Admittedly, this is a very advanced money saving tip. Only the very seriously broke, or very seriously frugal try to wash their own cat. Some of you might say, “You don’t need to wash a cat.” Hey, maybe you don’t, but there are people out there making a living washing cats. For example, perhaps your cat is covered in motor oil and you don’t want the cat to lick the motor oil. Or maybe the cat has fleas. Ah-ha! See, there are reasons to wash a cat. Also, there are dry shampoos for cats. That’s less interesting, but we thought we’d mention it. Now, on to the cat washing!

If you want your cat washed, and you don’t want to pay for it, here’s how to wash a cat.

1) Use warm water, but not hot water.
2) Don’t use dog shampoo or people shampoo. Use cat shampoo.
3) Put a rubber mat or a towel in the tub to protect the cat.
4) Dilute the cat shampoo in water.
5) Put the cat into the water…sloooooowlyyy. You might want to ask a friend to help hold the cat.
6) Let the cat get used to being wet, then use a cup to pour the shampoo water on the cat.
7) Rub cat.
8) Rinse cat.
9) Dry cat with a towel, then leave her alone to recover. This cat may not like you for awhile.
10) A poster on DIY site Curbly suggests that you can train a cat to take baths if you start when they are young. That’s his cat in the photo, so apparently he’s not a liar.

There! You’ve washed a cat! —MEGHANN MARCO

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