Maybe you could copy this and give it to her.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bathing your cat

It's possible someone in the family has allergies; even a rinse or wipe down with a wet cloth is supposed to help reduce or eliminate some of the cat dander (in their saliva) deposited by the cat when she grooms herself.

Thank you lilliepad. Great link.
catmom, I think they said she stunk after being at the vet. I tried to set them straight.

Carla

It's possible she peed on herself at the vet's office or in the carrier (one of my previous cats peed on me or in the carrier every time we put her in it the last few years of her life). Why the grandmother is bathing it weekly though I can't explain....

Hopefully they will get tired of doing this. I would think you need to be careful of getting water in ears. I only ever bathed cats if they had a mess on themselves, needed flea bath, or with an older cat having trouble grooming. Mine had all their claws and would have arms scratched. At least the cat maybe would be tolerable of baths since getting them so often so young. But I agree, don't bath a cat unless they need it or allergy problems.

I think that kitten needs to be Re homed with a more proper owner/owners, what the heck is an old woman doing with an animal that will outlive her IF she doesn't die from stress, being killed by a predator if let out, because of no claws, or bad diet.

I'd either rehome or PTS if the kitten is too tramatized by de clawing to make a good pet, some cats are just that way, sadly after declawing.

runsnwalken - read the post again. It says "My daughter's friend got a new kitty." It's not the grandmother's cat - it belongs to the DAUGHTER of the poster's friend.

Also, are you advocating that older people shouldn't have pets? "what the heck is an old woman doing with an animal that will outlive her..." Pets are a great source of comfort to elderly people. My mother is 83 and has a 7 year old cat. Statistically, yes, the cat will outlive my mother. But who are you to deny someone happiness? How do you know if a family member will take the pet? Someday I do plan on adopting my mom's cat, but in the interim, I would never deny my mother the right to own a pet.

Frankly, I find many of your posts highly offensive, lacking in education, and just plain ignorant.

(Sorry to the rest of the posters - I just couldn't continue to read runswalken's ridiculous posts without expressing my 2 cents. I understand he has a disability, but if you're going to post on a public forum, one needs to get their facts straight before posting nonsense).

I'm sorry, But a kitten, in that suitation needs out. The daughter really needs to explain to the grandmother, why frequent bathing/de clawing isn't good, and if she's dumping the responsiblity on someone who will die before her, its selfish and cruel, to the cat and to the grandmother. A kitten is allot of work, and I fear for both the grandmother and the kitten. I fear she will ruin the cat, make her into a vicious animal that will die in a shelter somewhere, or worse bite, an older persons systems are breaking down, if she is bitten it would be bad news. If an older person has to de claw because of a health problem, then he/she either should use soft paws or simply shouldn't have cats, because its just not safe nor eicthical. However I see nothing against older people having pets if its safe for them to do so, as long as they understand and accpet they need a backup plan in place for when they die. Good for you that you plan on doing that for your mother, thats a very good thing.

Some people shouldn't have pets because of the way they must live, even though they may love them, heres a prime example

I had a woman friend at my work site, who lives in a group home, they made her de claw the two cats she has, and one day she came to work with a bite at least three inches wide , it looked deep in her arm though a large band aid hid it from view so I couldn't be sure, she had hid the bite from staff, and doug our boss, found out and hopefully reported it if he didn't then I did. I reported it to my local animal control, hoping they ban further cats from going into that suitiation, or punish the stupid group home, I talked with her about it, and she said her vet told her to do it, therefore IMO that vet should pay a fine for harming a disabled person and putting others( human and animal) in danger.-Besides from biting people the cat has been sneaking out and had one of her back nails mauled by another stray/wild cat. We cannot lay the blame on the cats, they are just doing what their instincts tell them to do, BUT a vet should know better. Prehaps the saddest thing about it is the owner sees nothing wrong. She brought her cat to work one friday,and she bit me,too, luckily on the hand, and only on the front side while hand was hanging to the side, couldn't get a firm hold. Cat was a nice and good tempered otherwise and would have been a wonderful safe animal but not for the loss of claws, and she couldn't even jump down from tables unless going on my lap first.

...Sigh...

Sephia, ditto on that!

Yes, you can bathe your cat. When we first got Frank and Lily we took them each to the groomer weekly because my husband was allergic to them. The groomers always did an outstanding job, but we started to visit less and less, and now my husband has no allergies to the cat.

Frank was so comfortable being groomed that he would stand with his paws on the shoulder of the groomer while she blow dried.

First of all. Lilliepad, I showed the article to my DD's friend, she said the mom had talked to the GM about not bathing it. I tried to talk to her, 15 is a difficult age especially with attitude. I think I got through to her.
Second, the cat is living with the whole family but I assume it's the teenager's kitty. Yes, I feel for that kitty with de claw but I can't control that. I just hope they're smart enough to realize if the kitty gets outside, it has no protection. AT LEAST they had it spayed.
Thank you all for your help and suggestions.
PS, there are no allergies in the house that I'm aware of.
Carla

Carla17 - If allergies are not a problem, it could be that the grandmother is one of those people who wants everything super-clean.

Giving advice and information to your daughter's friend is probably the best you can do. Let's hope granny gets tired of giving weekly baths and gives the kitty a rest.

Good thing they got her spayed, but too late to talk them out of the de-clawing. Both procedures cost money and require vet care, so that gives an indication that they have a commitment to keep the cat.

Runsnwalken - thanks for sharing about the problems with your co-worker's cat and warning about the dangers of de-clawing.

