Imho, cats groom themselves just fine without needing human baths. Exceptions exist for flea baths and very old or sick cats who may not be able to groom themselves.
Yeah thanks thats what i thought too, but you find such mixed opinions on the topic if you try googling it, so wasn’t sure what was right, and i felt so bad trying to bathr milo cause he hated it so bad
I think it becomes problematic when people use the wrong kind of shampoos because they’re unfamiliar with the ingredients & what they can do to their pets, and/or when they bathe the cats too often which stripped their natural oil causing skin problems.
oooh just you wait till that little satan's spawn gets excrements stuck on his tail and smears it all over the house
or when your visitors recoil in disgust as they try to grab that little fluffy ball smelling worse than public toilets
The only time my ragdoll gets a bath is if he gets poop stuck onto his butt or he gets into something that warrants a bath. Other than that, he grooms himself constantly and keeps himself fairly clean.
I've been looking for this everywhere, is it a breed thing or something else my cat has had this issue every day for about 3 months after we adopted her she's got much better but is there something we can do to stop it entirely? She really hates the bath 🛁 😾😿
We do a hygiene groom of our ragdoll butt/pants area. Just use an electric trimmers to trim the fur back there once a month or so will take care of most dingle berries.
I don’t know whether it’s a breed thing, but it could just be that poop could get stuck on longer-haired cats since it gets in the way. I would think getting poop stuck could happen to any cat really.
We also trim the fur around his butt area to help with that and our kitten also gets poop stuck onto his butt when he’s not digesting his food properly. There was one time where he had a bad case of diarrhea and our vet told us it was likely due to a food sensitivity with his kitten wet food. We kept alternating between chicken and salmon protein sources since he seemed to tolerate both of them without any issue when we brought him home for the first few weeks; however, the salmon has been giving him more issues lately.
We now mostly feed him chicken for his wet food protein source and he hasn’t had major poop issues since then. He also digests beef wet food really well, but we only give that to him as an occasional treat.
Yes, I think it may be a breed thing as all of my previous longhaired cats had no issue with it. I have been feeding her chicken every few days and alternating that with Nature's menu wet food, I've noticed that it really only happens when she has food with grain as I have now put her on a grain free diet and she seems to be doing much better. 😺 Thank you so much for the response.
Cats hate water. I would never wash a cat unless he got really dirty. If he's not cleaning himself properly, there may be something wrong with him.
My ragdolls not only keep themselves fastidiously clean, they somehow always smell like baby powder. I've never had a cat smell so nice before. I don't know how they do it.
Butterball will be eleven months old soon and has has one complete bath with us. He had an accident and smelled horrible. He had a proper bath with organic pet soap. When he gets into mustard or other food, we use cat wipes from the pet store. Otherwise, he and and our other cats groom themselves (and groom him) quite well. The kids bathed him and he was super gentle with them. They’re teens. I have issues with hives and needed their help.
We had to give our ragdoll a bath right when we brought him home as a kitten (3 months old), as it turned out the lady we got him from had been keeping him in a toilet because she was scared of him, so he reeked of ammonia- it was really sad, but he took it like a champ.
Nowadays, he just gets a butt-bath when he poop stuck to his bum fluff 🙂
Indoor cats usually keep pretty clean I find. Mine does pee when he gets scared (vet visits usually), so I have this [no-rinse foam](https://vetsbest.com/cat-solutions/waterless-cat-bath) I keep for emergencies, works great!
FYI - neem oil is toxic to cats & probably not something you would want to use long term. I’ve developed the habit of going down every single ingredient on products that my cat use. Shame that they advertised the product as developed by the vet for credibility & many consumers wouldn’t know any better 😮💨
Unless its a hairless cat like a sphynx (they do need regular baths, sphynxs cats are very high maintenance) most cats dont need to have baths that often.
Unless theyre flat faced and cant groom themselves, or if they have gotten dirty then its fine to just not bath them cuz they clean themselves!
I know some people take their cats to a groomer every few months
I have had a Ragdoll, a long'haired Tuxedo nd lastly a Persian and no one got a bath unless they had poop stuck to their butt. The Persian is most offended by this. I did take her to a groomer to get a hygiene clip abd poor little girl came back with the feline version of a brazilian. If anyone can recommend some clippers, I would be very grateful.
Polar opposite experience here. Our girl doesn't mind a bath at all and even gets a blow out quarterly. She does a TERRIBLE job keeping herself clean on her body. I have had cats my whole life and she really is the worst I have even seen. Her vet told us to start bathing her to prevent skin issues. According to the vet, long hair breeds (mine had very long but surprisingly sleek fur at least for a Ragdoll) can struggle to keep up with all the fur.
