Pet-Washing Stories!

[techmaster-glitch]

Title confusing? Good. I deliberately left 'chocolate' uncapitalized.
Chocolate is my cat, and for the first time in the at least two, maybe three or four years I've had him, I've given him a bath.
Yes, Cat(Fangs and claws included), water, and first time ever...you can probably guessed what happened.

   I started by getting the essentials. Fur soap? Check. Towel? Check. Cup to pour water? Check. Tub of water? Check. Level Five Full-Body Armor? ...Working on it...aw shoot. Ok...Cat? Ah, there he is!
   There he was, just lying around, not a care in the world, totally oblivious to what was about to happen. I picked him out and carried him out of the room into the halway and closed to the doors. He protested, but he does that when anyone picks him up and carries him. I went into the bathroom and started the tub. Then I went back out and picked him up and carried him into the bathroom, and closed the door. Now Chocolate began to suspect something was amiss. He started meowing constantly in protest, standing by the door, I'm guessing because he was trapped in an unfamiliar environment with much noise. I waited a few whole minutes for the water to fill to a good level. With the meowing in one ear and cascading water in the other, it seemd to take awhile. Finally the water got up to an acceptable level and temperature, and I shut it off. By this time, Chocolate had laid down next to the door, still giving off his meows. I went over to him, picked him up one last time, and carried him towards the tub. He struggled like he always does when carried, and managed to get one little claw dug into the inside of my elbow. I 'Owed!" loudly, detatched him, and set him in the water.
   He was totally unprepared for it. Never having experienced this before, he just sort of stood there, legs splayed out having virtually no traction, shocked and wide-eyed, meowing incessantly with a somewhat deep, buzzing tone he rarely ever uses. I wasted little time in setting to work. I got the large cup, scooped up a whole lot of water, and dumped it on his back. He didn't really make any meaningful reaction, he just continued meowing. I scooped up more water, and dumped more on him several times, getting him thoroughly soaked. When I dumped one over his head, it was the only time he stopped meowing, if only for a second. It went something like this; "Meow! Meow! Meo-*blubblurble*! Meow!" After I made sure his whole body was wet, I cautiously took my hands off of him to get some of the soap before returning to him.
   Mostly it's a blur after that. He didn't realize to try escaping while I went for soap, but he frequently tried while I was washing him. I countered most of this by either keeping one hand around his neck or a leg, sometimes both front legs (preferably). After getting his head and back, I noticed the water level was much to high to get his underbelly or legs, so I pulled the plug and gradually let it out, scrubbing him the whole time. He just did nothing but meow the whole time. Eventually, the water drained enough to get his underbelly and legs. I went for more soap, this time he made yet another bid for freedom from the water, but I quickly stopped him. I got the rest of him washed up, and finally started on rinsing him down. This I did repeatedly, scooping water, dumping, and rubbing to get all the soap out. After I did his head (twice), he finally had enough, and started his best struggle yet. He put eveything he had into it, I wrestled him all the way around the tub and even up one of the walls. Miraculously, I did not get scratched (probably because of the way I prudently kept frim hold of both of his front legs). But when he went around to the right and twisted, I had to let go of one of his front legs wIth one hand. He tried his hardest after that, in more ways than one. He was a wet, pissed-off, soggy, scruffed-up rag of rage then. He was just ferocious. I then made the mistake of getting one of my fingers a wee bit to close to his face trying to regain control of his renegade leg.
   Yeah.
   He got a finger.
   He bit my whole middle finger, and clamped down hard. He never, ever, in living memory, bit anyone as hard as he did me at that moment. I quickly had to tear my finger out of his mouth. Yes. It's as bad as it sounds. It would have beem much worse if I hadn't done anything. I finally said, "Ok, you're done. You win." And let go of him as he flopped out of the tub. I then quickly started drying him with the towel. He meowed just like he'd been doing, but not in the same tone, and didn't struggle much. The whole time, I had to to keep a bloody finger wrapped in a corner of the towel. I finished, and looked down at a freshly half-dried cat. Yes, that look. I knew my family would want to see it, so I coverd him in the towel, ran to my room (right next to the bathroom) grabbed my cell phone, ran back intop the bathroom, took off the towel, and snapped a photo. Then I finally let him go.
   And now I'm here, typing this, with a strip of toilet paper wrapped around my middle finger, by necesity typing by the 'hunt-and-peck' method.

And that's my story.
I'll post the picture of him if I can.

Anyone else got any pet-washing storys? Fun, painful, or otherwise?

EDIT: Oh yeah, my family's probably expecting to come home to a mutilated corpse. Even in the best of times, Chocolates is generally quite a grumpy kitty

[familyghost]

I should imagine your cat has won some sort of empty victory what since it was still wet.

Get some neosporain for the bite too.

[techmaster-glitch]

*takes of improv bandage and inspects finger*
It's actually really not that bad at all. Just about three scrapes more than anything, and a few very minor scratches.
But yeah, neosporin's probably a good idea.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

if it's just three scratches, then he wasn't -seriously- trying to bite you. Just let you know he was pissed.


