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Bath time

CuryC

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Nov 25, 2017
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Please help with my little babe.
I want him to know he has to get a bath when he starts smelling, and this Florida heat isn’t helping.
First bath-kitchen sink, small amount of water and I had the gloves and shampoo all ready. He tried to escape multiple times. A few scratches and a slippery mess later we made it through.
Second bath-I decided to try and fill it up more with the warm water and see if that made a difference. Nope. Now I have a swimming slippery mess and scratches all over.
Third bath (today)- I decided to try and actually get in the bathtub with him. Maybe he just needs mama. It looks like I went through a tornado! I have scratches all over, water and soap all over the bathroom, he escaped once, so I had to pull him back in the tub.
Guys!! He’s only 4.5 lbs! I cradled him against me and was able to scrub him clean...by far the cleanest I’ve gonna him, but how am I going to get him to tolerate these baths? I try to wait until I smell potato for a few days, but he’s very adventurous.
 

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Sheldon13

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He looks like he’s giving a mischievous wink in that photo lol.

I think it will get better with practice. You just continue to set expectations and reward good behavior. Also a nice warm towel after is nice. :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

CuryC

Lairian
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Nov 25, 2017
Messages
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@CuryC oh my ! I can relate . I used to have to wear a coat /sweatshirt for spa day haters here !

Please please Clean your scratches well and often and check for infection ..
My arms and hands look like Edward scissor hand and I had a round .
Never got infected but cleaned often . We have seen members get infections so please monitor careful amd flwup with a doctor If need be .

Well, I tried the same as you with the same results . :(
and leaning in over the garden tub .ugh .
(3 previous bsck surgeries )

A member recommended the stokkes flexibath ( like a short Rubbermaid rough neck tote)
With it a drain plug and folds for storage ..

I can finally do spa days in my florida tank top , shorts and not get clawed to death and my back doesn’t get stuck.

Oh they still are far from angels but it’s much more manageable.

I put it on a towel on the bathroom counter , with a smaller towel in the bottom
Drain plug out over sink
Pitcher of water with baby face clothes and a squirt of hylyt shampoo in it
Shampoos , products with caps already open , rinse cup right behind flexibath
Exfoliating gloves on
Then I get kitty out in flexibath using the baby face cloths In pitcher
Amd shampoo on my exfoliating glove.

They stand up on the edge of the flexibath trying to escape
( talking nice doesn’t do a damn thing with mine , so I power Thru ! Lol )

They stand on the edge , I hold on shoulders with exfoliating glove amd with the other Hand get underside necks and face with a separate face cloth )
The towel on the bottom get down wet which helps clean feet as they protest !

Then I use the rinse cups with sink slightly running.
The stand up and I rinse and use a few extra baby face clothes with plain running water to wipe off

I scoop them out into the dog microfiber drying towels ( get at Marshall’s fo $6)
They are way easier to hold protesting kitty for me than my big Beth towels.
I put them on my lap using a small little vanity chair .
Pat dry amd then they run like hell in disgust

Til the next full spay day

I do in between wipe downs . There a whole other process with my brats lol
( love Trizultra/with Keto flush ( can use to wipe ears I don’t flush and be used on skin too skin too , so dual purpose ) I get ar my vet or chewy online
I wet on Cotton rounds to wipe chins , neck face pits ) gets more off than baby wipes for my my crew) and they actually like like it !

Surely others will chime in amd you will have a variety of things to try

I am always so envious of the pets her love spa day
- @kibaspirit recently posted Oogi loving spa day ! I wish!

Please keep us updated ok your scratches !
Head smooches to your little darling
Thank you! I’ll have to look into this tub!
I have everything ready too, gloves on, shampoo open, everything ready.
My scratches are ok. I wash my hands 100times a day at work, so I’ll be ok. I’ll get some antibiotic ointment for them :)
Maybe I’ll start getting the gloves and start petting him without the water. Just to see if he can get used to it. Just a small little baby and getting dirty fast. I’ll have to see if I can space out bathtime longer. Maybe 3-4 weeks.
 

Yoda mom

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@CuryC keep in mind as many have mentioned and recently @Monica posted she also goes longer between spa days . Frequent washing for some can lead to being more greasy dirty.
Many can go weeks with touch ups in between

Following for updates
 

kibaspirit

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@CuryC Our boy fought us the first couple of times, but now he seems to be quite content in the tub. Sounds like you are trying some good things. Perhaps with more time he will be less combative. Here is what we do:

1) Make sure everything is ready before (you have this covered).

2) I ALWAYS have a second set of hands. Not sure if this is possible for you, but it is tremendously helpful. My partner wears the exfoliator gloves and I use bare hands. Or vice versa - one person should have bare hands for lathering.

3) Make sure the tub is very full and very warm. We make it deep enough that the water line is almost covering his whole back. This has been a gamechanger. If the water is really warm and deep, it seems to comfort our boy. Additionally, with the HyLyt soap we make it SUPER bubbly. This masks the water a bit and adds a fun element for kitty.

4) Don't run the water at all during bath time if you can help it. That's the one thing that makes our boy nervous - the sound of running water.

5) LOTS of treats and kisses after bath time. This goes for any stressful thing you do with kitty. Condition your boy to expect reward and that may deter the behavior as well. We do little greenies for treats.

