Our dogs love water,
they throw themselves into any puddle, the sea or lake without hesitation. Why is it then that they hate being
washed? In the UK Bessie was so bath
averse that we just took the dog to the nearest river and threw a stick, this together
with the daily brush kept her pretty clean and she only needed a shampoo for
special occasions. In Kazakhstan we had
to step up the frequency of proper washes, we accomplished this by putting her
in the shower and closing the door leaving just enough access for our hands to
wash out the shampoo. Once the water in the tray was deep enough she seemed to
think she was in a river and settled down.
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| This is fun! |
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| Not so much... |
Here in Malaysia
Bess has to go to a groomer every 6 months to get her very thick coat clipped
to make the heat manageable for her. She
gets a full salon treatment at the same time and I usually send Perdie for a
quick wash and blow dry at the same time.
In between, however, the dogs get washed at home. Luckily unlike Kazakhstan it is warm year
round and I can just hose them down in the drive. They don’t relish it but they have learned to
tolerate it and the obligatory shake dry over the humans apart the process is
reasonably painless.
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| Haircuts are cool but seriously lacking in style. |
I have never had to wash
a cat and as Kismet is an indoor kitty we were not expecting to have to do this
too often. Sadly I have had an
unexpected and rather unwelcome introduction to the art of cat cleaning.
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| From the day she arrived this cuddly kitten has loved the furniture |
We have been very
lucky with Kismet, ever since she came to stay she has been a model puss and we
have not had to deal with any accidents, she took to her litter tray straight
away. I was very surprised, therefore, when
I found a trail of matter that should have been in the litter tray smeared over
my floor. Inevitably this happened as I
was on my way to bed and on a night when I was on my own, Mr EE being away on a
business trip. I checked the cat and her
hindquarters were filthy. I checked my
cat book and it said to clean her with cotton wool. We don’t have any of that so I tried baby
wipes. Unfortunately the cat kept on
running away and did not want to be held down for cleansing.
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| She sits wherever she likes, why should the humans get the best view of House of Cards. (NB we do own a TV but our cable connector is broken) |
Tactic 2 involved
picking the cat up, hugging her tight and putting her rear end under the
tap. This resulted in a lacerated
forearm. She purred, rubbed her head
against me and was generally affectionate enough to tell me that it was not
personal but she was adamant that her hindquarters were not to be cleaned by
human agency. I would not have minded
this independence in an outdoor cat but she likes to curl up me and on the
furniture so she really did need to be clean.
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| My lap is a favourite spot - dirty hindquarters are not an option! |
Tactic number 3 involved locking us both in the downstairs loo with oven
mitts (I now have to replace them) and deploying a spray hose (the type that are
often used in place of loo paper here in South East Asia, they are excellent
for cleaning off nappies, washing bathrooms and, it seems, cats). This seemed the most effective method and
would have worked really well if I had a kitty cleaning assistant. On my own, however, it took quite some time
and ended up with me rather more soaked than the cat.
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| We can't throw a stick to persuade the cat to bathe. |
After this I
conceded defeat, I had done my best, and I placed the cat in her crate with her
litter tray and gave myself a few hours’ sleep before returning to check on her
and repeat the process. I was dreading
another trip to the vets (and the inevitable instructions to push pills down
the cat for a week) in the morning but
it seems my attentions have paid off and (fingers crossed) she is much better
now. She has even forgiven me the
indignities of her treatment and has returned to snoozing on my lap.
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| Is this the gear I need to clean the cat? |
Mr EE is back
shortly so I can bet with some certainty that this problem will not recur in
the near future but I need to know how to accomplish the task if the need
arises. Diving gear would be great (when
Bessie was a baby she was very wriggly and extremely free with her claws so before we had discovered
the river/brush method or the tie up to the gate and hose tactic I used to don
wetsuit and diving gloves, hat and mask to bathe her) but all my stuff is in a container
in the UK so this will not work. In the absence of 7mm of neoprene protection I
would, appreciate any hints tips and insights on solo cat cleaning hacks.
