Monday, November 26, 2007

Bath redux



Much as my cats like their cat sitter, life is best when their own people are home. Here are three relaxing after dinner, neatly apportioned, one cushion per cat. I turned my back after the photo, though, and the next thing I knew the symmetrical arrangement had collapsed into a bathing fest. GiGi appears to be the prime beneficiary.

6 comments:

Maricello said...

Very sweet! But I was hoping this was going to be a post about you giving your cat a bath. My long-haired cat has, er, soiled himself. Have you ever bathed a cat? Do have any cat-bathing advice? I'm thinking gloves, and two people, but maybe there are some non-water alternatives. Thanks! :-)

gottagopractice said...

Yes, Maricello, I have bathed cats, and I have the scars to prove it. Whenever possible I prefer to let them do it themselves.

If you are referring to what we call in my house "poopy skirt," I try to wait a day to either let it dry or give the cat a chance to take care of it himself. If it's really messy, debulk it with damp paper towels and let the rest dry. Then, have an assistant immobilize and comfort the front part of the cat while you use kleenex to grasp beyond each crust in the hair and firmly but slowly pull. Either the crust will come off, or the hair will actually come out (painlessly) on a long-haired cat. Finally, brush the hair with a metal brush to remove any remaining bits, but again, only after the stool has dried.

If it's too big of a mess and you must bathe, only wet the business end - no need to wash the whole cat. Prepare by clipping toenails if that hasn't been done for awhile, and grab a pile of towels. I like the kitchen sink where I have more control. Allow the cat to stand up with his front feet on solid ground outside the sink, and have assistant hold him firmly around the shoulders (the assistant might wish to wear work gloves). Use the spray nozzle on stream with a low flow rate, and leave it running tepid water so there is no turning on and off. If the cat is really afraid of the nozzle, you can also run about two inches of water into the sink and let him stand in that. Alternate wetting and gently combing the hair with the fingers to remove stool. Dry the cat, then wash hands and sink well.

Good luck!

Maricello said...

Thank you so much for the detailed advice. In the absence of any action on my part, my cat has more or less cleaned himself, at once time plopping himself down between my feet as I was sitting at the computer, to entertain me, perhaps. He got most of it, but I will see if I can help. This is a large cat, who actually pushed a pile of sheet music and music books off the shelf so he could have his own spot on the music shelf. You need to keep a cat like that clean. :-)

gottagopractice said...

Yes, I can see that would be an issue. Fortunately, cats like to be as clean themselves as we would like them to be!

Dma said...

I love the cat on the individual pillow picture...

gottagopractice said...

I know. That's the first time I had ever seen them do that - usually it's one or two on the bench. As you know, you gotta keep the camera handy!