I've just tried to bath my kitten because she looked a little grubby but she reacted so badly that everyone in the house thought I was trying to kill her and I've emerged covered in bleeding scratches! I wouldn't be too worried if I wasn't planning on showing her, going through that every time seems like hell!!
Does anybody have any tips that might make it less stressful?

short or long hair?.. breed of cat?

basically dont bath.. shower.. trying not to wet the face but wipe it with a wet hand.. try to remain calm and in control.. if you let kitten win then it will win everytime.. they are not stupid..

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Hi Holly, firstly welcome to Pet Forum, Bathing a kitten as you have found out can be a real ordeal, and when we first started to bath ours they hated it but now they are fine, When Sue ( my wife ) bathes Ozzy what she does is stands him in a baby bath and uses a shower head to soak him but DONT run the water directly over the cat from above as this will scare him , spray the water on him starting on his sides and talking to him all the time while your bathing him, dont use any rubber gloves as they will only scare him more, just gradually work the shower head over him , your going to get a few scrams and a bloody good soaking yourself but he will get used to it soon enough, its just a question of lots of patience and a packet of band aids , good luck with him..............best wishes........Chris

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How old is the kitten? This can be a big factor as, the younger you start them, the better they tolerate it.

If you lowered her into a bath full of water, I'd expect her to panic. I find it works best to put mine in an empty bath, then do as Chris says and shower them. Keep the shower head very close to their bodies so that the water is massaging rather than spraying them. Keep the temperature nice and warm. A cat's body temperature is a few degrees hotter than ours, so what feels lukewarm to us will freeze them. Mine love a hot shower.

If the kitten wriggles, then scruff them as it usually helps them to remain calm. Don't shower the face, just do the body, legs and tail.

She's a 16 week old Maine Coon.

Thank you for the tips everyone :-) I didn't put her in a full bath i started out with just the shower and she went mental so i tried filling the tub a little only covering just over her paws hoping she'd maybe prefer that and get used to it but no such luck.

It sounds like i will just have to persevere.

All my other cats just sit and splash about!!

Scruff her next time then. I did this with one of mine when I started him off. He was only a weeny kitten, but decided that he'd rather have his mum clean him and would have nothing to do with the bath. When they're small, scruffing them makes them go small, quiet and calm by instinct, as they associate it with being carried by mum. You don't have to scruff them for very many baths, but remember to make the bath a positive place. Put ping pong balls in the tub for her when you're not using it, then put her in there and play with her. Give her a ball in the water when you're washing her. My little girl loves to bat the bubbles around after I showed her that she could move them with her paw, and her mummy loves her treats which she gets at the end of her bath if she's been good.

You just need to find what motivates your kitten, then use that to reward her and turn the bath from a scary place into a super cool fun time.

That makes sense.

I really like the ping pong ball idea, I'll definately be trying that next time thank you!!

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Ive just read this thread and thought Im going to give it a go. Ok my cats are Siamese and bathing has never really been top of the list (even when showing)

So my new girl Lilly has had her first bath.. ok maybe not much of a bath

She was such a good girl, a little unsure but what a sweetie. I put 1/2 an inch of warm water in the washing bowl while she stood in it, held her nice a close (yes I got wet) on stroked a very wet hand all over her until she was soaked right through.

I had a nice warm towel waiting to wrap her in...I think she really enjoyed that bit

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Although I have not actually used what i am about to recommend i thought it might be of interest to you under the circumstances - there is a range of pet products made by pet head and they make a dry shampoo for cats it's called feeling frisky. The bottle has a spray top and the formula is designed to cleanse the coat and leave it smelling fresh without the need for water. She might prefer that being combed through when relaxed during a cat nap on your lap (or similar). Anyway just a thought, I have seen other brands of dry cat shampoo but i am led to believe this particular one is very good. They also do packs of multi purpose grooming & deodorzing wipes called pretty kitty and purrfectly clean. I am glad my kitten doesn't need bathing as it seems like it was quite an ordeal for the both of you! Good luck with everything.

I had a look at those dry shampoo products and think I may get some for a general freshen up, and was hoping it would be good enough for before a show but unfortunately I've been told I need to use whitening shampoo to get her white bits as bright as possible, grrr!
More scratches for me. And those dry shampoos sound like they smell really good, blueberry muffin, strawberry yoghurt, asian pear, such a bummer.
I'll have a look for the wipes though they might be good for quick touchups when I'm at the show, thanks

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