Cats, Bath, & Beyond

Cat Parent Academy
Written By Junipurr Studio
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Cats are fastidious cleaning machines who have been equipped by nature with both the anatomy (lingual papillae) and the will to be permanently #onfleek. To quote my homie (aka secret role model who does not know I exist) Jackson Galaxy: “Cats make self-grooming their major in college, their occupation, AND their hobby.” If you are in the camp of If Jackson Galaxy said so then [mic drop], I feel you. 

However, if you are a Type A cat parent who feels compelled to consult multiple sources – your vet, clinical literature, shelter and rescue blogs etc. – well, that makes two of us. After all, as with most topics in parenting, there is a wealth of contradicting or conditional information.

On the “Bathe that Furball!” side:

  1. Amongst the adoption paperwork that the shelter gave me for Junipurr is a half-page guide entitled “Teach Your Cat to Enjoy a Bath,” which includes the following tip: “Once the kitten associates water with food (pleasure), give him special food treats while you begin to sprinkle him with water. Try to make it fun.”  Hmm.

  2. The ASPCA Complete Cat Care Manual also has a two-page spread on bathing a cat (with a VERY grumpy little meowdel), including pointers for both water-based and  dry shampoo techniques.

  3. Routinely bathing domestic cats seems to be a norm in many countries around the world. For example, the Seoul-based Youtuber CreamHeroes has 28 videos on bathing her seven kitties, with view counts per video spanning from 241K to 8.8M views (as of July 2020).

  4. Recently, Texas A&M University’s School Veterinary Medicine published an article entitled “Bathing our furry friends can reduce Covid-19 Transmission.”

So … to bathe or not to bathe? This question perplexed me in my first few years as Junipurr’s mom, and it took some Sherlock-style research to figure out species appropriate parenting. Ultimately, here is the general consensus I found from US-based veterinarian community:

“With a few exceptions, never is best. Brushing is much healthier”

– Dr. Jeff Nichol (board-certified veterinarian & animal behaviorist) 

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Why?

First, house cats spend up to 24% of their waking time grooming their fur – and all that time yields artisan-level work. Second, cats have papillae (“sharp, rear-facing spines”) that cover their tongue and “wick saliva deep into recesses of the fur.” 

In fact, cat papillae are such a phenomenal cleaning superpower that a recent scientific study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (one of the most distinguished peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journals in the world) investigates how to mimic the mechanisms of the papillae to innovate for the multibillion dollar cleaning industry:

“In this combined experimental and theoretical study, we use high-speed film, grooming force measurements, and computed tomography (CT) scanning to elucidate the mechanism by which papillae are used to groom fur. We examine the tongues of six species of cats from domestic cat to lion, spanning 30-fold in body weight. The papillae of these cats each feature a hollow cavity at the tip that spontaneously wicks saliva from the mouth and then releases it onto hairs. The unique shape of the cat’s papillae may inspire ways to clean complex hairy surfaces. We demonstrate one such application with the tongue-inspired grooming (TIGR) brush, which incorporates 3D-printed cat papillae into a silicone substrate. The TIGR brush experiences lower grooming forces than a normal hairbrush and is easier to clean.” (Noel and Hu, 2018)

*After reading this paper, I felt the desire to dust Junipurr’s shoulders off… but I refrained because apparently she can do that better too* :)

Third, many commercially available detergents actually strip the protective natural oils that serve as a barrier to skin disease. In other words, not only does frequent bathing not help most cats, it can actually hurt them!

What are the exceptions?

  1. Breed – Low fur and hairless breeds, such as the Sphynx, may need periodic baths to help remove body oils.

  2. Medical condition – Elderly, obese, and/or arthritic cats may have mobility challenges with cleaning and thus need your help preventing the fur from becoming matted.

  3. Situational – For example, orphaned foster kittens who are too young to self-groom; a case of fleas; cat went outside and got covered in motor oil, mud, other nasty substances; encounter with a skunk (nobody wins against the skunk!); exposed to a human family member with Covid-19, etc.  

What to do instead

  • Daily: Brushing. Ideally, use both brushes and metal combs to stimulate the scalp, remove excess dead hair, and check for fleas. Because Mama cats tongue-clean their babies, many cats find this quite enjoyable. Junipurr positively luxuriates in her daily brushing routine.

  • Often: Clean ears, brush teeth, and trim nails.

TLDR: Unless your cat is a furless breed, has a medical condition that impacts mobility, and/or got into a messy situation, it’s usually best NOT to bathe your cat. What you should do instead is brush their fur and help them with the more challenging bits (i.e. ears, teeth, and nails).

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REFERENCES

This content is for education and community discussion purposes only. Please consult your veterinarian with any questions or concerns about parenting your cat. Thank you for reading!

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