Most indoor cats never need a bath, they clean themselves pretty well. In the few cases where a bath is needed (accidents happen, cat got very dirty outside, or similar): don’t use any human soaps, try to only use water, as cats have a natural scent that they build over time washing themselves, and perfumes work against that. Also, they will lick it up later. Soap is not a good thing to ingest!
Especially if you have multiple cats, a cat smelling very differently can lead to fights.
If a cat is messy/smelly enough to need a bath, it’s probably gotten pretty bad! Since they have to go through the trauma of a bath anyway, I would definitely use a well-reviewed pet-safe cleaner at that point. I have no specific recommendations, but they definitely make cat shampoos that address your concerns…
Our cat has a dog tongue instead of a cat tongue, so he struggles to clean himself well.
He also has really long fur, compounding the problem.
He lives indoors only, and he gets greasy and matted within a year. So we shave and bathe him twice a year. He hates it, naturally, but his personality is much better in the months after his bath than the weeks leading up to it. Especially if he’s matted.
![Cat Laundry [@diar_wi]](https://media.piefed.social/posts/fA/aR/fAaRvM3D0cV2Akn.png){kind=link}
Most indoor cats never need a bath, they clean themselves pretty well. In the few cases where a bath is needed (accidents happen, cat got very dirty outside, or similar): don’t use any human soaps, try to only use water, as cats have a natural scent that they build over time washing themselves, and perfumes work against that. Also, they will lick it up later. Soap is not a good thing to ingest!
Especially if you have multiple cats, a cat smelling very differently can lead to fights.
If a cat is messy/smelly enough to need a bath, it’s probably gotten pretty bad! Since they have to go through the trauma of a bath anyway, I would definitely use a well-reviewed pet-safe cleaner at that point. I have no specific recommendations, but they definitely make cat shampoos that address your concerns…
Our cat has a dog tongue instead of a cat tongue, so he struggles to clean himself well. He also has really long fur, compounding the problem.
He lives indoors only, and he gets greasy and matted within a year. So we shave and bathe him twice a year. He hates it, naturally, but his personality is much better in the months after his bath than the weeks leading up to it. Especially if he’s matted.
So there’s a dog somewhere missing its tongue?