I see that some websites advocate washing your cat once a month. In fact, the website Maine Coon Central recommends that you bathe your Maine Coon once a month! Wrong. Ridiculous. They also say that indoor/outdoor cats can get dirty. Wrong again. Feral cats can get dirty when they are overwhelmed with trying to survive, are run down and ill but well cared for domestic cats allowed outside keep themselves fastidiously clean. There is no need to bathe domestic cats unless something out of the ordinary occurs as mentioned in the infographic.
To share the infographic click on this link. To download it: click on the image to enlarge it and then right click on the subsequent image and follow the menu.
Domestic cats are not meant to be bathed. They do it themselves very efficiently. Their way is better than bathing them in water and shampoo. It does not remove oils as bathing does.
Domestic cats are not meant to get sopping wet. Show cats are sometimes bathed before a cat show because the longhaired cats look nicer when washed. The only reason is to compete at cat shows. It is a negative nonetheless.
I don’t think I need to patronize you with a laborious description of how to bathe your cat! It is common sense. The important factors are to be gentle and use tepid water. To use gentle shampoo designed for pets and to dry them with care. Seek veterinary advice if you are unsure.
I say that because there have been some horror stories from grooming parlours where longhaired cats have been killed by drying cabinets because they’ve been left in for too long and overheated.
That’s a warning against using commercial groomers. To be honest if a domestic cat does acquire something nasty on their cat it may the result of carelessness by the cat’s owner. It was when I bathed my cat.
I was painting the bathroom using a block of paint in an open container. I allowed my cat to come into the bathroom. She jumped up onto the edge of the bath and slipped. She fell into the paint on her side. She immediately ran off with white paint on her paws leaving a nice trail all the way to the bedroom. My bad as they say.
I immediately bathed her in the bathroom washbasin. It was water soluble paint. I did not use shampoo. She groomed herself afterwards all over while her brother hissed at her constantly as he no longer recognised her. He suddenly changed his tune after she had finished her grooming and refreshed her coat, returning to its normal condition.
Some tips on grooming your cat
Keeping your cat in good nick may require grooming her if the coat is too long for her to maintain it without intervention. I am thinking of Persians with extra-long coats. Start grooming your cat on the first day after adoption to habituate her to it.
Short, smooth coats don’t normally need any intervention for obvious reasons but if you think your services are needed, use a bristle brush, chamois or a hound glove to remove debris and to stimulate the sebaceous glands in the skin.
For a semi-longhaired coat, you might like to groom your cat twice weekly using a bristle brush or slicker brush followed by combing the long fur with a wide-toothed comb.
Longhaired cats arguably need to be groomed by their caregiver daily. I would suggest that this needs to be done with Persians but I would defer to anybody who knows better. Mats can develop quite easily and are more likely to occur behind the ears, on the elbows and between the hind legs.
Mats should be teased loose using talcum powder or cornflower then the coat should be brushed and finally combed through.
Great care needs to be taken if you think that you have to cut out mats. The best way is probably to place a comb at the base of the fur next to the skin to protect the skin and then cut the mat with the scissors vertical to the skin and not horizontal to the skin.
Dr. Bruce Fogle DVM, the veterinarian and author, says that he sews up “inadvertently cat skin several times every year”. Not good.
Disagree with me? Tell me in a comment. Just be polite.
Below are some more articles on grooming.
