It is a good idea to brush your cat and clip his or her nails before a bath.
You may want to do this the day before the bath itself, if your pet is not very tolerant of grooming. If your pet enjoys being brushed, it is a great way to relax both of you before a bath. Brushing will remove a lot of excess fur that will only clog your drain later as well as releasing and distributing essential natural oils throughout your pet’s coat. Removing loose fur prior to a bath will also allow soap to better penetrate the coat, enabling a more thorough cleaning. Clipping your pet’s nails will lessen any damage that your kitty might cause if he or she panics and struggles during the grooming process.
Make sure you have set aside enough time for the entire grooming process.
You do not want to rush through anything if you can avoid it. With a pet that enjoys grooming, this may be a quick process, but a more difficult animal will require more time and patience. If you can set aside a block of time that will be quiet and relatively distraction free, it would be ideal. The entire process shouldn’t take longer than 10-20 minutes, but if you have an especially difficult animal, a problem with matted fur or sticky substances in the fur, or have never given your pet a bath, you may want to have as much as an hour free for this activity.
Have your supplies and staging area ready.
I recommend using the bathroom tub and not the kitchen sink, because it is easier to keep the animal contained. You do not want an upset, soapy cat running through your home.
You should also have plenty of towels on hand. Long furred cats soak up a lot of water and will require more towels for drying than a short haired feline. I recommend having two to three towels for drying set aside. It is also a good idea to have plenty of towels on the floor of the bathroom in case your pet jumps out of the tub. It isn’t necessary to use your best, fluffiest towels for the job or to even use freshly laundered ones. Any clean, dry towel will do. An old blanket would also make an adequate floor covering, if you wish to use one.
Other supplies to have on hand include: a bottle of shampoo, a quick rinsing cat shampoo is best though a mild liquid soap such as baby bath could be used, and a large plastic cup for rinsing. Place these on the floor, within easy reach of the bath tub.
It is also a good idea to remove any glass objects from the room, as well as anything that could be knocked over and broken or spilled, in case the cat jumps from the tub and attempts escape.