6 Conditions When You Shouldn’t Wash Your Cat

“I just adopted a one-month-old baby kitten, I should give her a thorough bath.” “My cat is sick, I need to wash her for better hygiene.” Sometimes we intend to provide better care for our feline friends. However, you can end up doing more harm than good. While there are some exceptional cases you need to wash your cat, there are also circumstances where you need to avoid bathing your kitty. Should you bathe your one-month-old fur baby? Can you wash your ill cat? Let’s check out the following 6 conditions when you should get your fur baby away from the bathtub.

Veterinarians advise not to bathe your cat before it is 6 months old. At this stage, a kitten has an active immune system that is immature and has not been fully developed. A cat’s immune system is its defense against bacteria, viruses, and infection. Bathing a baby kitten can clean out their coat of bacteria, which weakened the defense effectiveness of their immune system. In this case, a kitten is more vulnerable to diseases and illness. It can also disturb the development of their immune system and microbiota.

Normally, vaccinations are scheduled for your cat from 1 month of age until it is 4 months old. A kitten needs to remain healthy to receive a shot. Baths can cause health problems and immense stress for your fur baby. Also, a cat has weaker immunity after their shots. You don’t want to risk bringing illness to your beloved fur friend.

Since your baby kitty is so small, there could be accidents during a bath if you are not careful enough. For instance, if you accidentally drown it or it falls off the bathtub, it can cause not only physical hurts but also psychological trauma that lasts for the rest of its life.

An adopted baby cat can be very tense when it first arrives in a new environment. In this case, it might be easily traumatized if you bathe it. Always be more cautious with our fragile kits.

Although bathing itself doesn’t hurt a pregnant cat, it is not advisable to wash a mother-to-be cat. A bath can cause a lot of stress to her, which can psychologically harm her and her babies. Also, if she hates baths, she will fight tooth and nail, and injure herself and the kittens. In addition, the chemicals contained in shampoos may not be safe for your sensitive pregnant cat.

After having babies, your queen cat can experience extra anxiety. A bath can easily irritate her and trigger emotional trauma. A mommy cat’s immune system is weakened after birth. A bath can cause her more fragile body to get ill. It might also cause a uterine infection. Moreover, being sick can have a negative influence on breastfeeding. Baby kittens can identify the individual smell from their mothers. A bath or shampoos can wash off a cat mother’s identity scent and disrupt their newborn life.

Vets don’t recommend bathing a sick cat. The process can generate a lot of stress for your poor kitty and distract them from regaining their health. A trauma caused by fighting a bath might result in an immunocompromised immune system for an ill feline, which can make their health conditions worsen. A sick cat is normally more depressed and delicate. Boggle during bathing can develop cat depression.

If your cat has heart or lung diseases, a bath can cause serious results you will regret. A heart or lung disease, or an infection of the upper respiratory tract can cause shortness of breath for your kitty. In this case, if they become too nervous in the bathtub, they could go into shock or even die of it.

Do not bathe your cat right after the surgery or when they are wounded. According to VAC Animal Hospital, you should “Restrict your cat's activity for a period of 7-14 days, to allow the incision to begin healing. Do not allow your cat to jump or engage in any strenuous activity that could cause excessive stretching of the surgical incision, especially in the first few days after the operation.”

For example, the recovery time for a spay surgery is 14 days. Wait until 14 days. Bathing your cat before this time can bring bacteria into the surgery stitches and introduce infection. When your cat wrestles during bathing, it can cause the surgery cut to break apart, start bleeding and delay healing. A cat can be very down after surgery or when they are wounded. We don’t want to traumatize them and depress them more. It can postpone their recovery time.

You may ask, what should I do if I have to wash my cat under these conditions? For instance, my adopted one-month-old kitten is just too dirty and smelly, or my pregnant cat is infected with fleas. What if my baby kitty rolls in the dust or the greasy oil? My sick cat stops grooming themselves but there is sticky stuff on his fur.

Although it is not advisable to bathe your cat, you can clean them by employing some simple wiping. HICC GROOM! hygienic glove wipes are designed for special circumstances for pet hygiene. It can satisfy pet owner’s special needs that require them to clean their pet while bathing their pet is not allowed.

The wipe is designed into a wearable five-finger glove, which is highly easy and efficient for pet owners to use. As a dry wash product, It is a simple and fast alternative to the complicated process of bathing. The main ingredient, Hypochlorous Acid, can sanitize pet wounds and relieve pain. You can be eliminating the dirt and oil on your wounded cat while speeding up the healing process. It can improve pet skin microbiota and soothe common skin problems.

The gentle ingredient has a neutral pH value and is very pet-friendly. It doesn’t contain alcohol or ingredients that will irritate pet skin wounds. It is very safe for pets and can help prevent potential infections in cuts and abrasions. After dry washing with HICC GROOM!, your kitty’s fur will air dry quickly and doesn’t drip. It won’t make your kitty sick even when their immune system is weakened.

HICC GROOM! is devoted to providing a careful hygiene experience for pets with special needs. We care for your pet’s health and hygiene above all.