We have 3 inside cats and none of them have ever had a bath...We did have a Persian that had to be taken to the "beauty shop" about every 6 weeks, but he's the only one...My cats groom them selves...Oh boy, I don't even like to think of giving them a bath...

If your cat is healthy, grooming herself and doesn't have skin problems, there is not need to bathe her.

Thanks Ya'll. I was afraid I was going to be bashed for neglecting her.LOL She is half Persian and has medium long hair and a thick undercoat but so far no skin problems. I feel better now.LOL I would not even attempt to bathe her myself anyway.She would be going to a groomer!

She shouldn't ever need to be bathed but she will need regular brushings - daily if possible.

Brushing.......She will not let me brush her!LOL She has no matting and I guess "grooms" the excess hair herself.I find a lot around the house and on furniture.LOL

Brushing her coat is very important to avoid serious problems. Most cats throw up their hair balls - but if there is any problem she can develop a hairball that becomes impacted internally, requiring surgical intervention from the vet and putting your cat's life at risk. Obviously the longer the cat's coat the more problems, but even short haired cats can be affected.

I have Ragdolls - they have medium length fluffy fur - I find the best comb has two lengths of tines alternating in the comb. It helps pull out the undercoat and is easier on the cat. Start small, comb just the area that she likes to be scratched - do it in small sections and only as long as she isn't upset. Patiently build up to combing larger areas. Best to get her used to it before she builds up mats which can be painful and annoying for both you and her to remove if left too long. She will eventually learn to tolerate the combing and maybe even appreciate it.

Sky

I have had about 15 cats and bathed two of them. The first was my Siamese when he got into tar and the second was my yellow cat who had fleas. He was declawed(the only cat I ever had who was) and with his hind claws he did a number on my DD arm. I comb my cats with a steel comb, and brush them with a wire brush. Some like it , some don't.

With our Persian, I used a flea comb on him constantly...He loved it and it seemed to get rid of all the loose fur...He was very lazy about grooming and depended on me to take care of things...When we did get him groomed, I always told them to make sure the fur around his behind was short...If he got messy, my DH would take care of that problem and it was not a pretty scene...DH would wrap him in a towel and Simba would yell as if someone was really, really hurting him...It would only take a couple of minutes and he would be mad for hours....Dear Simba had to be put to sleep in Feb., and I miss those nightly brushings....

Most cat's don't like the brush initially but they can be trained to tolerate it just like anything else. It is very important with any cat, but patricularly a medium-long haired cat to be brushed regularly to avoid the problems skypathway has just mentioned. Just be patient and persistent and coo and goo-goo gah-gah over them the whole time and eventually they will get used to it. :o)

Another option is to use a mitten type thing that has rubber "teeth" on it. That way it's as if you are petting the cat with your hand, but the matting pulls off the loose hair. I bought one years ago called...and I swear I'm not making this up.... "the love glove". Click on the link below to see what it looks like (don't google "love glove" or else I can't be held responsible for what pops up!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Love Glove for Cat Grooming

The only time I've ever bathed a cat was when they were infested with fleas. I have partially bathed one of my long haired cats for the same reason that irishdancersgram mentioned - he had diarrhea and, well, you don't want me to explain further. Anyway, I had to wash his hiney. And no, he wasn't at all pleased with me, lol.

My other long haired cat hates being brushed, also, and does get matted. The mats make her hate brushing even more. We just had her shaved this past week, and I can tell she feels so much better, even if she does look like a Dr. Seuss creature. I'm planning, now that her mats are gone, to use a soft brush on her as her hair grows back, and try to get her used to being brushed. As her hair grows out, I'll graduate to a stronger brush that will go through her hair. At least that's the plan. We'll see how it works in real life.

Most cats are very good about giving themselves bathes. Some of my cats think my lap is their bath tub.

Sally

I don't believe you need to bath an indoor cat. Mine is 2 years old with medium length, velvety soft fur. He has zero odor so I don't see the point.

He does puke hairballs so I do brush him (not enough). If he has mats I just cut them off with hair cutting scissors.

Not a stupid question at all! When my kittens were little I took them in for a weekly bath and brush because my husband was allergic. This helped wash away the dander and dried saliva that he was allergic to. We slowly weened them off of this, but I still take them in when they get their winter fur starting to shed, they are indoor cats and it is hard to groom them outside without them running away.

So once every few months is good, and an expert groomer will express anal glands as well, and keep you updated on the skin health of your cat. Long fur cats may have skin conditions you may not realize but a groomer would find while the cat is in their care.

I am all for bathing a cat if it is dirty, and a good grooming every few months is helpful.

The short hair cats we've had -- siamese and burmese -- never needed to be bathed, and we would comb or brush them if they liked it even though it was not necessary.

But the Persian cats we've had were a nuisance to take care of. Their hair is long and it mats easily, and it sheds all over the place. They often do not like to be combed or brushed because, I think, it hurts them because the hair is all knotted up. The other problem is that they often do not clean their rear ends after their BMs, and the only way to take care of that is to put lots of talcum powder there and comb it out, sort of like cleansing the area. Not a pleasant task. We would wait until the weather got real hot in the summer and shave off all the hair on our Persians and let it grow back. For a while, it looked good and was easy to keep untangled. But then, as it got longer and thicker, the problems would start all over again. After living with 2 Perian cats and putting up with the inconvenience, we decided to stick to siamese & burmese.

My cat is part pursian (sp?) with long hair. I bathed her for a while when we first rescued her because she was so dirty. She keeps herself very clean now and I have never seen her hair matted. Also never had a hairball. I think this is because I feed her very good food.