Thread: Overweight Cat
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Old September 14th, 2009, 06:32 PM
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Bailey_ Bailey_ is offline
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Location: Edmonton, Alberta
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As far as bathing an older cat, I do think it is possible if you give it a chance, only because we were able to do it with our female. We adopted her when she was a year and a half, so obviously she wasn't a fan of water at this time - but we were determined to give it a go!

We started off bringing a basin of water into the living room in the evenings where we knew she was comfortable, with a big towel. Literally, all I would do was sit by that basin and wait until she came over to me first (this was key).
Once she sniffed the water and started to take a few sips, I'd start by dipping my own hands in the water at the same time. The first time I did this, she backed away, wary.
I just continued and eventually she wandered over to me to get some pets. My hands were already wet, and I just continued dipping my hands in the warm water and petting her.

It was a long process, but she loved it. Very relaxing, no running-water-sounds (which she to this day hates), and we can now fill the tub with a few inches of water and give her a full bath without having a death-match on our hands.

Of course we always keep things very slow and relaxed (which means I have everything ready beforehand) and we talk to her the entire time. The dogs need to be kenneled because for some reason this whole venture really works them up - most likely they can feel her anxiety, so we seperate everyone to ensure that nothing spooks Moo for any reason whatsoever during bathtime.

She still isn't a fan of the tub baths, but I can definitely give her a bath with ease if we go the basin route, which she's used too now and eagerly sits on my lap for her 'grooming session'.

Obviously this won't work for EVERY cat, but it did for us. Don't feel like you have to rule out giving an older cat a bath.
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Bailey (Labradoodle)
Tippy (Collie/ShepX)
Vali (American Bulldog)
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