Another bath for Billy

He got poopie stuck in the fur under his tail again. He was almost as good
as his sister in the bath. Only difference is he cried a little bit and made
a few small moves toward getting out of the tub, but he never put out a
claw.

"Pat" wrote in message
news
He got poopie stuck in the fur under his tail again. He was almost as good
as his sister in the bath. Only difference is he cried a little bit and
made a few small moves toward getting out of the tub, but he never put out
a claw.


What a good boy. I can't even imagine what it would be like to bath KFC,
she would slash me to pieces.
I would like to bath her actually as her coat looks greasy because she's so
old she doesn't look after it properly now. I groom her regularly two or
three times a week but this doesn't make her fur look any better.
I tried a "spirit shampoo" a while ago, and it looked ok for about a day.
Any ideas for caring for the coat of a very old cat without distressing us
both by bathing her? I'm not really up for being slashed to pieces which is
definitely on the cards if I attempt to put her in water.

Tweed

"Christina Websell" wrote

Any ideas for caring for the coat of a very old cat without distressing us
both by bathing her? I'm not really up for being slashed to pieces which
is definitely on the cards if I attempt to put her in water.

Cats naturally dislike being wet and being forced to do anything, so the
trick to bathing them is to make it pleasurable to them, or at least not
unpleasant. That means, make the way you handle the cat into a show of
affection, and don't scare them with the water.

You might try this... one time only... see how it goes. I think if you're
sensitive and know your kitty well, it just might work. I have been able to
bath almost any reluctant cat this way without being harmed:

First of all you must be in the bathtub *with* the cat... Bring her into the
bathroom with you and close the door. Sit there (outside the tub) with her
while you run about five gallons of warm water into the tub. Hang up your
clothes and put a couple of large bath towels on the floor ready to grab,
then pick up kitty and hold her like a baby as you step into the tub and
slowly sit down. At this stage kitty has no idea there is even water in the
tub. The water needs to be off while you are getting in and sitting down.

Once you are settled into the tub holding kitty, let her tail dangle into
the water a bit. If she doesn't start tearing you to pieces then slowly let
her back feet get wet. Ideally you would be sitting cross-legged in the low
end of the tub with some little bit of water under your legs, and you set
kitty down in that opening in your lap where the warm water is just about
half an inch deep.

If this works out well, then just play it by ear, grab a handful of water in
one hand and hold the scruff of kitty's neck in the other just to steady her
as you gently release a little water on her back and rub it in.

Keep this up until the kitty is wet to the skin all over with warm water. If
you can run more water slowly and quietly into the tub without scaring her,
it helps, to keep the water nice and warm, which cats like. The shampoo will
penetrate better and be easier to spread around if the cat is already
completely wet, too.

Don't go on to the shampooing stage unless you're sure you can keep control
of the cat. It's pretty easy if you've gone really slow up to that stage and
have not let kitty become spooked. If she is a little bit spooked, you can
calm her down by talking softly and gently to her and holding the scruff of
her neck with one hand and rubbing her with the other hand (working in the
shampoo).

The end stage is the hardest, you must drain the tub and then pour fresh
warm water over the kitty to rinse out the soap. Ideally you would have a
couple of one-gallon plastic jugs already filled with warm water and sitting
within easy reach of your free hand.

Finally, after kitty is well rinses, pick her up and stand up in the tub,
squeeze the excess water out of her legs and tail, then set her on one of
the towels, still holding the scruff of her neck, and grab the other towel
and toss it over her back, then rub her dry.

Pat wrote:
"Christina Websell" wrote

Any ideas for caring for the coat of a very old cat without
distressing us both by bathing her? I'm not really up for being
slashed to pieces which is definitely on the cards if I attempt to
put her in water.

Cats naturally dislike being wet and being forced to do anything, so
the trick to bathing them is to make it pleasurable to them, or at
least not unpleasant. That means, make the way you handle the cat
into a show of affection, and don't scare them with the water.

You might try this... one time only... see how it goes. I think if
you're sensitive and know your kitty well, it just might work. I have
been able to bath almost any reluctant cat this way without being
harmed:
First of all you must be in the bathtub *with* the cat... Bring her
into the bathroom with you and close the door. Sit there (outside the
tub) with her while you run about five gallons of warm water into the
tub. Hang up your clothes and put a couple of large bath towels on
the floor ready to grab, then pick up kitty and hold her like a baby
as you step into the tub and slowly sit down. At this stage kitty has
no idea there is even water in the tub. The water needs to be off
while you are getting in and sitting down.
Once you are settled into the tub holding kitty, let her tail dangle
into the water a bit. If she doesn't start tearing you to pieces then
slowly let her back feet get wet. Ideally you would be sitting
cross-legged in the low end of the tub with some little bit of water
under your legs, and you set kitty down in that opening in your lap
where the warm water is just about half an inch deep.

If this works out well, then just play it by ear, grab a handful of
water in one hand and hold the scruff of kitty's neck in the other
just to steady her as you gently release a little water on her back
and rub it in.
Keep this up until the kitty is wet to the skin all over with warm
water. If you can run more water slowly and quietly into the tub
without scaring her, it helps, to keep the water nice and warm, which
cats like. The shampoo will penetrate better and be easier to spread
around if the cat is already completely wet, too.

Don't go on to the shampooing stage unless you're sure you can keep
control of the cat. It's pretty easy if you've gone really slow up to
that stage and have not let kitty become spooked. If she is a little
bit spooked, you can calm her down by talking softly and gently to
her and holding the scruff of her neck with one hand and rubbing her
with the other hand (working in the shampoo).

