding any water. Water will stop the detergent bonding to and lifting the grease properly. It works with greasy human hair too.

Good luck!