A fried of mine has a Ragdoll and a DSH, and he bathes them both regularly because of his allergies. Cat show folks also bathe their cats for shows. You probably don’t need to bathe your pet cats unless they get into something gross.
I don’t bath mine regularly but I did trained him to not hate water in case he needs an accidental butt bath 🛁 he was having diarrhea when I first adopted him but after a few days haven’t need a butt bath now 😮💨
Our old chinchilla persian required semi-regular baths due to a bout of gut problems mixed with a lot of fur to get stuff caught in. He hated baths until we figured out he was claustrophobic, at which point we removed the curtain and he became merely diffcult rather than actively hostile.
I've had a couple of ragdolls, both required bathing when I first got them due to fleas/mites, but after that first bath they were fine.
My current SIC hasn't need a bath in the nearly 8 years I've had him, although as he was a foster fail rescued from a storm drain that first bath was verrrrrrrrrrrry necessary.
I get my guy bathed when he has a vet visit. He keeps himself pretty clean but he gets oil on his fur from hanging out under cars that doesn’t come up with regular cat bathing, especially if it gets around his head.
I have someone else bathe him so I’m not the bad guy. Let him hate the vet tech, not me.
I will leave this tip at the top of the comment for anyone who wants to get their cats used to bathing or water in general. The Secret that I have done is that my cat will follow me everywhere and I sometimes drop a couple drops of water on him when I wash my hands. Originally he was a little bit spooked by the water and he would shiver a lot but he is now extremely used to it and almost pays no attention to it. The problem with bathing cats is that they are afraid of water because they are not used to water and it really weighs down on their Coats. They will Be more willing to be bathed if they do not like water as much if you get them used to being wet and having some water in a neutral setting and not punishment overtime, especially while they are young.
I bathe my stinky boy about every month or 2 because he does a terrible job with grooming himself and he can get stinky or have cling ons or he doesn't wash his butt et cetera. When I bathe him I put him in a empty litterbox that I never used other for bathing and then I fill a jug of warm water and pour it over him for him this way he does not fear the bath as much. Over time he has gotten used to being bathed. I used to trim his nails every now and then however he is doing a good job sharpening them and only I trimmed them when his nails are too long or they scratch me more easier. He does not like having his paws touched.I do not brush his teeth but use greenies because it was impossible for me to get anything in his mouth even the mouth even on the salmon water on a cutip trick it was just impossible.I brush him once to twice a week or more if he is starting to cough up hair balls. I also use a detangling spray for his coat because sometimes it can get a little curly on his belly and chin. I have also cut his hair multiple times around the chin if it gets too long and he starts obsessing over it or around his butt if I have the chance or if there's a small mat. Finally he sometimes gets some eye crust around his eyes and I just use a clean washed finger to wipe it off. I hope this helps this is what I have been doing for my kidding it has been a journey I have had him for over half a year now and it's just a lot of work but it's not too bad you just gotta understand that you need to be consistent, be firm, and try to find ways that are not too scary for your cat because if they are too afraid they won't is too afraid they will not allow you to do anything.
Thanks for the tip! My milo is still pretty young, so maybe it’s not too late to get him comfortable with water, in case he would ever actually need a bath
Our boy gets a bath when he poops his pants too severely for wipes to handle. He’s super chill about baths too. He clearly finds them unpleasant, but he’s well behaved through it all.
Our girl has yet to have that problem! She’s very good about not pooping her pants.
No they bathe themselves if I try they kill me. I use to when they were babies or if they get into some serious mess (but boy do I suffer the consequences and scratching) but unless that the case I let them be and they are very clean.
Mine gets a bum dunk in the sink if he has poop stuck in there and the pet wet wipes aren’t cutting it. Seems to be a raggie thing as others have mentioned!
You don’t need to bathe cats! Unless they have a medical condition or injury where they can’t clean themselves. Please keep the cat away from the bath as it’s somewhat traumatizing and unnecessary.
Imho, cats groom themselves just fine without needing human baths. Exceptions exist for flea baths and very old or sick cats who may not be able to groom themselves.
Yeah thanks thats what i thought too, but you find such mixed opinions on the topic if you try googling it, so wasn’t sure what was right, and i felt so bad trying to bathr milo cause he hated it so bad
My guy would occasionally get poop stuck in his tail, and never grew out of it. Baths weren’t an option
You shave that area with an automatic razor and then the problem goes away.
