What is the right water temperature to bathe a cat?

Question

Taking their higher body temperature into account.

Answer 1

About room tempurature maby a little warmer. As warm as you use would be too hot for the cat because the cats skin is covered with fur and more sensitive. Your skin however is more durable because it is always exposed.

Answer 2

Most cats don't need baths, however I have owned a few that never got the nack of cleaning themselves or liked to roll in the dirtiest places possible. Here are a few things I did that helped relieve the stress during bath times. 1. Fill the tub or sink before you bring the cat to it. Sometimes the sound of running water scares them. Then use a cup to get the cat wet and rinse. 2. If the sound of the water isn't a problem,use a removable shower head, or the sprayer on the sink instead of the faucet. 3. Talk calmly to the cat while bathing and try to stay calm yourself when it flips out. Finally, if the cat still has to get a bath and is still flipping out, get a firm grip of the skin on the back of their neck. Face them away from the faucet, even if it's not on. Also, if you have to bathe your cat, make getting wet in the bath area a regular occurance. Even if you don't bathe the cat, spend some time with the cat in the sink/tub while dry and then get them a little wet. You don't have to soak them. This will help them get use to the idea and maybe with time they will calm down. Oh yeah, treats before and treats after. Give "special" treats for bath time. Something they REALLY love. Don't use the same treats you use for all other treat time.

Answer 3

Warm but not hot- their skin is sensitive and the least abnormal to their temperature it is, the least likely it is to agitate them. Make sure you wrap them up well afterwards and possibly keep them closed in a WARM room for them to dry off (they will lick themselves dry). Towel as much as possible because using a blow dryer on a cat is a big task.

In the bath, talk very soothing and calm to the cat, even if they start flipping out a bit hold their scruff firmly and soothe them (having one person shampoo and rinse while the other scruffs and talks to the cat and pets it helps a lot). If it puts up too much of a struggle e.g. attacking you, let it go and try a professional groomer- it is not worth the injuries nor the stress to your pet. Try to avoid having the bath water run the entire time you wash them so the environment can be calm.

My cats have been bathed since kittens and though they aren't fond of it, they tolerate it. If it is your cats first bath, take baby steps and if you can't wash the head, don't sweat it. Wipe it with a damp wash cloth later (and try and swab water out of their ears with a cotton ball, not a q-tip).

If you get bitten- clean with anti-bacterial soap and see the doctor asap (like urgent care) because if your tetanus shot isn't up to date, you will need one.

Answer 4

The water should be warm but not hot. basically the same as you would use to bathe a baby. Unless the cat is covered in tar/oil/skunk musk I would strongly recommend that you don't bathe your cat often. Their skin is sensitive to drying out and repeated bathing can make it worse. Anything more than once every few months can really irritate their skin. Good luck with the bathing and hopefully you've trimmed the claws recently! :)

Answer 5

Most cats hate water, so it could be horrible for your cat no matter what the temperature. Cats are usually very clean animals, so unless he is dirty I wouldn't reccommend bathing him. I found that for wiping his paws clean, that gentle baby wipes are perfect, they also sell "Wet-Ones" for cats in many store- I saw then in Bed, Bath, & Beyond!

Answer 6

The same temp as u would bath a baby, test the water with ure elbow.

Answer 7

Cats do not need to be bathed like dogs unless it got into something particularily sticky, or something the cat cannot clean off of itself. Cats clean themselves, so if you want to save yourself and your cat a lot of stress, let your cat give itself a bath.

Answer 8

Luke-warm same as a baby, they are delicate creatures. wear gloves they will help, you don't have to use shampoo on cats rinse them they will lick themselves anyway, pat it dry all over getting excess water off her and place her somewhere warm to dry and lick herself, if she can handle the blow dryer thats okay to at a distance from her skin. Have fun!

Answer 9

Cats generally don't get bathed unless they got into something nasty. Cats groom themselves.

Answer 10

Good luck If you can get the dang thing in the water! I would use warm water.