Thread: Lessons from washing the cat

I have learned so much around here, I can hardly remember what I learned where.

Somewhere there was a mention of a warm towel method that involved a procedure to remove oily substance (sebum?) as part of shave prep for a tough beard.

My story is that I live in a small town and anything remotely exotic involves either a 40 mile drive or ordering over the net (and shipping charges).

The comment about the oils really made sense to me and reminded me of my experience washing cats.

My children have been heavily involved in 4H. My daughter in particular was very involved in the cat project. She also was involved with pure breed cat showing. In the course of that, she got some tips from the pro's about cat grooming.

After that she really began to clean up in the 4H shows because of her superior grooming expertise. I assisted in washing the cats and learned her secrets.

Key to all of this is removing the oils and dirt from the fur. Much as stated in the post regarding beard prep. Once the oils were removed this lead to improved wetting of the fur and a very soft coat with impressive feel and loft when dried. The judges always commented on this and got to the point where they would recognize cats she had bathed.

I can now share with you her tip top secrets of cat bathing.

I am sure everyone here appreciates exercising care with sharp objects. So step one when bathing any feline if claw control. Clip and dull the nails.

Have plenty of towels ready for spray and drying the cat afterwards. place the towels and hair dryer intended to dry the cat at the end in another room. There may not be much dry by the end of this procedure. If you have a hand spray in your shower that is good, because it is easier to keep the water directed away from the cat's face (and yours).

Get the cat wet in an enclosed space in order to limit escape opportunities. keep track of the cat's teeth (it is considered poor form to dull the teeth for bathing).

Now the part that applies to shaving:

Use a dilute solution of Woolite as the initial shampoo. It seems to dramatically improve the wettability of the hair. This is the first part of the secret. Also later shampooing seems to rinse more easily and completely after this. After rinsing, the second shampoo is a dilute solution of Dawn dishwashing soap. This is just about the most potent yet nonirritating de-greaser I am aware of (it is quie useful for washing after poison ivy exposure, but I digress). After these 2 washes all oils are essentially gone and the hair is ready for water based treatments that don't apply to shaving like color enhancing shampoos, etc.

I did the woolite and dawn washes prior to my shave today. I noted as expected the enhanced wetting and the beard's increased tendency to stand away from the skin. First pass went much better, but as I am a noob, I don't have a lot to compare to. I finished with a DE and am now sporting a rather finely shaved visage.

Because I am concerned that this procedure may remove too much oil from the skin, I followed with 2 treatments with Corn Husker's lotion, which makes a quite soothing and lightly scented aftershave. My skin just drank it in so I believe something to restore moisture to the skin afterwards is a very good idea.

As you can see all the ingredients are available almost everywhere including my small town.

And that is today's discovery.

I think this falls in to the category of extreme shaving techniques. Nice work.

X

Quite interesting. Thanks for the information.

Please note I did not include other things I learned about washing cats as they did not apply to the topic. Thus neglected are such items as spurting blood, shots, police, and trips to the emergency room.

I think I will just use the Woolite next time as I think that is the part that made the difference.

Yea, blood, you did leave that out. One trick, a little ether for that kitty might be helpful.


See, country folks know a thing or two.

Ether is good but I'd go with a gin and tonic or three. No, not for the cat!

I thought the secret to washing cats was using the porcelin wash basin found in all modern bathrooms...
it comes with an escape resistant lid, and by pulling the silver lever three or four times, your cat and the porcelin basin end up fairly clean.

Originally Posted by Mike_ratliff

I thought the secret to washing cats was using the porcelin wash basin found in all modern bathrooms...
it comes with an escape resistant lid, and by pulling the silver lever three or four times, your cat and the porcelin basin end up fairly clean.

Doesn't that technique require that you stand well back from any small openings that a paw might fit through?

yes, sharp claws can get through openings... so it's not wise to sit on the lid during the washing, regardless of how tired you are or inviting it may look.

I am tempted to try the Woolite though.

Originally Posted by Mike_ratliff

I thought the secret to washing cats was using the porcelin wash basin found in all modern bathrooms...
it comes with an escape resistant lid, and by pulling the silver lever three or four times, your cat and the porcelin basin end up fairly clean.