Comments on: How to Wash a Kitten

By: Amanda and Brandon

Amanda and Brandon — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:29:35 +0000

My fiance and I just adopted two female kittens whose mother was lost to coyotes shortly after they were born. This advice was extremely helpful because using the soft cloth to “groom” them created a bond and also showed them how to groom themselves! Leaving the problem area damp after the wash and dry, the kittens plunked themselves down asap and began to clean that area themselves. Thank you for your advice and tips!

By: David

David — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:52:24 +0000

Using a hair dryer is a bad idea because:

a) It’s way too loud, and will terrify them.

b) The force of the air itself will scare them.

c) There’s no way to regulate the temperature. It will get too hot. Wet hair is a conductor of heat which is why you can burn your scalp if you use an iron on your hair when it’s wet.

Towel drying works fine, and it simulates mother grooming the kitten. It comforts them and makes them sleepy. They will fall asleep purring on you.

By: Katriona

Katriona — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:08:19 +0000

This is a good guide, but what about hair-drying? Don’t you want your kitten to be dry?

By: PiNG

PiNG — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:30:25 +0000

You can wash a kitten that young but you have to make sure that the water that you use is as close to the kitten’s body temperature. A good rule of thumb for me is if it feels almost too hot to put my hands in, its OK for the kitten. Then you’ll need to keep them in the water as much as possible… that means be really quick yet thorough with the soap. The longer the kitten stays out of the water the more chilled it will get.

Once the kitten is clean, gently squeeze the excess moisture out of its fur and bundle it up in a large towel that was wrapped around a hot water bottle. Dry gently but thoroughly.

By the end of this you should have one sleepy, fluffy, clean kitten, one sopping wet large towel, and one sweaty semi-scratched human.