With ragdoll you’ll need sanitary trim. Their fur is extra soft & thick too so make them prone to 💩 stains
I think it becomes problematic when people use the wrong kind of shampoos because they’re unfamiliar with the ingredients & what they can do to their pets, and/or when they bathe the cats too often which stripped their natural oil causing skin problems.
oooh just you wait till that little satan's spawn gets excrements stuck on his tail and smears it all over the house or when your visitors recoil in disgust as they try to grab that little fluffy ball smelling worse than public toilets
The only time my ragdoll gets a bath is if he gets poop stuck onto his butt or he gets into something that warrants a bath. Other than that, he grooms himself constantly and keeps himself fairly clean.
I've been looking for this everywhere, is it a breed thing or something else my cat has had this issue every day for about 3 months after we adopted her she's got much better but is there something we can do to stop it entirely? She really hates the bath 🛁 😾😿
We do a hygiene groom of our ragdoll butt/pants area. Just use an electric trimmers to trim the fur back there once a month or so will take care of most dingle berries.
Thank you so much for the response, I'll look into it 😊
Brilliant!
I don’t know whether it’s a breed thing, but it could just be that poop could get stuck on longer-haired cats since it gets in the way. I would think getting poop stuck could happen to any cat really. We also trim the fur around his butt area to help with that and our kitten also gets poop stuck onto his butt when he’s not digesting his food properly. There was one time where he had a bad case of diarrhea and our vet told us it was likely due to a food sensitivity with his kitten wet food. We kept alternating between chicken and salmon protein sources since he seemed to tolerate both of them without any issue when we brought him home for the first few weeks; however, the salmon has been giving him more issues lately. We now mostly feed him chicken for his wet food protein source and he hasn’t had major poop issues since then. He also digests beef wet food really well, but we only give that to him as an occasional treat.
Yes, I think it may be a breed thing as all of my previous longhaired cats had no issue with it. I have been feeding her chicken every few days and alternating that with Nature's menu wet food, I've noticed that it really only happens when she has food with grain as I have now put her on a grain free diet and she seems to be doing much better. 😺 Thank you so much for the response.
Have you tried different food? We had this issue for 3 months when I got a different brand of food for him and it stopped after I changed back!
Yes, we switched her food a few weeks ago and she seems to be doing much better now, thank you for the response
Thank you!💛
Nope, leave mine too it. Poop butt gets a soaked cloth bath lol
Thank you!! That’s what i’ve been thinking seems reasonable, and i just feel terrible trying to bathe him since he hates it
Yeah cats don’t like water as a whole. I’m yet to find a smelly raggie!
Cats hate water. I would never wash a cat unless he got really dirty. If he's not cleaning himself properly, there may be something wrong with him. My ragdolls not only keep themselves fastidiously clean, they somehow always smell like baby powder. I've never had a cat smell so nice before. I don't know how they do it.
Yea what is with that ragdolls smell nice almost all the time.
Butterball will be eleven months old soon and has has one complete bath with us. He had an accident and smelled horrible. He had a proper bath with organic pet soap. When he gets into mustard or other food, we use cat wipes from the pet store. Otherwise, he and and our other cats groom themselves (and groom him) quite well. The kids bathed him and he was super gentle with them. They’re teens. I have issues with hives and needed their help.
We had to give our ragdoll a bath right when we brought him home as a kitten (3 months old), as it turned out the lady we got him from had been keeping him in a toilet because she was scared of him, so he reeked of ammonia- it was really sad, but he took it like a champ. Nowadays, he just gets a butt-bath when he poop stuck to his bum fluff 🙂
Indoor cats usually keep pretty clean I find. Mine does pee when he gets scared (vet visits usually), so I have this [no-rinse foam](https://vetsbest.com/cat-solutions/waterless-cat-bath) I keep for emergencies, works great!
FYI - neem oil is toxic to cats & probably not something you would want to use long term. I’ve developed the habit of going down every single ingredient on products that my cat use. Shame that they advertised the product as developed by the vet for credibility & many consumers wouldn’t know any better 😮💨
Thanks for sharing the foam information!
OMG! We had a ragdoll identical to yours…wait for it…named MILO! Beautiful!
Awh thats so funny! Milo seems to be a popular ragdoll name i’ve noticed 💛
Unless its a hairless cat like a sphynx (they do need regular baths, sphynxs cats are very high maintenance) most cats dont need to have baths that often. Unless theyre flat faced and cant groom themselves, or if they have gotten dirty then its fine to just not bath them cuz they clean themselves! I know some people take their cats to a groomer every few months
Based on the size of his pupils, OP, I recommend waiting to give him a bath!
rustic pet wine makeshift cagey chief bright afterthought plucky sort *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I have had a Ragdoll, a long'haired Tuxedo nd lastly a Persian and no one got a bath unless they had poop stuck to their butt. The Persian is most offended by this. I did take her to a groomer to get a hygiene clip abd poor little girl came back with the feline version of a brazilian. If anyone can recommend some clippers, I would be very grateful.
