How do I bathe Simba?

[harrymc]

Bathing a Maine Coon

Don't know whether this will help Karena, but I found this link this morning. I am going to attempt to bathe Harry later (when he wakes up !)

I change his litter every day completely but I did buy a different litter last week which i don't think is so good as the one he's used to (Catsan) This morning when he jumped on my face, (as they do) I nearly brought up my breakfast so something like bathing that didn't seem important yesterday suddenly became a must today !

I think, reading the advise in the link is to be totally prepared, lots of towels and everything else you need at hand. Will let you know how I get on later.

[Karena]

Thanks for that Alison. I did it totally wrong then as I did try to hold him still. The link is useful though. I have had a chat with his breeder this morning. She has been very helpful. She told me to put him on the side whenever I am near the sink and let him watch the tap running - if he wants to go let him, she said eventually curiosity will get the better of him and he will start to play with the water. Once his fear has gone it will be easier to bathe him. In the past I have bathed horses and dogs and even hosed down a cows udder and they were a doddle in comparison

[harrymc]

Well the first bathtime went ok. I decided to do it in the kitchen sink, as advised in the link I posted earlier. I put a couple of inches of warm water and mixed in some of the pet shampoo and as Harry always jumps on to the unit besides the sink to see what I am doing I put some plastic lids in the water and we just played for a bit. He got more inquisitive and put his front paws straight in trying to bat the lids about and before I knew it he was stood in it. I then just scooped water over his back and poured over warm water to rinse most of it off. He only got distressed when it got too close to his face and attempted to jump out but as I was nearly done we called it a day.

Now the drying was another matter, towel dry, fine, no problems but as soon as the dryer came out he was off and then I had to ask hubby for help. Anyway now he's completely dry and looks like a ball of sweet smelling fluff ahhhh.

[Scrapdragon]

great to see it went well....

[Claire]

Mums Cat managed to poo on the way to Mum's house! The smell in the car was one I will never forget. So poor Stitch's first intoduction to Mum's house was sat in an empty bath having her paws wiped with baby wipes! She was very good and let me do that no problem! However, she does still smell and will need a proper bath soon. I'm not doing it yet as she really needs time to settle in! Can't say I'm looking forward to it!

[Tomiam]

I had to wash the rear of Loki yesterday as she got some a fair bit of poop on her, one bit sticking to both sides of her fur tuffs.
Today my wounds have mostly healed and all but 1 is pain free. She didnt want to get into the sink, had to be literally dumped in. Then didnt really want to be dried with a towel, then DEFINATELY didnt like the hairdryer which is where my injuries came from as I was holding her in a towel at the time.

I shall now introduce them both to the bath using the slowly slowly method. I can see it working as Storvenn loves to watch dishes being washed and rountinely takes a bite out of bubbles

[Scrapdragon]

I guess my turn is coming....

but lesson learnt... don't use hairdryer!!!!