Never imagined I’d be routinely giving a cat a bath. I’ve been trying to get away with not doing it, even though every website states these naked cats must be bathed weekly. My thought process? She gets only the best of food and doesn’t go outside, therefore how could she get dirty?! Right? Wrong.

Gertie our resident naked alien.

Gertie’s been in the family for a little over 3 months. Scottie & I are amazed at how easily she transitioned into the routine and living amongst those so different from herself. She’s extremely expressive, affectionate and hot. Literally, she’s hot. Her body temp runs way higher than cats with the usual fur coat. It’s not so nice in the middle of the night during a pre-menopausal episode! You see, she likes to lay right up next to me under the covers. This is how I discovered I was going to have to take the plunge with Gertie. The sheets showed she was sloughing off dead skin cells like crazy!

I called on my friend and seasoned dog groomer, Terry, to let me use her tub for this trek into unknown territory – bathing my naked cat. Gertie’s been nothing but sweet and easy but combining teeth, cat claws and water had me a bit nervous. I took a bad bite from a cat once. His bath was just finishing up. I was my vet’s kennel manager and did the majority of the baths. Cheddar (I’ll never forget this particular cat) waited for just the right moment to sink his fangs into my forearm. He was in so secure and deep, it took two other girls to pull him off of me! Yeah, it hurt.

Wasn’t going to take any chances so Gerts got muzzled.

She really wanted out of the tub.

Disclaimer: This is a cat muzzle, designed for cats. Covering their eyes helps keep them calm. There is a nose hole for breathing. No cats were harmed during this bath!

Just as with everything else, Gertie took her bath in stride. She wiggled a bit and would’ve preferred to not be getting hosed down, but she was a good girl. Before Terry could even yell at me that she wasn’t hearing the water running, we were done! Being naked does have it’s advantages.

Gertie only took a few minutes to dry.

She’s such a cool cat!

Another high maintenance component to living with a naked cat is finding just the right body lotion to keep their nakedness nice and supple. I’ve been trying a couple different, all-natural, no chemicals or cancer causing stuff lotions that she and I share. I always use lotion after I shower so it made sense Gertie needs lotion, too. You should hear her fussing and squeaking at me when I put her lotion on. She makes some noises! But, we get it done quickly and she can go on about her business. We moisturize daily.

FYI Gertie is a Sphynx cat. We found her on our local Craig’s List and got very lucky. We are probably Gertie’s 3rd owner.

Here’s the Wikipedia link to everything Sphynx: Naked Cats