Pet Care Services

Cat Grooming Starts with Bath

June 6th, 2006

Useful information about Dog Training in blog.

Make sure the bathing room is warm and the bathing water is tepid. You want to make this as pleasant as possible for your cat. Sometimes it helps to put an extra towel at the bottom of the sink so the cat will be able to stand easier. A hand sprayer makes the job of rinsing the body coat much easier too.

1. Begin by clipping nails and expurgating the anal glands. This is done by holding the cat’s tail up by one hand. With the other hand place your thumb externally over one anal sac and your finger over the other. Press in and the contents will be expressed through the anal sac openings. (This can also be handled by the vet, if you feel this is out of your league).
2. Pour tepid water over the coat until you can see that the coat is wet down to the skin.
3. Drain the sink and shampoo. Apply the tearless shampoo on a washcloth and gently rub it over the face, being careful to avoid the eye area. The eyes should only be washed with a damp washcloth and no shampoo.
4. Rinse thoroughly.
5. Apologize for torturing your little furball.
6. Shampoo again.
7. Rinse thoroughly.
8. With a longhaired breed you might want to shampoo a third time. Then rinse, and use a coat conditioner.
9. Rinse with a mixture of one cup vinegar to two quarts of water.
10. Rinse one last time with clear water.

Use large towels to remove as much water as possible and then set the cat up in a warm room until the coat is fully dry. IF your cat is a longhair, you’ll want to brush as soon as you’ve hand-dried the cat to prevent the coat from matting. If your longhaired cat will tolerate a blow dryer (good luck), the coat will look even nicer, but try using the dryer on the lowest setting in the beginning. A bath and a blow dry may seem like some sort of spa to you, but to your cat it can feel quite the opposite

Cats with extremely short coats like Siamese, Burmese, Cornish and Devon Rex can get along with few or no baths. Even with these breeds, occasionally wiping the face with a damp cloth is a nice treat. Think of it as giving your cat a facial. Longhaired cats and other shorthairs with dense coats need to be bathed every 1-3 months to keep things clean. Persians should to be bathed at least once a month. Bathing, brushing/combing, and clipping nails are the three most important ways you can help your cat stay well groomed. The earlier you start this process, the more agreeable your cat will be to it her whole life.

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Entry Filed under: Pet Care, Pet Grooming, Cat Grooming