Before cat shows, Summer gets a lengthy bath and grooming routine, and she tells you all about it, with photos.
You probably thought I looked pretty good in these photos. But it’s not good enough for a cat show…or a professional modeling job either! Those are times when I need a full show bath and a groom.

Somali cat getting a bath in a sink
I will admit, baths are not my favorite thing ever. But I don’t freak out like some cats would. I tolerate them, and I’ve been through them enough to know the routine. When I get a bath, I’m going to be doing something fun, and my human’s time will be 100 percent dedicated to me for the day.

In the summer, I get baths in the enclosed patio, because the sink is small and the counter is a good size for my groom. In the winter, it’s too cold, so we do my baths in the kitchen sink.

Wet Somali cat in a towel on a counter by a sink

I get two shampoos, first a clarifying one, and then a pet shampoo. And my human rinses me off thoroughly. Even a tiny bit of soap residue can make my coat look less than pristine. Then she wraps me up in a terrycloth towel to soak up excess water.

Wet Somali cat getting combed
Then I am sprayed with a detangler made for cat fur, and my human gives my coat a quick comb through with the larger comb. She has two sizes. The big one is to detangle my fur and groom my pantaloons and tail. The small one is for the rest of me.

Somali cat getting blow dried
After that, I get blow dried, while my human combs my fur to make it fluffy and pretty. My breeder got me used to the sound of the blow drier in the weeks leading up to my first cat show. I received other types of desensitization training, like getting used to claw trims, too. All this helped for later on, when I became a therapy cat.

Freshly groomed Somali cat
Here I am, completely groomed! You can see there’s a big difference between how my fur looks here, and how it looked in the first photo.

Freshly groomed Somali cat getting a squeeze up treat
And once we are done, I get rewarded for going through all of it! I think it’s the best part of getting a bath. The whole process takes 45 minutes to an hour, which isn’t too bad. While short haired cats like Abyssinians are basically wash-and-wear, long haired cats like Persians may take up to four hours for a full show groom!

Have you ever had a cat that accepted or maybe even liked getting a bath? Let me know in the comments!