I've been lucky - the cats have accepted their baths, admittedly with very bad grace, without doing any dire injuries to any participants. This is usually followed by a 'poor drowned kitty' performance, complete with tentative wet-ground steps, piteous howling and serious stink-eye.
I've always done them in the laundry tub - partly filled with warm water, a couple of full jugs on hand, shampoo ready to go. They don't like it, but they generally stand still and only vocally complain while the bathing is underway. I try to make it as quick and painless as possible (for all of us!) and only do it in warm weather if possible. Wet cat, lather cat, rinse cat, wrap cat. Then they can go and moan about me for the rest of the day. Once they've finished drying themselves off and grooming, they get a serious brushing, which they seem to accept as a grovelling apology for putting Their Highnesses through such an appalling experience.
It generally works best if Kitty has been bathed from kittenhood, although dear lil Milly had an uncertain past, and never brought out the claws for me when bathed. And your mileage may well vary if the cat is long-haired - mine are all short hairs (or predominantly short-hair mixes).
