Curious kittens often find themselves in situations where they urgently need to be washed. Often, the owner’s arsenal lacks the necessary supplies to maintain hygiene. If a careless dirty fellow has soiled the whole house, you need to know how to wash the cat if there is no special shampoo.
Under natural conditions, they maintain cleanliness on their own by licking their fur. If the kitten is very dirty, first wipe it with a damp cloth. Wipes soaked in lotion are not suitable for this. Only as a last resort use household chemicals. A clean pet must be wrapped up to prevent it from catching a cold.
Is it true that they can’t bathe pets?
Laundry soap should not be used regularly to bathe cats. The detergent contains a high percentage of alkali, which can adversely affect the condition of the skin and coat.
Veterinarians recommend using special medications designed for caring for pets. It is better to select a hygiene product individually, depending on the breed of the pet. Shampoo, soap, shower gel and other formulations intended for humans should also not be used.
Laundry soap can only be used as a last resort, when the cat needs an emergency bath and there is no special product available. However, veterinarians warn that its use may cause an allergic reaction.
Cat owners also confirm the negative effects of laundry soap. According to their reviews, after washing the animal begins to itch, which leads to injury to the epidermis. Your pet may develop dandruff. The cat's fur becomes brittle (breaks) and its shine is lost.
Is it possible to wash a cat with tar shampoo?
It is recommended to use for the prevention of parasites in absolutely healthy pets. But get carried away with tar
soap is not worth it. From frequent use, the coat becomes dull and unruly. It is advisable to alternate natural soap with other caring and medicinal products.
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Does it help against fleas?
Some pet owners try to kill fleas using laundry soap. Even if you soap your cat and then wrap its body in plastic wrap and wait 20-30 minutes, the parasites will not disappear.
The maximum result that can be observed from this method of treating pediculosis is partial washing out of fleas. Insects and nits do not die from laundry soap. Parasites may be repelled by the smell, but this effect does not guarantee that all fleas will leave the pet.
Laundry soap does not have properties that will help get rid of head lice. Therefore, if parasites have been noticed in a cat, you should choose a special remedy.
To treat infestation, you can purchase the following shampoos at a pet store:
- Celandine;
- Biovax;
- Murzik;
- Dude;
- Sweetie;
- Tropiclean Neem Fleas Ticks;
- Sentry PurrScriptions;
- Beaphar Veto Pure.
You can fight fleas in cats using special collars or drops.
Bathing a mustachioed pet: is it necessary?
It is possible and necessary to bathe a cat, but it should not be done as often as the owners sometimes think. It is recommended to subject a mustachioed family member to water procedures only when necessary. The same applies to hairless cats.
When to bathe:
- when it’s time to tidy up the coat (1-2 times a year);
- presence of external parasites (fleas);
- for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes, using special means;
- in case of heavy pollution, when the pet has free access to the street.
In cats, the skin produces a special secretion that is responsible for local protection of the body (local skin immunity) and for the good condition of the coat (acts as a natural lubricant and care product). With frequent and unreasonable bathing, the secretion is washed off and does not have time to be produced in full, and this already negatively affects both the skin and coat.
Application for lichen
In folk medicine, laundry soap is used to treat lichen. The pathological area must be lubricated daily with thick soap suds. This treatment option is used when the lichen is dry. Before the first application, cut off some of the fur around the rash.
The skin disease can be easily treated with medications that can be purchased at the pharmacy. For example:
- Unisan;
- Clotrimazole;
- Thermikon;
- Exoderil;
- Liverazole;
- Terbinafine;
- Imaverol;
- Marfloxin.
To increase the effectiveness of treatment, it is necessary to normalize the pet’s diet and give medications that boost the immune system. For general strengthening of the body, the veterinarian may prescribe Cycloferon or its analogues.
Kittens
Using laundry soap to wash fur, kill fleas or treat lichen is unacceptable if the animal is only a few weeks old. Due to the fact that the detergent dries and degreases, irritation will appear on the kitten's delicate skin.
When choosing a shampoo, you should pay attention to the existing regulations. There are products that are specifically designed for caring for small kittens. The instructions additionally indicate the age at which you can start using the detergent.
The same applies to medications whose action is aimed at combating parasites or fungus. If you use a drug intended for an adult animal or do not follow the recommended dosage, your kitten's health may be harmed.