FWIW, I've found handling cats in these situations to be much much easier if you bear in mind one particular detail of their anatomy. If you've ever seen a momma cat carrying kittens, they pick them up by the scruff of their neck, and the kitten goes limp. There's a nerve in the back of the neck that does it.

Adult cats, the nerve is less sensitive, but will work if you're slightly (and very very carefully) brutal about it. On the upside, it's a lot less damage to the cat and yourself than holding legs, tail, claws, or whatever, and it gives you one free hand to wash with.


Do NOT let go. ;-]

[techmaster-glitch]

Just let you know he was pissed.

That's exactly what he was, but the clamp was still hard.

As for grabbing the scruff of the neck, yes we used to do that to him when he was a kitten, but now he's a heavy, fat cat It just doesn't work anymore.

[thegayhare]

it's odd none of our cats have every realy given us a problem when it comes to bathing.

there are escape attempts but only once has anyone ever been bit.

my sis has scars from Ebony's teen on her shoulder.  but that was only once cause Ebony is a scaredy cat and was frightened.  sis has found th way around that is to done a bathing suit and take the bath with Ebony.

The other cats whine and moan and squirm but thats it .

hell when ever we bath Amber she just sis there and takes it with no real complaints

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Just let you know he was pissed.

That's exactly what he was, but the clamp was still hard.

As for grabbing the scruff of the neck, yes we used to do that to him when he was a kitten, but now he's a heavy, fat cat It just doesn't work anymore.

You have my sympathy for the teeth - I bet it still hurt, but at least you've still got your finger attached.

As for the big fat cat thing? It still worked on my parent's cat, who started his life as Gingernut, a nice big fluffy ginger tom. And then they, as responsible owners, had him spayed. So, of course, he became gingernutless. Over time, this decayed to just plain Nutless.

Last time I saw him, he was 9 kilos (around 20 lb) in weight, and all of it muscle. LOOKed like a big fat ball of fluff, but most of it was hair or muscle.

I've seen him jump 9 feet off the ground without touching the fence on the way up. I've no idea how the hell he did it.

[techmaster-glitch]

Just saw Chocolate again this morning. He doesn't seem to have any hard feelings. I petted him just fine. He feels so soft (and smells much better!) now. The reason i gave him a bath was because recently I commented on his rather bad smell (being a half-indoor, half-outdoor cat), and yesterday when I brought him back in the hous after he'd been out all day, he just smelled bad. So I finally decided, "Ok, Kitty, you're going to get a bath. Now."

My finger also seems alright, all things considered. I just gave it a good wash. the ony problem is I can' bend it or put pressure on it without some pain... ah well. It'll heal.

[thegayhare]

Interesting side note...

It turns out we're going to be bathing all 4 kitties tomarrow. 

I'll get pictures and give you the blow by blow.

I bet you all are just dieing to see Amber naked and soaking wet

[Tezkat]

Careful. Cat bites usually become infected. Is your tetanus shot up to date?


One tip I found helpful when bathing cats: Many cats hate getting their paws wet but will tolerate a sponge bath if you park them on some kind of dry platform for the operation.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Heh.

My parents had a cat, at one point, that used to walk around the edge of the shower/bath while Dad was having a shower. One day Mum was... tempted too much, and reached out, and pushed.

Apparently the cat fell into the water, and zipped straight out the other side without pausing for breath.

But it doesn't stop there - apparently said cat -refused- to accept Mum's existence for three weeks; if Mum put down food, the cat would ignore it entirely. If Mum walked into the room, the cat would turn it's back on her.

*grin* cats are people, too. :-]

[Goatmon]

I feel violated that I read all of that, and don't even get a picture ofa wet cat as thanks.   

[techmaster-glitch]

Umm...I took a picture with my cell phone, but I don't know if I can upload it...

I'm sorry

[thegayhare]

My sister locked me out of the bathroom while she bathed them

(I guess I'm good enough to clean up there poop but not to clean the kitties)

they all behaves Alem howled and thrashed but that was it and my sis told me Amber put her paws up on the back of the tub so that sis could clean her butt realy good

[Reese Tora]

Umm...I took a picture with my cell phone, but I don't know if I can upload it...

I'm sorry

you can:

a) get a data cable and appropriate software and download it... depending on model, runs 30-60 bucks
or
b) use your phone to email it to yourself... depending on your service plan(and the size of the picture), this can cost a few cents to quite a bit
c) send it as a text/picture message to someone who can put it on a computer from thier phone... probably the same cost to you as b, but involves another person and thier costs

[TheGreyRonin]

 Hm. You do realize that cats, particularly indoors cats, are self-cleaning under normal circumstances?

But I've had to bathe a cat a few times in my life; most memorable was when Slayer (R.I.P.) tangled with a skunk.

