Spring Cleaning

In addition to gardening, our recent "potato-salad" weather inspired me to do a little spring cleaning. Merry had not had a bath since last July, according to my notes, although I seem to recall giving him one in September and may have forgotten to mark it down. In any event, he was overdue, and had been asking me for face-washes when I was washing my own face. Nor had he forgotten the procedure, and likewise remembered his manners, standing politely in tummy-deep water while I soaped him up, not protesting when I folded his ears back to rinse the top of his head under the tap, enduring the sprayer for a thorough rinse, and only objecting verbally to having his embarrasing bits towelled off. Tropicana Cat Wash has another satisfied client!

Resigned To It

Day 276: Ideally, you start them off with the concept while they're kittens. You introduce them to it by first putting a little warm water in the sink, and then add the cat. Don't force the issue, and do not make eye contact (closing your eyes is even better). Eye contact is perceived as a threat. Speak softly (even if you're being eaten alive!). Only leave them in the shallow water for a minute or two before drying their paws and letting them go. The next time you're feeling brave, make the water a little deeper and the encounter a little longer. Follow the same procedure: no eye contact, speaking softly. Over the next few months or a year, work your way up to using shampoo and the sprayer for rinsing. Eventually, you will be rewarded with a cat who actually enjoys having a thorough ten-minute bath as Merry did this morning. No fuss, no scratching, no biting, no plaintive meowing...just a nice, warm wash with kitty shampoo and getting dried off with fluffy towels. Tropicana Cat Wash has another satisfied customer!

Finishing Touches

Day 187: This one is for the disbelievers among you. Yes, I bathe my cat. I have always bathed my cats. You start them out as young as possible, introducing the idea of being wet and in the sink gradually, praising them and speaking in a soft voice. But even more critical to the process is a simple action: close your eyes, or at least do not make direct eye contact, which is perceived as threatening. Merry's first bath was a quick wet-down in plain water. His second adventure included a light shampoo and a brief encounter with the sprayer. Yesterday, he got the full Tropicana Cat Wash experience: lather, rinse, repeat, and a thorough towelling. He's not too keen on having his front feet in, but if I allow him to brace himself on the divider between the basins, he was perfectly content to have his tummy soaped up. A clean cat is a happy cat, and soft as a bunny.

Wet Cat Blues

Day 140: Such a good little babycat! Merry had his second bath yesterday. His first one, done several months ago, took him by surprise and in any event, wasn't much more than just getting him wet. This was the full "Tropicana Cat Wash" luxury treatment: all four feet in water up to his tummy, being lathered with kitty shampoo, enduring the scary sprayer for a rinse, and then being vigorously towelled to the state you see in the photo. He only tried to get out of the sink once, and although he resisted having his front feet put in the water at first, once they were there, he didn't object. Yes, I know it's unusual to bathe cats, but have you ever petted someone's cat and then felt as if you needed to wash your hands with soap afterwards? A clean cat is a happier cat, too. And there is nothing quite like having a wet cat in your lap once the deed is done.

The Greatest Indignity

Day 360: This went more smoothly than I'd expected. Other than having the water turned on him once when I was trying to teach him to stay out of the kitchen sink, Merry had not yet had anything resembling a true bath. Cats in this household get bathed several times a year, mind you, and I needed to start breaking him in to the process while he's still young. I fully expected him to come up all teeth and toenails, but other than resisting having his front paws lowered into two inches of warm water (his back feet were already in), there was no particular struggle. I soaped him up, rinsed him with the sprayer and by holding him beneath the faucet, all the time talking gently to him and keeping my eyes closed so as not to present a threat if he tried to initiate eye contact.. His beautiful Russian Blue coat barely shed a hair, as opposed to Tippy's and Skunk's, either of which filled the drain strainer whenever they were bathed. Merry and I concluded the procedure with both of us unscathed and thoroughly wet, and no harm done. His initial Tropicana Cat Wash experience was a total success!

Bath Day At Tropicana Cat Wash

Day 208: I couldn't believe the note on the fridge. Surely cats must have had at least one bath since late last August and I just forgot to write it down! The customary interval is every 6-8 weeks, maybe a little longer during the winter months and oftener in the summer. August? Really? In that case, they were long overdue.

The idea of washing cats generally draws comments from people along the lines of, "If I tried that, I wouldn't have a square inch of skin left," and that's probably right unless you'd broken your puss into the idea at an early age as I did Skunk and Tip. Skunk was a water-cat by nature. When she was a kitten, she'd jump in the shower with me and go sit on the drain, unperturbed by the rising tide. It was easier to bathe her in the kitchen sink, and thus a transition was made.

On the other hand, Tip was a normal kitty and one who viewed water as something only moderately less threatening than the vacuum cleaner. To acquaint him with the principle, I allowed him to keep his hands on my shoulder as I bent over the sink and washed his hindquarters. Every now and then, I'd make nose contact with him to assure him that everything was okay. Nose to nose and always speaking gently, I'd tell him he was a good boy. With each bath, I succeeded in gaining more of his confidence. Both cats are now entirely accustomed to this ritual to the point that I can step away from the sink to get a towel without fear of them leaping out.

You wash yourself. You wash your dog if you own one. Why should a cat have to endure a lifetime of grease and dust accumulating on their fur? My kitties' coats are as soft as bunny fur, and regular bathing helps prevent hairballs as well. Skunk and Tippy will assure you that a clean cat is a happy cat...at least once they're dry.