The impact of some substances on a young and fragile body is dangerous - they can cause poisoning. The possibility of death cannot be ruled out.
How to wash?
Washing a cat with tar soap is very simple. First, follow the instructions for washing cats in general. Secondly, unlike concentrated shampoos, tar soap does not need to be diluted in water beforehand and then applied to the wool. You can use it to foam a cat right away. Many people run soap directly over the wool to lather it. You need to leave the soaped cat for 5 minutes so that the ingredients have time to take effect. Afterwards, everything must be washed off thoroughly so that the cat does not eat tar itself during the licking process.
While drying the cat, fleas will need to be selected and combed out. Many of them will be in a semi-active state, so this is easy to do. A comb for combing out fleas should have very small gaps between the teeth.
Tar soap can also be used as a preventive measure, for example, after walking your pet outside. If he gets a couple of fleas, the problem will be solved before it even occurs.
What should I wash it with instead?
Some shampoos are preventive, i.e. their action is aimed not only at cleaning the coat, but also at preventing the appearance of fleas or lichen. A veterinarian will help you choose the appropriate composition for caring for an adult or young animal.
We should not forget that some hygienic and antiparasitic substances cannot be used not only by kittens, but also by pregnant and lactating cats.
Not all pets love water treatments. Therefore, while swimming, they need to provide the most comfortable conditions. To wet your cat, you should run water into the bathtub. Recommended temperature is about 37°C. The liquid level should reach half the height of the pet.
If the cat is afraid of a stream of water, then you can wet the fur with wet palms. The next step is soaping. The shampoo is applied in a small amount and gently foamed. Do not allow the product to come into contact with the eyes, mouth and nasal mucosa. Rinse off the shampoo with plenty of water.
After bathing, the animal is wrapped in a dry towel and taken to a warm place. There should be no drafts in the room. You can speed up the drying process by wiping with a dry cloth. If the cat is not afraid of a hair dryer, then it is advisable to use this household appliance.
If your pet still finds it difficult to tolerate water treatments, then preference should be given to dry shampoo. The loose product is distributed over the wool and then rubbed in. It contains absorbent substances that will absorb dirt particles. Complete the cleaning procedure by combing out the shampoo with a brush.
Can I wash my cat with regular soap?
Yes, if you can choose a product with an optimal PH level and track the quality and nature of the other components listed in the composition. It is not recommended to bathe a cat with regular soap or human shampoo for the reasons listed above. Well-groomed hair is important for the cat family, so do not experiment, but use generally accepted and affordable shampoos located on the shelves of any veterinary store.
Why does an animal lick its fur after washing?
Some cats lick laundry or other soap. This behavior can be caused by several reasons:
- I like the smell;
- lack of vitamins and minerals;
- I like the taste (soap contains a lot of fat);
- restores the acid-base balance (intuitively).
Getting any detergent inside can cause poisoning. Therefore, if a cat is licking soap, it is not recommended to ignore its behavior.
When a cat begins to lick itself after bathing with soap, this is a result of the fact that the pet does not feel clean. He begins to tidy up his fur on his own. For this reason, it is necessary to thoroughly wash the cat's fur so that no shampoo or other substance remains in it.
The pH level of cat skin is different from human skin, so special formulations should be selected for bathing. They can be purchased at a pet store.
If there are no individual indications, for example parasites, then the kitten is bathed for the first time when it is 3-4 months old. At an earlier age, the animal’s thermoregulation has not yet been established. If the cat is afraid of water, then it is better to clean it with dry compounds or sprays that do not require rinsing.
Harm and contraindications
Soap containing tar is considered a fairly safe product, but also has contraindications. It is not recommended for washing kittens that are not yet 6 weeks old. You should refrain from using the hygiene product if the cat has an individual intolerance to tar or other components included in its composition.
Soap can be harmful to your cat if the foam gets into your cat's eyes. It will cause pain. To eliminate the irritating factor, the animal's eyes are washed with clean water. If soap gets into the mouth or digestive tract, your pet may experience symptoms of stomach upset. Sometimes he can be lethargic.
If an animal has eaten a lot of soap, then it shows signs of poisoning. In such a situation, you need to take the cat to the veterinarian. Gastric lavage may be required.
Frequent use of soap can cause dermatological problems. Despite the antiseptic, wound-healing effect, the hygiene product dries out the skin. Therefore, with frequent bathing, the cat may experience irritation from drying out of the epidermis.