Yes, the nerve helps. So did duct-taping her paws together. I still ended up with sixteen stitches. LOL

On the other hand, my gigantic kitten Trouble enjoys showering with me. He's bothered more by the sound of the water than anything, and doesn't like a heavy, direct spray, but he climbs into the back of the tub every time I shower and rolls around.

[techmaster-glitch]

Hm. You do realize that cats, particularly indoors cats, are self-cleaning under normal circumstances?

He stunk. Badly. It was difficult to even pet him.

But I've had to bathe a cat a few times in my life; most memorable was when Slayer (R.I.P.) tangled with a skunk.

Yes, the nerve helps. So did duct-taping her paws together. I still ended up with sixteen stitches. LOL

[Ryudo Lee]

I've got three of them (used to be four, but my sister took one).  We have a little procedure we go through.  All their nails get clipped, then I grab one and haul him/her off to get bathed.  Afterwards, I spend 10-20 minutes trying to find the other two.

The orange tabby, Sonny, is usually very good about baths.  He'll give me that look of "why are you doing this to meeeeeeee?" and make those pitiful protesting meows, but he'll hold still and let me do what I need to.  It's trying to dry him that's the problem.  For whatever reason, he does not like to be wrapped up in a towel.  So it's a fight to dry him off.

The black cat, Midnight, is the howler.  He'll make such a noise you'd think that I was trying to drown him.  He doesn't claw or bite, but he'll release his fur and try to get away.  So when we're done with him, there's a big clump of black fur in the water.  Once, we bathed him in the bathtub, which has these tall shower doors.  Well, he jumped them.  Most amazing thing we'd ever seen.  The bathroom doors were closed so he went right back into the bath.  He's never jumped them again for some reason.

The old grey tabby, Sissy... well she's no trouble at all anymore.  She's too old to struggle, so she just makes these (loud) pitiful noises while we bathe her.

And afterwards, they're all very much p.o.'d at us, at least until their fur dries.  Then they're back to their affectionate selves, feeling much better.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

My late cat, Thorndike, would play dead at bathtime. He'd go entirely limp. This was a cunning ruse to make you let go. If you even loosened your grip a bit he'd be gone. He was 20 lb of muscle yet the calmest creature who patiently put up with baths, claw clippings, pills, and shots and never scratched once in 18 years. I am not nearly brave enough to attempt to bath my current little girl. At 6 pounds it takes three adults to hold her down for claw clippings. 

[Damaris]

Yeah, we have a long-haired baby, big and fat and not too smart (bless his little heart).  Somehow or another, at least once a month, he ends up pooping and somehow smearing it all over his tail. 

On optimal days, Amber's in town, and we force her to help us pin him down so we can cut it out.  On less optimal days, we have to throw a towel over most of him so that we don't get shredded. 

It is never less than a two person job.  I shudder at the thought of actually bathing him.

[Zorro]

You need a Labrador Retriever they pretty much wash themselves, just find a swimming pool or lake.

[Goatmon]

On the other hand, my gigantic kitten Trouble enjoys showering with me. He's bothered more by the sound of the water than anything, and doesn't like a heavy, direct spray, but he climbs into the back of the tub every time I shower and rolls around.

Awww

[R.A.M.]

when i was washing my old cat Clyde(M.I.A.)he freaked out and managed to run up my arm,i quickly froze in place didn't help.
he proceeded  to dig into my back and then run down my other arm.i lol'd



yeah that's it

[Kasarn]

I have a photo of my dog getting washed... no stories though.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/540748/

[King Of Hearts]

I got bit by a rabid puppy when I tried to give it a bath... never really showed any signs of rabies until it bit me. four injections and one dead puppy later, I test my dogs for hydrophobia before giving them baths.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Ouch.

[TheGreyRonin]

 The stitches came when the duct-tape was removed. She wasn't named "Slayer" because she was really cuddly and friendly...

(Edited for typos incurred while yawning. Sorry.)

[vulpesweasel]

...i tried to give my ferret a bath. that right there should say enough.

So there we were, Harley and i...Harley is the oldest and most relaxed of the three...and his nails grow really quickly. So they were long and pointy and dangerous. BUt i didnt think of them as dangerous cause hes so relaxed most of the time

So i thought "drop him in nice and easy and he'll be okay." Yea. not so much. he hit the water and like, suddenly there was this bright flash of white fur and dashes of red...he managed to lunge OUT of the water, dig his nails through my shirt and into my skin to use as holds to continue to climb up me. So yea, i had all these gashes going up my right side and a bit finger. Dont ever underestimate the speed and power of a pissed ferret. >_>

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

You should be more intelligent about it.

Use the "cat bathing as a martial art" instructions - to whit, fill the bath, throw the ferret in, and stand back. ;-]

[Ryudo Lee]

That's an escape method.  While everyone is focusing on the screeching noise, the explosion of fur, and the thrashing of water, the ninja (who happened to be carrying a cat on his person) can get away.