Good luck! I hope it gets easier for you. Bath time can be fun if kitty enjoys the experience. Here are a few pics. The one where the water isn't as deep is the first successful spa day that we had.

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Lita

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Jul 15, 2019
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Well, we like baths... but:
1) first of all I stay totally calm - cats, just like babies, mirroring our emotions
2) I don't rush anything
3) I don't have bathtub but I use the deep shower tray that we have (you can see on video)
4) the water is really warm and deep, going up to their chest
5) and I speak to them, very calmly, trying to interest them to water and the soap foam
5a) try to buy some bath toys ;)
6) I clean each cat separately, very slowly, carefully to not wet his face. Face Is the last thing I clean (nobody likes to have wet face ;) )
7) I rinse them with warm water from the big cup or other container (never from shower or tap)
8) after the bath wrap the cat in a towel and speak to it calmly and comfort it :) Your calm voice will slow the cats heart down.

 

Bailey21

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@Yoda mom I finally took the plunge and ordered some of the TrizUltra with the keto today. I've been humming and hawing about ordering it for a while. I'm excited to finally try it myself! How does it smell? The current one I use now has a very strong fragrance smell.
 

Condo commando

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@Yoda mom I finally took the plunge and ordered some of the TrizUltra with the keto today. I've been humming and hawing about ordering it for a while. I'm excited to finally try it myself! How does it smell? The current one I use now has a very strong fragrance smell.
LOL this is what I use. I bought it at the vet office because it's what they used. No smell at all.
 

Monica

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Are you running the water with kitty in the tub? That’s a trigger for one of mine. I have to make sure the tub is filled & ready before I put her in.

Others have given some good tips! I’ll add what works for us:
- Place a towel in the bottom of the tub. This gives them something to grip so they don’t feel unstable & slippery.
- Fill tub to minimum chest height or deeper with v warm water. Their bodies sit around 102°F, so they like the water hot.
- Don’t run the water while they’re in the tub. Instead, have a large jug/bowl with warm rinse water ready on the side.
- Make sure you rinse them completely! This is a common issue on the Lair. Owner will complain that their sphynx is dirty with orange-brown residue under the belly & arms the morning after their bath. It’s soap residue! A good rinse will eliminate this.

My babies go 10-12 weeks without baths now, with “touch ups” in btwn with ZyMox Conditioning Rinse. Honestly, I end up washing them just bc I want to lol. They def get more tolerant over time!
 

Bailey21

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@Yoda mom Ah thank you for the additional tips and information! I'll have to check out the Otirinse, I actually ended up ordering the TrizUltra from US amazon as it was double the price on the Canadian one, and the US included conversion, duty ect. So strange.

I'm super hopeful that my crew will tolerate this better, my current solution actually does what you mentioned, all of their ears turn red after! I've been using Ubasan since the very beginning since that's what the vet technicians used when showing me how to clean Yoda's ears for the first time. I think it bothers them with the heavy scent, even though their ears smell wonderful after.

I also love that the TrizUltra is anti-fungal and antibacterial!
 

CuryC

Lairian
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Nov 25, 2017
Messages
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I got a tree tree at cleaner and checked with my vet first. She said as long as he lets me.
Funny thing is I can trim him nails, clean his ears-even with the qtips- and he doesn’t care. It’s just the actual bath part.
I’m gonna keep trying and doing these different little tasks to help him. I won’t be giving him a bath for a while, but he already smells potato lol
 

SphynxCatCarl

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Jul 27, 2019
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@Bailey21 my vet got me hooked on Trizultra with Keto with my dog 15 plus years ago!
He had horrid ears nothing helped ... I haven’t been back to a vet for ear issues with dogs or csts for 15 plus years since using it to wipe out ears .

Trizultra with Keto is well received by all paws !
The dogs walk to the spa and stand om the ledge waiting for ear massages with it
The nakids sit on my lap like and enjoy the ear wipes on flat cotton rounds wetted with Keto .

The don’t care for the wetted qtips and precision qtips wetted as much ..but they don’t fight me like they did with some other ear cleaners .

I would say it is 99% fragrance free .
You don’t notice any smell unless you really try to detect s hint of it . At least to me .

I clean ears twice a week with Trizultra with Keto .
I put the a few cotton rounds topped with a few qtips and precision qtips and wet all , then clean ears .

It is dual purpose amd can be used as a skin flush .

So now I wet a flat cotton round and wipe chins, neck , chest , arm pits and wrinkles with it .
Wow , really gets brown off even right after a Huggies Natural baby wipes . The baby eieos get nothing off in comparison. They like it too .. like a massage !

Hope it is well received by your babies too!

@Condo commando curious how you use Trizultra with Keto ? Always open for suggestions :)
I just bought the Trizultra w/ Keto, thanks for the recommendations!!
 

JojoCatMama

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May 14, 2017
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I’m sorry to hear bath time is a struggle! Merlin is the same way. HATES baths. It takes two of us - one to hold/scrub, another to just scrub. We wear exfoliating gloves to help speed up the process and try to go as quickly as we can. Then Merlin gets treats at the end to make it ok!

We’ve learned that Merlin doesn’t need baths very often - maybe once every couple of months. His skin has adjusted and he really doesn’t get too filthy in between. Good luck finding a routine that works for you both!
 
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