A major US pet store chain encourages cat owners to avail themselves of their cat styling services which includes bathing their cat (at the time of this post and per the article referred to below).
Now I am not sure which chain Mark Robinson of the Reno Gazette Journal is referring to in his article but I have found a page on the Petsmart website which describes their “Cat Bath & Brush” service at $31 and up. It is carried out by ‘safety-certified cat stylists and it includes:
- Oxygen-infused bath with shampoo & blow dry
- 15-minute brushing
- Nail trim
- Ear cleaning
- Scissoring feet
- Sanitary trim
There are some upgrade Options:
- Whitening & brightening shampoo ( + $7 )
- Nail caps application – 2 or 4 paws ( + $10- $17 )
- Aromatherapy ( + $19 )
Comment: I don’t know if Petsmart promote cat baths every 6-8 weeks but the point to make is that it is not advisable to bath your cat regularly as promoted.
It is common sense really. Cats groom themselves all the time and do a great job. It is best to leave well alone. Jackson Galaxy sums it up in his Total Cat Mojo book:
“The truth is, there is simply no reason to bathe your cat.”
There are occasions when you will have to bathe your cat but these are emergencies, normally, such as a nasty substance like paint covers a portion of your cat’s coat. Or there is oil all over it. There may be a requirement to bathe a very elderly cat and often rescue cats are bathed when rescued in order to eliminate fleas in one go and to removed dirt and other substances on the coat. These are special reasons.
They are the exceptions to the rule which prove the rule true, namely that you should not bathe your cat every 6-8 weeks as suggested by a major pet store chain in Nevada.
It will dry out the skin and removed natural oils. Fellow cats will stop recognising the bathed cat and become hostile to her. And of course it is well known that cats don’t like to be bathed for the reason that it is highly unnatural to them.
Is it Petsmart which is promoting regular bathing? Tell me in a comment please.
P.S. The Petsmart cat styling service includes 15 minutes brushing. This is probably inadvisable too as it is possibly too long for most cats. I don’t understand the ‘whitening & brightening shampoo’ claim. It sounds strange and unhelpful to me.
P.P.S. One last point: there have been stories of cats and dogs being harmed at pet groomers. On one occassion a dog attacked a cat and on another a dog was killed by being overdried at a too high temperature. There is nothing to say that Petsmart aren’t anything but great at the job but there are some inherent dangers.
