My cat has fleas, should I bathe her? And what about wet vs. dry food?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Female | spayed | 7 lbs
How often should you wash your cat for fleas? And also how often should you feed your cat wet food? Could she only eat dry food?
4 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on February 6th, 2017
There are no hard an fast rules about any of this. If your cat has fleas, a quality topical or oral flea treatment from your vet is most effective. Treating your house and yard will also help reduce the flea population. If you decide to bathe your cat, I recommend about once a week with any pet shampoo, it doesn't have to be a flea shampoo. Trim your cat's nails and apply a drop of plain mineral oil or a small strip of plain, non-medicated ophthalmic ointment to both eyes. Use very warm water to get your cat's coat completely wet, then apply a small amount of shampoo and lather it into the coat well, from tail tip to toes to the end of her nose. The eye ointment will prevent the shampoo from stinging her eyes. Lather her well and let the shampoo sit on for about ten minutes to kill any fleas that are on her. Rinse her well, making sure to get in all the nooks and crannies like her armpits and under her belly, otherwise any shampoo left on can irritate her skin. Towel her off thoroughly and, if she'll allow it, you can use a blow dryer on her on warm, not hot, and keep the dryer moving at all time so you don't make one area too hot and burn her. As far as food is concerned, wet, dry or some combination is between you, your vet and your cat. Some people with fat cats feed exclusively wet food because it contains no grains and therefore has fewer carbohydrates than dry foods. Other cats do perfectly fine on only dry food. My cats are mainly dry food eaters, but I do give them wet food sometimes as a treat.
6Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on
A monthly topical preventative would be more convenient, more effective and less stressful than bathing. Consider a product such as Frontline or Revolution. You can purchase either from your veterinarian. You can feed a canned food twice daily. Choose a high quality canned food with a named protein source of animal (not plant) origin. The food should come from the can looking like a hockey puck. No minced or diced food and no sauces or gravies. All those tend to have high carb content. Cats have no dietary requirement for carbs. If you choose a dry food, find one that is high protein and low carb. Stay away from store or discount brands. These typically contain low quality ingredients and more fillers.
4Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on July 13th, 2017
Cats shouldn't be bathed more often than once every 6-8 weeks if needed. You can have her groomed by a professional groomer so she doesn't associate the stress of bathing with you. If this is not an option, bathe her when she is most calm. Trim her nails and brush her first. Your veterinarian or groomer can show you how to trim nails if necessary. Use a cat approved shampoo. Place a mat in the the sink or tub for traction so she doesn't slip. Place cotton balls in her ears to prevent water getting in them. If you have sterile plain eye lubricant, instill in both eyes to protect from soap. Fill the container with 3-4 inches of water. Wet her down, lather her up and rinse thoroughly. Wrap her in a thick towel and dry her completely. Remove the cotton balls from her ears, wipe her face and give her a final brushing. If she won't allow bathing, use plain unscented baby wipes or pet wipes. These can also be used to spot clean between baths.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on May 23rd, 2017
In general, flea shampoos are not effective and only serve to cause skin irritation. Also use caution when choosing topical flea prevention from less known brands, as many have been shown to be quite unsafe and ineffective. If your cats have a flea infestation, I would recommend giving your cats oral Capstar because this will kill adult fleas within 30 minutes, but it will not provide ongoing flea prevention. Simultaneously, apply a weight-appropriate dose of a high quality topical product for flea prevention (such as Advantage or Revolution) to all cats in the household. Bathing should not be necessary. However, if you find an excessive amount of flea dirt and debris on your cats that you want to wash off, you can bathe them in a gentle baby shampoo or oatmeal based pet shampoo. Should you choose to bathe them, be sure to wait at least 2-3 days after applying any topical flea prevention. I hope this helps!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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