Guest guest Posted August 14, 2010 Report Share Posted August 14, 2010 The question of washing kittens was to Mayleen but I'll tell you how I wash my female cat. She is not a kitten but I think kitten would be more accepting of a bath than a cat. My keyboard is broeken so please excuse the typos or it will take too long to type this out. First I wanted some way to hold cat that would get my arms out of the way to getting scartched so I bought some fleece fabric and cut two holes in it for her front legs to put through the holes, measuring the distance between her two front legs, kind ofmaking her a bathing suit of sorts. I chose fleece for this reason: it doesnt fray when cut, so no need for sewing and I can wash it in machine. I wrap that around top part of her body. This gives me something to hold on to. Like a mother cat would grab the extra skin at the nap of her kittens, this material acts as something I can hold onto, rather than to grab her skin there since when she gets wet I probably won't be able to hold her there securely, she would be slippery. I wash her in kitchen sink so she won't feel overwhelmed with tub, as she is in something shallow, a Rubbermaid type of shallow tub would also be nice if you could place it some place that splashing would not be a problem. I have a bucket of warm water ready with some baking soda in it and a small amt of ph-balanced shampoo like baking shampoo so if it got near her eyes would not burn, then I sponge her off with this. Afterwards I have a tub of warm rinse water ready and a separate clean sponge and I sponge rinse her off. I put her on towel and pat her dry, and paper towels for after that for extra drying. I don't go above her shoulder area, don't get her head but use a wash cloth for head and neck, don't sponge off her head. I wear a coat to protect my arms and the first few times I had someone help me, I held cat and other person sponged her off. Now she is used to it, I can hold her and sponge her off. Afterwards I wrap her in towel and hold her and take a short nap with her as kind of a treat, so it feels caring and kind to her, positive experience. My cat loves napping together above all else so that is a treat for her, other cats make like other treats. I started out with just damp wiping her down with same set up and gradually made it wetter and wetter. I really enjoy her more now that her fur is so clean. I do it once a week, on cleaning day, house and her, everything clean. I forgot to mention that I add a cream rinse to her rinse water as she is older cat and the bathing was making her fur kind of dry which solved that problem and her fur is nice and clean and soft. I didn't think I would ever wash a cat but I do now but gradually get in to it as her/his first experience might set the tone forever. If I ever got new kittens I would get them used to bathing right away to solve this problem, tolerating a gentle bath is helpful for many things. She had dandruff and it disappeared rather rapidly after starting the once weekly baths, which is why I started them. I might add that this is stressful for her still. After I wrap her in towel, I can feel her shaking and it takes her awhile to calm down so with this cat I will not elevate to a soaking, which would be nice. However she is 10-11 years old and this is probably all she can take. I also had to do this because she stopped cleaning herself, so I couldn't have kept her if I didn't start to bathe her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 14, 2010 Report Share Posted August 14, 2010 Thabk you for sharing Barbara, there are many ways we can create safety both for them and for us. I guess we just have to be creative and consider our individuals needs and theirs as well.  My babies are pretty good in the tub.  They like being clean. I even say oh no you got to go to the bathroom and one actually goes there. They love being clean. Part of their nature. In addition to how we have always kept them. So they are used to it. We love them and so we do what ever it is we need to do both for them and us. In turn they love us unconditionally.  Without them we would be completely alone.   God Bless !! dragonflymcs Mayleen ________________________________ From: barb b w <barb1283@...> Sent: Sat, August 14, 2010 5:45:50 PM Subject: [] Mayleen/Pets/Re:  The question of washing kittens was to Mayleen but I'll tell you how I wash my female cat. She is not a kitten but I think kitten would be more accepting of a bath than a cat. My keyboard is broeken so please excuse the typos or it will take too long to type this out. First I wanted some way to hold cat that would get my arms out of the way to getting scartched so I bought some fleece fabric and cut two holes in it for her front legs to put through the holes, measuring the distance between her two front legs, kind of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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