NO! Not skin a cat, but close! My cats need a bath. The puppy we had for a few weeks gave my kitties fleas. My cats have never had fleas, or been treated, they're strictly indoor cats. I bought some of that stuff you squirt behind the neck, but it's not working. I called around to get them dipped, and for both of them, it's going to cost me $120-$130! To BATHE two cats! If I have to go that route, it's going to be the end of the month before I can dish out the extra dollars. So... Has anyone ever tried to bathe a cat? Is there another way around this?
Mattie loves a bath, but then again she's retarted. :lol: I gave my sisters cats a bath when she was afraid to do it, no big deal. Piece of cake.
We had to give our cats a bath a few years ago. They did not like it at all. 2 of them were OK, but the 3rd went crazy. Make sure you have a box of Band-Aids for yourself, as you might need them. :lol: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&cat=1391&articleid=1059
Why do I feel like I'm going to be sitting in the ER saying, "Well Dr., I was trying to bathe my cat, and then..."
You can't just dunk them in the bath tub. Put cat 1 in the sink and start the water on the OTHER side and let cat 1 drink the water or play with it. Get your hand wet and start rubbing the cat. Before you know it - cat's wet and then put the shampoo on. It will be like a mini-massage for the cat. ***Tricky part - getting the suds off the cat*** If you can hold the cat up like it's momma would do and spray! :mrgreen:
You think you're joking....almost lost my right thumb because of the infection. He was my pet and normally very gentle. You couldn't pay me enough to bathe a cat ever again unless it was a tiny kitten. There has to be another way.
Jen, seriously DON'T do it! The cat in my avatar ripped me to shreds a few months ago, I can still see the scars on my arms. And normally I could do anything in the world to her and she wouldn't care. Get some frontline or something from the vet. That stuff is the bomb, the OTC stuff just doesn't work as well, and neither do the collars. Only other thing is, maybe the vet can prescribe a sedative or something. If you haven't been bathing them all along, now is NOT a good time to start. Trust me! :shock:
I buy the flea powder and brush it into my cat. They have the flea spray that I spray into my hand (with rubber glove) and massage into her fur as well.
Don't blame the puppy! If your cat has fleas, your house has fleas. The cat is not carrying as many as your house is hiding. Get some Frontline, Borax and plenty of vacuum bags.
Theres a pill that kills fleas, Rachel used to use it and sell it up at Critter Country, I think it was called capstar?? She used it on one of my cats one time and it worked well and there were no adverse reactions. You might call up there and see if the new owners are selling it too. Otherwise, we use BioSpot flea & tick rememdy, you can buy it at Petsmart. Its not as expensive as Frontline or Advantage, and I've had just as good results with it. It comes as the applicator for behind the neck, and then a wet-wipe sort of application as well. Wipe them down real well with the wipe, going against the lay of the fur, and then put the spot-on treatment on. I've had to bathe cats before... from the word go you have to be the one in control, the minute you hesitate, the cat takes over. For the more resistent ones, I've held them by the scruff of the neck very firmly and just go to it. Any kind of a detachable shower head or sprayer makes it much easier.
Hmm, this sounds do-able, and a pill sounds do-able too. My one kitty would be fine, it's psycho cat I worry about. OK, stop at PetSmart-get Bio-Spot, and some sort of spray. HG, you know where I live if you want to come over and bathe them, right? I'll buy you some Miller Light!
Honestly, I'd NEVER seen a flea, or flea dirt until the puppy came. And we've been there for 4 years. I can't put down Borax with cats and kids, can I?
Cats, yes... kids, not sure. IIRC you are supposed to leave it down for 24 hours and then go back and vaccuum it up. We went that route years ago when we lived in a duplex and 2 kittens we adopted turned out to be flea bags. You might put the cats in the garage, take the kids out for the afternoon and set off a few bug bombs. We've done that before for fleas also and had good results. I think you need to vacate for 3 hours after you set them off. Just cover everything on your kitchen counters/table with a plastic sheet. I don't remember if you had a fish tank, but cover that and turn off the pump too. And.. cover anything else that might be susceptible to little one putting her mouth on (I know.. that might be a tall order). Maybe thats not much better of an idea either... thinking about the little one now... :?
Jennifer, I've heard that Borax is harmful if inhaled. You might want to research it some since you have a little one that is close to the floor. You're busy, so I did a quick search for you...
Yeah, I'm a little skiddish of borax and babies. I'm going to call the vet and see if they'll give me some capstar, and then take it from there.
I told you to bring your butt over and do it yourself. Heck no I didn't put my cat in a sink of water. You think I'm crazy?
Capstar is incredible...we were in a rental house for 2 months before getting into our home. The neighbors at the rental had a flea infestation in the backyard that eventually spread to ours. I bathed the three dogs with flea repellent shampoo and then got one capstar for each. It only works for 24 hours, but the fleas can be seen jumping off and dying. A really thorough combing to make sure eggs were gone and...NO FLEAS! (Knock on wood, but we've never had a flea problem since.)
