Is it a good idea to bath a cat?

I tried to bath a cat once and it really freaked out and scratched my arm badly. How do you achieve this without getting scratched to ribbons?
Is it a good idea to bath a cat? How often ?
Is it just for when you have to de-flea them or else des it serve another purpose?

 

If you really MUST bathe a cat, try rubbing it down with a wet washcloth or towel. (I know, cats fidget fiercely when it comes to lots of water.)

It's generally not a good idea to bathe cats. If they don't have any health problems that require a bath, and haven't made a mess of themselves (like being douced by a plate of food or some kind of weird chemical substance), then don't bathe them. They clean themselves.

I heard somewhere that when cats bask in the sun, there's something in their fur that reacts with sunlight and makes vitamin-D. Then when they groom themselves, they ingest the vitamin. Bathing them washes all that out, so NOT bathing them is good for their health.

 

Thanks for the info, we are just about to get a kitten and I want to get everything right before we get it.

 

I disagree, I have been bathing my cats since they were kitten, maybe once every two months or so, the vet agrees that this soothes and relaxes them. Lots of people bath cats and whilst it is not essential to their health I truly believe that they like water if they are raised to enjoy a bath.

 

Ya I give my kitty a bath every month or so. She loves it. With her I fill the tub to her belly with warm water and stick her in. Before I cover her with water I let her get used to the water. I then bathe her, she loves it.

 

Yes. It must be warm water. And tea tree shampoo helps keeps fleas and pther parasites, like ticks, at bay for a while.

 

I may try raising the kitten to enjoy a bath from time to time, as I know that with certain defleaing agents its necessary to bath them first. Every cat I have known does not tollorate water at all and sometimes I wondered if it was just plain cruelty to make them do something they didnt like, but now I see that cats can be raised to accept a bath and enjoy it as part of life if its done from an early age

 

The key is early age yes, sentient...

 

I've never been able to give a bath to my cats..
they are SCARED of water..
crazy Tiger

 

My can is funny if I run a bath she jumps in. She has learn that water can be fun. Most cats don't like water becasue they are never around large amounts of it.

 

It all depends.If you want your cat to have a good time taking a bath it really helps to introduce it when they're young.

 

I don't know if anybody has said this, but there is a spray-on, no-rinse shampoo that you can get for cats. It helps clean and condition their fur. I've never used it, so I don't know how well it works.

I bathe my mom's cat for her. He's about 20lbs. and has VERY long fluffy fur that tangles and mats and collects dirt and stuff pretty easily, so it's actually necessary to bathe him once in a while. He certainly doesn't enjoy it, but he doesn't fight it, either. He just kinda sits there all wet and pissed off the entire time, hehe, but then he struts around the living room like he's all proud of his new clean fur.

 

generally cats don't like water, tis true. but i'm able to bath my cat (when she goes rolling in the dusty dirt than wants to come into the house!!!!) because i started when she was a weebit kitten. she didn't mind it so much then and now, she 'tolerates' it. i hold her by the back of the neck with my fingers extending down her front paws ... i usually don't shampoo her or anything ... just a good rinsing and rubbing with some WARM water ... never give a cat a cold bath ... i've got scars to prove that a mistake!