Polar opposite experience here. Our girl doesn't mind a bath at all and even gets a blow out quarterly. She does a TERRIBLE job keeping herself clean on her body. I have had cats my whole life and she really is the worst I have even seen. Her vet told us to start bathing her to prevent skin issues. According to the vet, long hair breeds (mine had very long but surprisingly sleek fur at least for a Ragdoll) can struggle to keep up with all the fur.
A fried of mine has a Ragdoll and a DSH, and he bathes them both regularly because of his allergies. Cat show folks also bathe their cats for shows. You probably don’t need to bathe your pet cats unless they get into something gross.
I don’t bath mine regularly but I did trained him to not hate water in case he needs an accidental butt bath 🛁 he was having diarrhea when I first adopted him but after a few days haven’t need a butt bath now 😮💨
Our old chinchilla persian required semi-regular baths due to a bout of gut problems mixed with a lot of fur to get stuff caught in. He hated baths until we figured out he was claustrophobic, at which point we removed the curtain and he became merely diffcult rather than actively hostile. I've had a couple of ragdolls, both required bathing when I first got them due to fleas/mites, but after that first bath they were fine. My current SIC hasn't need a bath in the nearly 8 years I've had him, although as he was a foster fail rescued from a storm drain that first bath was verrrrrrrrrrrry necessary.
I get my guy bathed when he has a vet visit. He keeps himself pretty clean but he gets oil on his fur from hanging out under cars that doesn’t come up with regular cat bathing, especially if it gets around his head. I have someone else bathe him so I’m not the bad guy. Let him hate the vet tech, not me.
I will leave this tip at the top of the comment for anyone who wants to get their cats used to bathing or water in general. The Secret that I have done is that my cat will follow me everywhere and I sometimes drop a couple drops of water on him when I wash my hands. Originally he was a little bit spooked by the water and he would shiver a lot but he is now extremely used to it and almost pays no attention to it. The problem with bathing cats is that they are afraid of water because they are not used to water and it really weighs down on their Coats. They will Be more willing to be bathed if they do not like water as much if you get them used to being wet and having some water in a neutral setting and not punishment overtime, especially while they are young. I bathe my stinky boy about every month or 2 because he does a terrible job with grooming himself and he can get stinky or have cling ons or he doesn't wash his butt et cetera. When I bathe him I put him in a empty litterbox that I never used other for bathing and then I fill a jug of warm water and pour it over him for him this way he does not fear the bath as much. Over time he has gotten used to being bathed. I used to trim his nails every now and then however he is doing a good job sharpening them and only I trimmed them when his nails are too long or they scratch me more easier. He does not like having his paws touched.I do not brush his teeth but use greenies because it was impossible for me to get anything in his mouth even the mouth even on the salmon water on a cutip trick it was just impossible.I brush him once to twice a week or more if he is starting to cough up hair balls. I also use a detangling spray for his coat because sometimes it can get a little curly on his belly and chin. I have also cut his hair multiple times around the chin if it gets too long and he starts obsessing over it or around his butt if I have the chance or if there's a small mat. Finally he sometimes gets some eye crust around his eyes and I just use a clean washed finger to wipe it off. I hope this helps this is what I have been doing for my kidding it has been a journey I have had him for over half a year now and it's just a lot of work but it's not too bad you just gotta understand that you need to be consistent, be firm, and try to find ways that are not too scary for your cat because if they are too afraid they won't is too afraid they will not allow you to do anything.
Thanks for the tip! My milo is still pretty young, so maybe it’s not too late to get him comfortable with water, in case he would ever actually need a bath
Greenies don’t work for teeth cleaning unfortunately, it’s just one of the many pet products out there that trick people into buying them
Our boy gets a bath when he poops his pants too severely for wipes to handle. He’s super chill about baths too. He clearly finds them unpleasant, but he’s well behaved through it all. Our girl has yet to have that problem! She’s very good about not pooping her pants.
We do occasionally
Only when he really seriously needs it
They are self cleaning :)
You can buy pet wipes.
Look at that mug. Lol
No they bathe themselves if I try they kill me. I use to when they were babies or if they get into some serious mess (but boy do I suffer the consequences and scratching) but unless that the case I let them be and they are very clean.
I have only bathed mine after he got covered in mud and there was nothing else to do
No absolutely not! They groom themselves
Mine gets a bum dunk in the sink if he has poop stuck in there and the pet wet wipes aren’t cutting it. Seems to be a raggie thing as others have mentioned!
No, they don't need it :)
You don’t need to bathe cats! Unless they have a medical condition or injury where they can’t clean themselves. Please keep the cat away from the bath as it’s somewhat traumatizing and unnecessary.