It is not recommended to bathe the cats quite often. The pet who doesn't take part in contests and exhibitions requires bath no more often than once a year. It is a wide-known fact that all the cats are able to keep their fur clean by themselves and the often cleaning with detergents may bring more harm rather that being useful.
There is a risk to wash off the protective layer of grease from the cat's skin together with the dirt. One of the first questions that the people who have recently brought a small kitten in their house concerns the problem of bathing it. Despite the fact that the cats don't need often bathing you still will have to carry out that procedure. The earlier you will explain your kitten that there is no need to be afraid of bathing time the easier you will find bathing it in the future. To wash the fur of my cats I use two small basins. In the first one I pour the water for soaking the fur and in the second one there is the water for rinsing shampoo or soap. In the most cases don't use shower but once I had found it to be quite helpful. My beautiful fluffy Persian tomcat couldn't resist the call of love and slipped to the street through the open window. We used to search him till the night fell but all our efforts went in vain. Finally in a week or two he came back home himself. To be honest I even didn't recognize him at first. Being accustomed to my perfectly white fluffy pet I couldn't imagine that this shaggy dirty wad of grayish fur is my dear Prince. In that evening I used the shower to wash him properly but the water in the bowl still looked like there was a handful of clay diluted. In that way I don't believe that a cat that lives in a house and doesn't walk outside could become that dirty that it needs to be washed once per month.
The main thing concerning washing little kittens is the right water temperature. Try it with your wrist or elbow as those areas of skin are the most sensitive ones. If you try the water with your hand it may seem pleasantly warm for you but somewhat hot for your cat. You shouldn't feel any significant difference between the temperature of the water and your skin. Take your kitten and slowly put it into the water. Leave its head above the surface. Soothen it with stroking and soft touches. You may also talk to it in a calm quiet voice.
