It’s never fun, typically ends in blood shed, and never ends with anyone involved being in a good mood, but occasionally we all must give our cats a bath. While some feel that the only times a cat should be given a bath are if they have come into contact with some type of chemical that could make them sick if ingested or if you are treating a flea problem, others feel a good bath on occasion does wonders for a cats appearance. The bottom line is by getting them accustomed to baths early in life, as they grow older it won’t be such a struggle to get kitty clean. 

No matter how often you do it, you can’t just decide to pick kitty up and drop them into a bathtub full of water without doing any prep work though. Pick up a bottle of cat shampoo the next time you are in your local pet store (the major difference between these and human shampoos are that they often are less harmful towards your cat’s skin and less likely to cause skin problems such as drying out), make sure you have a giant fluffy towel handy, and oh get some help. Imagine trying to scrub down a wet fish with a bar of soap and you’ll understand why giving your cat a bath can be such an interesting task.  According to The Cat Site before the bath “A couple of hours before the bath, have a grooming session and brush the cat's coat. This is especially important for longhaired cats, since any mats and tangles are likely to shrink during the wash and become difficult to handle.”