How do you give your pets a bath?

Elliott (cat) went outside yesterday and decided to roll in the dirt. Needless to say, he was no longer part white. I gave him a bath the best that I could but ended up with scratches all over. Does anyone have any solutions or the same problems?

OOOOh baths and cats, not mixy things.

Worst one, our persian cat wandered down the street to a place where they changed oil for cars and dogs cornered her in the "oil pit" and rolled her around. She came home an oil slick. We bathed that kitty, sprayed her with many cans of dry shampoo drying ot soak up the oil, we finally ended up shaving her. Poor Skiddle kiddle

Dulcy, my little horse, on the other hand LOVES baths. She climbs in her watering trough in her paddock and paws up water all over herself.

My chihuahua, Thumbelina, started out HATING baths! with a bloody passion! you bathed her, and you emerged looking like you got mangled! scrathes everywhere! But she's three now, and although she still doesnt love them, she deals pretty well! I've learned that while I bathe her, I gotta hold her against my chest, so she can hear my heartbeat and chill the heck out! the only thing is, because she still doesnt like getting particularly wet, if nobody holds her when getting out of the shower, she will start trying to dry herself on everything! towels, carpets, furniture, wicker cabinets! she also has started venturing out by herself when its raining, which kinda shocked me!

At least I am not the only one having problems

I'm just hoping he doesn't need a bath anytime soon!

i hate giving my dog a bath, its horrible and i usually make my sister do it. our dog HATES getting a bath and will bite if given the chance. so before we even get him in the tub we have to put the muzzle on him. and i swear its like he can sense we're going to give him a bath because he'll hide. we so crazy we going around saying "the dog needs a B-A-T-H" lol

I wonder if the Vet hold {by the nap of the neck like a mom cat} would work to relax a cat in the tub? I haven't bathed a cat in years. Most of ours do an OK job keeping clean. Sometimes Chi rolls in.....god-knows-what but I just avoid sticky kitty till it goes away

DiVinity, one of my horses, like her bath water HOT, like hotter than I take a shower. If it isn't she moves all around unhappy.

Our Border Collie also hates baths, but somehow keeps himself fairly clean... when I do bathe him, it's treats and dragging into the bathroom, then get the water started, etc, then fight to get him into the tub...

then I have to stand there and lock my legs on either side of him to keep him there, do the back, then the front [hates having his face wet more than anything]... then try and dry him off a little before he shakes his hair all over the bathroom.

My thigh's get a good workout on bath days

The lil Yorkie, luckily can be held in one hand and bathed in the sink... we have to spell it around her so she doesn't go hide

I think the only time I've ever given my cats a bath was when I first got them. So they got a flea bath. I can't ever do it on my own--I always have to have someone help me. Otherwise I end up scratched & have a wet & wild kitty running through the house!

Vin, I've tried the Vet Hold but I must not be doing it right because they almost always kick me somehow.

Maybe I can give a little insight on the whole bathing a cat thing.

Obviously, cats don't like the water, unless they're drinking it. At pet shops, like Petco, they have different things in order to wash them without water. Bath wipes, waterless shampoo. Some cats don't mind getting a bath but others will scratch you to death before putting them into a tub. I'm not too sure if the whole holding them by the nape of their neck really works. I know when you go to a vet and you need to hold them, they tell you to hold them there to keep them still. If anything, just use the quick stuff. They work just as well and probably alot easier.

When it comes to dogs and baths, they don't mind it BUT... don't do it all that often. Unlike us, we can lotion and moisterize and get our skin the way we want if it's dry. Dogs don't have that option. The more you wash a dog, the more you dry up their skin. Plus, in the winter time, they're more prone to getting sick if they're wet and it's cold outside.

Hope that helps everyone.

our dog is just a sweetheart...he loves to have a bath...infact he loves water so much that many a times when i am in the bathroom he often gets in with me in the tub...also he gets very excited when he sees sea water when we take him to a beach

Nope, no problem on my end. My wife most of the time give our pets baths, they seem to enjoy it. Bare in mind, we have 8 cats, 2 rabbits and 2 ducks.

Our dog loves to bath...but we never bath our cat because she only stays inside the house and never gets out...so there's no reason to wash her and I also heard that cats could die if their head gets under water because their ear opening leads directly to the brain and if there gets water inside they'll die....

After their bath, put a nice warm towel around them.

i have a smaller dog, so i just stick her in the kitchen sink and give her a bath there! haha

My can seems to love baths. I just rinse her off in the sink and she's fine.