Cats and Hair balls....How to give a cat a bath?

Question

my cat is one year old and is a scaredy cat of everything. What the best way to give him a bath with out frighting him. (he scraches and poops when I give him baths )

and get fleas off him and out of my house cause i get bit every where

Answer 1

I work for a cat vet and we never recommend baths for cats unless he has gotten something on him that we can't get off or if we're treating him for Ring Worm or if the owners are allergic.

Cats are stressed very easily and apparently yours is extremely stressed and frightened by water. Why put him through it?

If you use a flea shampoo meant for cats, the bath will kill the fleas on him but won't keep them off. They'll be jumping right back on as soon as he is dry and you've put the cat through all this for nothing.

Cats that come into our clinic with a bad case of fleas are given a Capstar tablet on the spot. Fleas die very quickly after this application but it only works to kill what's on him fast -- it won't keep them off. (Capstar has to be administered by a vet)

We also apply a dose of Revolution or Advantage on the skin behind the neck of the cat. This will keep the fleas off for a month and works great.

If the flea population isn't too terrible inside your house, applying one of these products to your cat will rid your house of fleas. It may take more than one month's dose to do it.

If the flea population is high in your house, you may want to consider treating both your cat and having an exterminator treat your house. I would recommend the day of the scheduled extermination, leave your cat at the vet for the day to receive the Capstar and Revolution while the exterminator works. This way it's all done at once and your cat won't be in the house while poison is being used.

I use Revolution on my 6 cats 12 months a year. Haven't seen a flea in years! It's wonderful.

Answer 2

Cats do not like baths but fleas are also very bad for cats and they drown in water so you can remove them just by giving them a bath. You can then put him in a bathroom and treat the rest of the house.

The best way to get rid of fleas is to get rid of carpeting and replace it with a hard floor. Otherwise, you can use the preventatives. Not all cats have fleas and not all cats have to use monthly preventative.

Here is a step-by-step procedure for a cat bath. It is good to know how to do it just in case you have to. Not all cats do a great job grooming (too old, too sick, too fat) or they get something on their coats or their coats become matted.

http://www.metpet.com/Reference/Grooming/Bathing_the_cat_wet_baths.html

Answer 3

For fleas, get Frontline or Advantage from your vet. You put it on the back of the cat's neck once a month. It kills the fleas that are on the cat, fleas that might jump on the cat in a couple of weeks, and--eventually--all the fleas in the house. Best thing ever invented.

Answer 4

I used to work for a groomer and a vet. At the groomer what we used to do was put the cat in the sink and place a plastic milk crate over him and gently spray him through the holes. Then if he was calm enough we would remove the crate and hold him by the scruff and just use a little diluted shampoo. then replace the crate and rinse. I can't promise he'll love it, but he'll be clean and you will keep your fingers. just towel dry him, I wouldn't bother with the blow dryer. I don't think I've ever met a cat that will tolerate the blow dryer. You could take him to a groomer, surprisingly most pets are better for a stranger then their owner in these situations. I saw it over and over at the groomers and the vets. I think they know how to push our buttons when they live with us, but when they see someone new they must think "I don't know what this person is like, I better be on my best behavior!" If he's REALLY scared and he REALLY needs a bath you could also get tranquilizers from the vet.

Answer 5

Cats hate water, we all know that, but here are some behavioral techneques that may work-

Ok try getting into the bath with him, sounds silly but if you get in and gently lift him in with loads of patting and incouragement it maybe ok.

I would leave clothes on- yup it will be uncomfortable and you won't be able to flea shampoo him, but to aclimatise him to water this may help. Don't splash or play, just wash him and get out.

Try it you may be surprised.

Failing this you will just have to put up with the freaking out- let him go to the toilet just before you bath him tho this may stop the pooping!

Good luck!

Answer 6

First of all, perhaps you should just brush him.
If you must bathe him for some strange reason, don't put him under water or in water. Take a bowl with lukewarm water and a little shampoo in it, and put your hand in it and then pass your wet hand on the cat, like you caresse him. Continue until he is wet, massage him a bit, then repeat with clean water (no shampoo). Very softly, he should not understand he is being washed. Then dry him well.

Answer 7

you can get shampoo for cats which kill fleas as well, as for baths there isn`t many cats which like water but use luke warm water try and keep your cat calm the main thing they don`t like is wet paws, if your doing this to kill the fleas get spot-on i know its expensive but its good and it works don`t expect the fleas do die straight away as it kills the cycle and get some spray for the house most other products don`t work