Bathing your cat is like removing her ID
There is no need to bathe your cat unless a little catastrophe has happened such as she fell into a paint pot or she has been ‘skunked’. There may be other occasions such as a flea treatment shampoo. However, I am not sure I like those. I think there are better ways to remove fleas.
Domestic cats should never be bathed by their owners. I should imagine that some cat breeders bathe their show cat to fluff up their coat and to polish her image but even then that’s not a good thing from the cat’s perspective. However, I have to add a note and say that some cats will like being bathed…:) 🙂
Cats spend a good part of every day grooming themselves. They are covering themselves with their scent. This is their identity (ID). Jackson Galaxy says their body scent is a “Raw Cat Staple”. He means that it is an essential part of the wild cat mentality lurking below the veneer of the domestic cat. Cat body scent is also a ‘source of serious mojo’. He means a cat’s scent is an important element in ensuring a domestic cat is content, relaxed and able to be himself because he feels comfortable in his skin and at home.
A sibling cat or a cat friend may well fail to recognise a bathed cat because she has lost her ID. Cats recognise other cats by their scent.
You can gently wet-wipe a cat if she is old and unable to groom herself properly and Jackson recommends a baby wipe, if needs must. Otherwise steer clear of bathing your cat. It ain’t natural unless the cat is a hairless one when once a week is necessary.
I have two Traditional Persian cats at home, the female” Matahari” who is 11 years old and her kitten now a 9 year old Tomcat “Matata”.Years ago i used to bathe both the cats together and on two occasions was surprised when the male cat “Matata” attacked his companion mother “Matahari” after the bathe , a real cat fight akin to “Cat War”. On one occasion after the bathe the fight was so severe that docile “Matahari” suffered a severe gash from the claws of her once tiny kitten “Matata” that required medical treatment from the Vet. It was then that i realized that after a bathe with “Shampoo” cat’s lose their pheromones scent that is their signature identity to other cats.Tomcat “Matata” was aggressive on “Matahari” only after a bathe and after some hours would become normal in his behavior.”Matahari” being the female cat was never ever aggressive but “Matata” being a male cat thought that “Matahari” was a new cat entering his domain and hence a territorial fight.Since then i have never bathed “Matahari” but do occasionally bathe Tomcat “Matata”.Have other cat owners faced my predicament of having a pair of cats living harmoniously together in the same house and fighting after a bathe ?
Toad loves getting wet but getting wet is much different than being bathed with shampoo.