Although cats are known to be easy to take care of because they clean themselves and don’t get dirty very often, there are still processes that need to be done that cats can’t do themselves like take medication and trimming nails. You might think, cats don’t have to do these things in the wild, so why are these things necessary? I will tell you why. When it comes to medication, the vet has told me that Stormi has anxiety so she needs to take medication for that. When it comes to nail trimming, although cats do use a scratching pole (my couch) their nails still get really long and sharp and can break skin and hurt a lot. Cats in the wild don’t have anxiety (that we know of) and most cats in the wild need to have long sharp claws to fight away predators. House cats are very different.
Another question you might ask is ‘why on earth do you bathe your cats?’ I feel like this might be controversial in the cat world, but I bathe my cats because they (miso) don’t always do the best job of cleaning themselves. Also, despite living with two cats, I do have cat allergies and bathing them every other week helps keep my allergies in check and control the excessive sneezing. I can always tell when its time to bathe my cats because my allergies will start to get really bad. So those are all the reason why I do these things, let’s get into the actual topic of how my cats react to getting these things done.
Medication
Stormi is the only cat that receives medication. Miso is too young, she doesn’t need it yet. The reason why the vet said Stormi had anxiety is because she was throwing up places, pooping on my bed, and her overall behavior was off. I think this is partly due to moving because I moved to Nashville in August and I brought Stormi with me. This was the first time she had ever been anywhere other than the home I grew up in. So this could’ve contributed to her anxiety. Another reason could be that before I moved us, she was primarily an indoor-outdoor cat. She had access to going outside whenever she wanted to. Now she is 100% an indoor cat and confined in a tiny 600ft apartment. Lastly, she could be having some separation anxiety because I have classes and word every day so I usually leave her for hours at a time every day (which I feel bad about). So then I took her to the vet. After running a lot of tests and scans on her, the vet determined Stormi had anxiety and prescribed gabapentin to help.
Stormi hated the pills. I tried feeding it to her in a number of different ways, shoving down her throat, putting it into her mouth, or hiding it in her food. I think hiding it in her food worked the best, until she caught onto it and then wouldn’t eat her food if it had the pill tucked into it. Which was an issue. When she eventually would take the pill, she became super spaced out would just sit there not sleeping, not doing anything, just zoned out. Which I don’t know if that helped her anxiety or not. Eventually we went through all the gabapentin and I chose not to refill her prescription because she really refused to take it.
Ever since I got Miso, I think Stormi’s anxiety mostly went away. Sometimes I can tell she gets a little clingy and worried but for the most part she is better. I did get these calming kitty treats that I can give her whenever it seems like she needs it. She actually enjoys the calming kitty treats too.
Nail Trimming
Now trimming their nails is something that both Stormi and Miso HATES. Anytime I try to trim their nails, they always struggle and squirm which causes me to accidentally trim their nails too short which can be painful for them. I always try to trim their nails before a bath so it’s something that happens on the same day. They can usually tell whenever I’m about to trim their nails because I’ll have the nail clippers in my hand and try to chase them down. They are always so dramatic about it too, meowing super loudly like they’re getting hurt when I know I’m not hurting them.
The process to clip their nails is super simple. I grab the cat, prop them up so I can grab their paw, and because their claws are retractable, I have to squeeze the toe so the nail pops out and then I cut the sharp end off. And I repeat for all of their front paws. It is also important to note that cats usually have a thumb that isn’t lined up next to the others, it’s slightly down where their ‘wrist’ is. I also usually only trim their front paws nails. Their back paws usually aren’t super sharp. Also Stormi hates having her back paws touched so I respect that and just trim her front claws.
Bathing
I do bathe my two cats. I try to bathe them every other week but recently I’ve been slacking off on that. I haven’t bathed them in like a month and a half. But in theory I try to bathe them every other week. They both HATE bathes and its such a hassle to bathe them and usually water ends of everywhere but for my allergies its worth it.
When I bathe Stormi, I usually put her in the kitchen sink because she doesn’t struggle as much and she kinda just sits there and accepts her fate. For her, before I put her in the sink, I fill the sink up halfway with warm water. Then I place her in. I then use a small cup to pour the warm water in the sink onto her back and carefully onto her head. I make sure that her fur is soaked through. I then put dawn soap onto her back and thoroughly rub it into her fur. I then use the cup again to pour the warm water from the sink over her until the water gets too soapy. Then I will turn the faucet on to warm water and use that to rinse all the soap out of her fur. After rinsing, I grab a towel and pick her up out of the sink and try to pat her dry but she usually runs off dripping water everywhere.
For miso, I tried washing her in the sink I the same way I bathe Stormi, but she gets freaked out and will try to claw her way onto my shoulder and back. This is why I always try to trim their nails before the bath. For Miso, I found that bathing her in the bathtub works the best for her. I will fill up the bathtub with warm water and then I put dawn soap on her paws so she can’t escape. I then wet her down and soap her up. After that, I try to rinse her as best I can but she always squirms and struggles so much. After rising, I grab a towel and try to dry her off but she usually just runs off.
As you can see, bathing cats is not for the faint of heart, and you have to be firm and willing to hold them down. After the bath, it usually takes them an hour or two to dry off but there is a noticeable difference in their fur between pre and post bath. Their fur feels much cleaner and smells nice and they shed less. Also, my allergies is much better so I can cuddle with them as much as I want without as much sneezing.
These are the things I do for my cats to take care of them and keep up with their routine. Again, I try to trim their nails and bath them every other week but it doesn’t always happen! Let me know if you would bathe your cat and why/why not in the comments!
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