If cats are kept clean by regular grooming and in a clean house, they will seldom require washing, but, through circumstances not always under control, it may become necessary to wash a cat, an operation often of extreme difficulty, as the cat has an inherent hatred to washing, though some owners wash their cats regularly. It is a mistake to immerse the animal, but it should be placed in an ordinary foot-bath, or shallow vessel; the fur then wetted on the hinder part of the body and some dog-shampoo then well rubbed in, so as to form a good lather. This is then rinsed off with tepid water. The same is then applied to the fore part of the body, and then the whole rinsed off with cold water. The cat must be thoroughly dried afterwards. As cats are very refractory, it is better to use a pair of stout gloves to prevent being scratched.

Dry Shampooing

Many may argue that a dry shampoo has not the same cleansing power as the wet process, which to a certain extent is true, but this method of cleansing the coat has much to recommend it; in fact the writer believes if it were more widely known its adoption would become universal, as it reduces the hardship of the feline ablution to one of comparative simplicity.

Dry shampooing fluid can be obtained in bottles from the chemists'. The coat is freely wetted with it, and then vigorously shampooed till the lather appears and disappears as the process is persisted in, the coat becoming sweeter and cleaner.