The end stage is the hardest, you must drain the tub and then pour
fresh warm water over the kitty to rinse out the soap. Ideally you
would have a couple of one-gallon plastic jugs already filled with
warm water and sitting within easy reach of your free hand.

Finally, after kitty is well rinses, pick her up and stand up in the
tub, squeeze the excess water out of her legs and tail, then set her
on one of the towels, still holding the scruff of her neck, and grab
the other towel and toss it over her back, then rub her dry.


And I always thought the cat-in-the-commode with a squirt of shampoo method
worked best.

Maybe you could ask a groomer for advice on this. They might have an idea
of other waterless products that work. Good luck.
Christine
"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Pat" wrote in message
news
He got poopie stuck in the fur under his tail again. He was almost as
good
as his sister in the bath. Only difference is he cried a little bit and
made a few small moves toward getting out of the tub, but he never put
out
a claw.


What a good boy. I can't even imagine what it would be like to bath KFC,
she would slash me to pieces.
I would like to bath her actually as her coat looks greasy because she's
so
old she doesn't look after it properly now. I groom her regularly two or
three times a week but this doesn't make her fur look any better.
I tried a "spirit shampoo" a while ago, and it looked ok for about a day.
Any ideas for caring for the coat of a very old cat without distressing us
both by bathing her? I'm not really up for being slashed to pieces which
is
definitely on the cards if I attempt to put her in water.

Tweed

On 2006-04-06 18:06:18 -0500, "Christina Websell"
said:


"Pat" wrote in message
news
He got poopie stuck in the fur under his tail again. He was almost as
good as his sister in the bath. Only difference is he cried a little
bit and made a few small moves toward getting out of the tub, but he
never put out a claw.


What a good boy. I can't even imagine what it would be like to bath
KFC, she would slash me to pieces.
I would like to bath her actually as her coat looks greasy because
she's so old she doesn't look after it properly now. I groom her
regularly two or three times a week but this doesn't make her fur look
any better.
I tried a "spirit shampoo" a while ago, and it looked ok for about a day.
Any ideas for caring for the coat of a very old cat without distressing
us both by bathing her? I'm not really up for being slashed to pieces
which is definitely on the cards if I attempt to put her in water.

Tweed

I don't know. With my (much) older cats, it was just hard. Their fur is
just not easy to keep nice, maybe impossible. Kitty IS very old and
well, like with us, there isn't a lot you can do with fur at that age.

Christina Websell wrote:


What a good boy. I can't even imagine what it would be like to bath KFC,
she would slash me to pieces.
I would like to bath her actually as her coat looks greasy because she's so
old she doesn't look after it properly now. I groom her regularly two or
three times a week but this doesn't make her fur look any better.
I tried a "spirit shampoo" a while ago, and it looked ok for about a day.
Any ideas for caring for the coat of a very old cat without distressing us
both by bathing her? I'm not really up for being slashed to pieces which is
definitely on the cards if I attempt to put her in water.

Maybe rub her down with a warm, damp washcloth? I don't know how much
good that would do, but maybe it would be worth a try.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.
marina (dot) kurten (at) iki (dot) fi
Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Pat wrote:
He got poopie stuck in the fur under his tail again. He was almost as good
as his sister in the bath. Only difference is he cried a little bit and made
a few small moves toward getting out of the tub, but he never put out a
claw.


You're amazing! When I think of the fight when I had to dip Mir and Cal
in the ringworm dip... I never want to have to do that again. And I
wasn't even holding them, my sister was, while I rubbed the stuff into
their fur.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.
marina (dot) kurten (at) iki (dot) fi
Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

"Marina" wrote

Pat wrote:
He got poopie stuck in the fur under his tail again. He was almost as
good as his sister in the bath. Only difference is he cried a little bit
and made a few small moves toward getting out of the tub, but he never
put out a claw.


You're amazing! When I think of the fight when I had to dip Mir and Cal in
the ringworm dip... I never want to have to do that again. And I wasn't
even holding them, my sister was, while I rubbed the stuff into their fur.

Billy and Lily are pretty amazing, too. I am honored that they trust me as
much as they apparently do.

Christina Websell wrote:
"Pat" wrote in message
news
He got poopie stuck in the fur under his tail again. He was almost as good
as his sister in the bath. Only difference is he cried a little bit and
made a few small moves toward getting out of the tub, but he never put out
a claw.


What a good boy. I can't even imagine what it would be like to bath KFC,
she would slash me to pieces.
I would like to bath her actually as her coat looks greasy because she's so
old she doesn't look after it properly now. I groom her regularly two or
three times a week but this doesn't make her fur look any better.
I tried a "spirit shampoo" a while ago, and it looked ok for about a day.
Any ideas for caring for the coat of a very old cat without distressing us
both by bathing her? I'm not really up for being slashed to pieces which is
definitely on the cards if I attempt to put her in water.

Tweed

That sounds like Yoda. He is so old now, and he doesn't groom himself.
He just looks dirty. I wipe him down with a wet washcloth sometimes
(warm). He doesn't seem to mind. He's shorthaired, so that makes it
easier.
My old Cherokee didn't mind a bath at all. I'd just plop him in the
sink, lather him up, rinse him with the sprayer. Then set him on the
cabinet and dry him with the blowdryer. I never bathed him until he,
too, got old and nappy-looking because he didn't groom himself very
well.

Sherry