Bath Day

So in the beginning of August my coworker Abril came to me with a problem. Her neighbor was an irresponsible pet owner. He didn't spay his cat, she had a litter of three, and now the kittens were going feral, running around the neighborhood and scavenging. She couldn't take them because she has birds. Could I take them and get them adopted with Rainbow's help? Of course I said yes.

They are adorable little Maine Coon mix girls. We only have two because one got squashed by a car the day before Abril caught them. But they came with fleas. We washed them, and I thought we got the fleas eradicated.

Ha ha ha aha haha!

Two weeks ago, I got a lot of mosquito bites. How weird for late summer. And the cats were scratching lots. And one night I was petting Sidecar in bed and saw an actual flea (I know! I am so slow on the uptake!) and it all became clear. Oh shit.

I put medicine on all the cats. I started the cycle of washing and vacuuming and scratching. I didn't want to bathe the cats because the kittens had just been spayed, and we have:

Cain. Who weighs 20 pounds and was bathed once as a kitten.

Mencken. Weighs 14 pounds and was bathed once as a kitten.

Sidecar. Weighs 8 pounds, has never been bathed, and is the most suspicious cat you can imagine. He does not like to be touched. He is unbribeable--no food appeals to him. And if he thinks you'll pick him up, he runs. And fights.

However, this weekend it became clear I had no choice. I started with Cain, because he wandered into the bathroom. Oh, he did not like the dunking. The soap was okay, but the rinsing was a problem. He cried. He climbed on my shoulders. I kept telling him he was such a good boy and I was so sorry, but it was necessary because of the fleazles. Afterwards he was a sad and broken cat.

Mencken was a little better. He trusts me more. But still, the water is not our friend.

The kittens, Calcutta and Bombay, were easy because they are so small.

Sidecar...he knew something was up, that the bathroom was an abbatoir of some sort, if only of kitty pride and confidence. But like a horror movie heroine, he couldn't resist. I lured him upstairs with the Cat Dancer. I shut the door. We started with dunking. I had to soap him extra, because he has the worst flea infestation. Poor baby. All over there were fleas. I was picking t hem off. Afterwards, he looked like a Gremlin. He has a lot of fur, and it's all spiky and gross now.

It took an hour to do all five. I am soaked and exhausted.