How do you bathe a cat?

[RebeccainGA]

So glad it went well, Nora!

My dear departed Mary Alice needed a few baths her last years - she was a very large, very long haired, very lazy and fairly lump like cat, and my DP, bless her heart, told me it would be easy. DP got into the shower, NAKED, and I just deposited the angry and confused cat in the tub and closed the shower doors. Horrible howls came out from behind the fogged doors, but no screams from the human, nor was there any (visible) blood on the doors. A few minutes later, DP told me I could get the cat - now appearing 1/3 her size, despondent, and still making pitiful yowls at steady 4 second intervals, she bolted from the tub when I opened the door, into my waiting towel, and then took what appeared to be a four hour bath once she was dry enough to let out of the towel.

DP was unscathed. They repeated this performance a half dozen times before kitty got too old and fragile to bathe and we had to go to warm washcloths only. DP never got so much as a scratch. I still think she's got some magic talent, and nerves of steel, to face that without even underpants. LOL

[MonteCristo]

My kitties love to get in the shower with me, but I'm still terrified to try bathing them.  The only time one of them scratched me was when I pretended to drop him in the tub because he kept getting in the way when I was bathing my little brother...and I still have a scar.  They seem pretty clean, but I feel like they ought to get a proper bath now and again (they are two at this point, lol).  I'm going to look into having a professional groomer do them up proper.

[mechtilde]

A hint for anyone bathing a Norwegian Forest cat- remember they are waterproof so just running water over them won't work if they actually need a wash. You will need some sort of shampoo, and to work it into the fur very well before rinsing thoroughly.

Dry shampoo is another option- rub 1 teaspoon of cornstarch rubbed into the shoulder area and combed through the coat will dry clean them quite efficiently, if you have a non-co-operative feline and don't want to lose an arm. If your cat is very dark they might look slightly grey, but it does work.

[finecabernet]

No suggestions here, just recalling the time I tried to bathe my dear departed Maine Coon mix (of similar hairiness to the NFC). Her posterior was quite stinky (she wasn't well and had stopped bathing herself), and so I tried bathing her in my bathroom sink. I got some of the stinky off of her undercarriage, but it was with her trying her best to bite me every second. When we were finally done, she took her revenge on one of my shirts, and proceeded to hide under the bed for hours. I needed a huge drink of brandy afterward.

So yeah, I'd go to a groomer!