I would like to here everyone's thoughts on whether to bath your cat or not. We only bathed our last cat a few times during the 12 years that we had her. She always cleaned herself so good.
Our new kitty - Charlie - 5 months old, seems to get a urine smell to him. Maybe this is a boy thing. I wondering if we should try to start bathing him now that he is young so that he might get use to the process. At the same time I am worried about any health implications and don't want to traumitize the little guy.
We do not show them so we bathe them as needed such as loose stool on them. Our pretty much bathe themsleves. I know others bathe them regularly.
I bathe Molly (and my previous kitties) as needed.
Definitely start him now so he gets used to it and it will definitely make it easier when he is full grown.
I didn't do that with my previous kitties and so of course it was never fun when I had to bathe them.
Molly actually is very easy to bathe - and a good thing since she is s large Ragdoll and it is only me to give her a bath!
I don't bathe either of my girls, but then again, they don't have any smell to them either. If yours has a urine smell then maybe he's getting himself wet right now when he pees, which will probably get better over time. I would do it in that case as needed. As Valerie says, get them used to it now!
I agree with the other posters if you want to bathe them start them young. It's not much fun though!
I was also worried about the same things. Dakota ussually keeps himself pretty clean, but his backend was getting pretty icky smelling, and wipes were not cutting it. I decided to give him a bath at (~4 mo) and i was worried that he would be traumatized and hate me. To my surprise, he didn't fuss at all! he was very relaxed during the entire process and the worse part for him was probably the drying process, which took a while. After his bath he went back to his same happy, purring, floppy self--and he smelled so good! so I will give him a bath maybe every 2 months at least while he is a kitten--so he doesnt get smelly again! So I guess it depends on your kitties' personality--I would give it a try
I haven't bathed Teddy, partly because he's such a groomer and partly because he's easily stressed. If you do bathe Charlie, just make sure to keep the bathroom warm so he doesn't get chilled. From other posts on the forum, most people find using the shower attachment easiest if possible (you may want to skip his head/ears/face). Also, make sure he's fully dried afterwards, again so he doesn't get chilled. As for his bum not being so clean, it's pretty common for kittens to have problems keeping themselves clean but they do outgrow it. In the meantime, you can trim the hair around his back end. I found it easiest to do when Teddy was sleeping or sleepy. You can also use electric pet clippers, but you'll likely need to get Charlie used to the noise first. The vet's can help you with trimming too.
i do not think its a boy issue. we bath titan not because he smells bad or anything but because he looks fluffier whiter and smells amazing. although it seems he has developed what breeders call stud tail. which is when the upper part of the tail becomes oily, apparently its from the oily glands going into overdrive to say they are ready to mate this occured before we got him desexed and now i know how to get it out so titan can be soft and fluffy again. yay!!! i highly recommend bathing your cats.
Although more common in whole males, stud tail is not limited to them. So, if you notice it in a neutered male it does not mean the castration did not work. ; )
have had 3 cats, only one who "need" it is my kitten, she sometimes get a little greasy on her lower back, right above the tail.