Pride goeth before a ruined shirt

With Mickey relatively healthy, a free, warm afternoon, and no dirty dishes in the sink, we decided it was time for a bath to remove that distinctive 'cat fart' smell from our feline friend.

You can probably guess where this is going.

Now, I have bathed cats before. I have bathed big old tom cats who were nearly as big as I was (as a kid) I have bathed frighted cats who'd never been wet before and didn't even sit on your lap by choice when they were dry. I've done it in showers, in sinks. It's not a big deal. The worst part is how pathetic they look when wet.

I do not understand the people who refuse to bathe their cats out of fear. It's almost as bad as the ones who take the cat to the vet to have it's nails clipped. Seriously? It's easier to get the cat in the carrier, and drive to the vet than it is to flip 'em over and snip their claws? Your call. Though on that note, there is *nothing funnier* than a cat who used to have sharp claws trying to jump on your lap and sliiiding back down where her claws used to grab so effectively into your bare skin.

So we caught the cat, warmed the water, cleared the area around the sink, found towels and soap, and got to work. Now, what I'd forgotten about all these trouble free previous cat bathing experiences was that all the sinks had those little sprayer attachments, meaning all you had to do was hold the cat still, and squirt away.

This one didn't. And while Mickey was a relatively good boy (for a wet cat at least) about holding still in the water, he was not too keen about being repositioned while we tried to get the faucet to spray all of him.

Which is how I ended up with a half-wet cat climbing over my shoulder.

Which is how I ripped my good work shirt (I always, always put on old clothes before, and all that had gotten on them was a lot of cat fur, but this time I was just so confident)

Which is how M ended up carrying the still half-wet and increasingly pissy cat to the bathroom to finish the job with the detachable shower head. (thank the lord for detachable showerheads)

At least he forgave us quickly, and was sleeping on my lap by bedtime (at which point I had to give him his antibiotics)

Oh, and an addendum, while cat baths normally leave clods of fur lying about, this time there was none to speak of. It could be white fur is less obvious, but I blame the furminator we recently bought. He really doesn't shed much at all now except his tail where he's not fond of being brushed. But more on that later.