We live in the real world, however, and with feline overpopulation, too many end up as strays, in shelters or euthanized. A home where they de-claw, go overboard on shampooing, etc., can also be a home where the owners give love and care. Let's hope that's the case with the family of Carla's daughter's friend.

Sephia - This is a discussion forum. You know you're going to read things you don't agree with, and no matter how well you explain your point of view you will not convince everyone. I can tell that you are more than intelligent enough to debate your point effectively without insults. I get good information from your posts.

Petaloid, I may have confused some of you. They already had he kitty de clawed, that and spay together. I feel so bad for the kitty. I try not to think about things like that, gets me too down.

Carla

I understood that they already got the de-claw and spay. Thanks for caring about the kitty cat.

True, and because an older woman is caring for the pet, if it bites her, it will be a what goes around comes around, karma in action.

In the real world, PTS or rehoming is kinder safer and just more right then allowing an elderly woman to keep an animal that could bite her. I highly recommend you watch Body story - Death, on You tube, it explains how fragile old people are and what happens to them all, in the end- sad but informative. Any cat hates bathing, and will turn on people who bathe it, give that cats a loss of claws, rendering it 75% defenseless and dental issues from dry food, wham! you have a major issue on your hands, with blood infections, cat scratch fever ect, Tarder,dental infected teeth gong into a human body,and an elderly one at that- bad idea.

Hi Petaloid - thank you for the feedback. I debated with myself about posting my thoughts about runswalken's information. I prefaced my comments with an apology to everyone else so as to not start an argument - that was certainly not my intent. I just couldn't hold back without expressing my frustration. Thanks again for your positive response to my comments - I appreciate it.

Unless the cat has a medical condition that requires it, bathing more than twice a month will strip the healthy oils from the coat and cause dry skin, which can lead to itchiness, which can lead to scratching, which can lead to infection, or at least a miserable kitty. If they are having a flea problem, then using a topical flea control product like Frontline Plus, Revolution, or Advantage is safer and more effective than bathing.

AND cause the animal to become scared,stressed and just not happy in gen, kittens unless they are long haired,really dirty have fleas or ringworm/ect can get by for one bath A YEAR. Add a kitten whose lost 75% of its defenses and could bite you got major temperment issues cooking.

Some older women also through the aging process get really big,bulgy veins in their hands, their skin covering those veins gets really thin and fragile, nope not a good idea.

Runsnwalken, I have three cats. All three are declawed by us when they were neutered. My husband is allergic to cats, I hate the thought of declawing and would never recommend it, but it wasn't an option in order to keep my kitties.

I also had the first two bathed weekly the first few years of their lives again, due to my husband's allergies. Frank loved the bath, he would even stand on his back legs and put his paws on the groomer's shoulders to be blowdried. Now, 8 years later, Lily still jumps into the shower when we turn it on, she loves water and being wet. We paid for special shampoo/conditioner that kept their skin moisturized, that was never a problem.

As for the biting, it isn't even an issue. All three are sweet, fun, happy cats that are well adjusted. Lily doesn't even bite when we are rough playing. I agree that SOME people may experience these adverse reactions to bathing and declawing, but you consistently insist that every cat that is bathed or declawed is miserable and bites and that is gospel. Yes, it can and does happen, but not in every case.

Its kinder to allow a cat to deal with the hormonal issues of being unfixed the to de claw it IMO, Allowing a cat to spray, call and go into heat is all part of nature, and though not ideal or very humane it is better then cutting off the tips of toes, and taking away 75 percent of his/her defenses if you knew it, and hated the thought of it yet did it anyway, then IMO you don't/didn't really care about the cats in question or your husband for that mater,( most cat meds to control feline allergies, render a person tired and sometimes grumpy,) knowing his allergies you should have had the cats fixed and given them to a no kill shelter/a friend/or even a barn, many barns welcome cats to control rodents issues, and baring avoiding death from cars,other animals, I think the cat would be in heaven, free to do whatever he/she pleased.. In gen its always better to work with nature then against it/ not that I'm disproving of fixing a cat, I'm just saying that if given the choice, I would prefer an intact cat outdoors in a cage, possibly if female, mated with a fixed tom to bring out of heat, every so often. Another thing to do, would if in that situation, allow her to breed, then abort, again and again until her eggs are all out, cats who go heat after heat without intercourse get eggs that can be harmful because unlike humans cats don't have cycles where eggs are flushed out. Again this would be problematic,costly, have moral issues if you are against taking life, and quite possibly harmful to the female cat, which is why I think rehoming after spaying/neutering would have been the best course of action to take.

Be aware that if the cats ever leave the house they are pretty much at the mercy of loose dogs, tomcats, ect. AND if they ever did lose you and had to survive in the wild, its highly doubtful they could keep from starving to death without claws to help them hunt, mark territory, ect.

If it was a landlord situation requiring the de clawing of the animals, well you've shown a poor resistance to peer pressure, there are alternatives to de clawing, soft paws are good, its a shame the landlord ( if there was one) values an mere object over a living feeling being. Another thing you could have done is agree to use the soft paws, and cover the/any costs of damage- knowing the soft paws I don't think it would be in any amount.

Regarding the post and world's longest run-on sentence above, I am speechless. I give in, Runsnwalken, you win. No one can argue with your kind of logic.

Michelle-E-mail me through my page here,please.

I didn't mean to get you all keyed up, its just think before doing is always a good idea. Weither it be pets or anything else.
9 times out of 10 I'm against letting cats be unfixed BTW, its very hard to live with a full cat. Its quite true unfixed pets are less domesticated.