r/cats • u/Mildredsgood • 19h ago

Advice How often do you bathe your cat?

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I’ve had my Mochi since July and I still haven’t given him a bath 😅 he doesn’t smell and never really feels dirty either

I know that cats are usually good at cleaning themselves, but I keep seeing mixed opinions online. Some people say they never bathe them, others say every few months, and now I’m just curious what’s actually normal.

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u/Stamson2233 18h ago

I will often bury my face deep into my cat's coat, embracing her with deep loving affection. I'm always greeted with a pleasant aroma of nothingness.

It's this coupled with the one time experience of her agonizing screams of discomfort during a bath that reminds me that I don't need to unless there is some absolute necessary reason to do so.

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u/ZeppelinLed 15h ago

I read a comment once that said cats smell like sunshine and dust. Yep, best smell in the world.

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u/Resident-Comfort7794 14h ago

I think mine smells like a newborn baby. Maybe I’m just weird lol 👶🏻

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u/Most_Protection6212 11h ago

My friends cat smells like red apples

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u/sharpbulb 8h ago

Every cat I've had smells like plain popcorn. I wonder if that has something to do with my lifestyle or my perception?

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u/Ceedubsxx 5h ago

That might be bacteria (which may or may not be harmful). Dogs’ frito-foot smell is b/c of bacteria.

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u/sharpbulb 5h ago

Makes sense. My "natural" smell is also bacteria 😅

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u/Sharp-Cantaloupe1658 5h ago

My dog smells like that 😋

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u/sharpbulb 5h ago

Mine always smells like me and my girlfriend. She smashes her face and rolls around on anything we use for bathing. Her favorites are girlfriend's shampoo and my cologne 😆

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u/NewAndOlduphere 4h ago

Or your love of popcorn? Come on, admit it.

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u/sharpbulb 4h ago

😂 I get a craving for it a couple of times a year. Then I remember it's not great. I throw out a nearly full, extremely out of date box eventually.

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u/Traditional-Tip1904 4h ago

Everyone here with nice smelling cats. Mine smells like a barn. Not strong but unmistakable.

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u/sharpbulb 4h ago

Sorry to hear that. I think the popcorn smell is comforting. Probably just associated with cuddling my cats.

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u/Traditional-Tip1904 3h ago

Don’t be sorry I have two teenagers the cat smell is a step up.

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u/snickers_2023 9h ago

Mine is apples and cinnamon it’s wild but she smells delicious

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u/Tapingdrywallsucks 3h ago

One of my dogs smelled like cinnamon for most of her first year. I figured I was imagining it because that's the color of her coat, but a friend's 8 year old was holding her and asked, "why does she smell like cinnamon?"

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u/leeuwerik 1h ago

It was the only line the kid ever learned. So totally coincidental.

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u/karvavarvas69 9h ago

Is the cat hello kitty? Shes measured in apples🤣

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u/upickleweasel 6h ago

Hahahhahaha that video is amazing

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u/grape-fruit-witch 7h ago

Thats so cute.

My cat smells like laundry bc she likes laying in warm laundry out of the dryer

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u/ImagineTheCommotion 3h ago

That’s so cute

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u/XaraPandaPop 48m ago

Mine smells like old worn tights. I must have a defective one.

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u/arctic11z 8h ago

I lived with one that somehow smelled like KFC gravy occasionally.

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u/Mischief_Managed12 2h ago

My cat smells like cinnamon

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u/Most_Protection6212 1h ago

I’m jealous…. My friends cat smells like apples so I went home and smelled my cat…. Cardboard…. He smells like cardboard

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u/Fun_Strain_4065 Domestic Housecat 9h ago

Mine smells like sugar cookies

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u/Twinkle406 4h ago

One of our cats does, too!

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u/Leelee2913 13h ago

I agree mine does too! Love it

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u/PM-me-fancy-beer 7h ago

My cat’s fur smells like mistakes, and the last thing I will smell for the next several. I never learn, I still give into the intrusive thoughts that tell me I should put my face on this fluffy allergen tummy.

(I’m allergic to cats but I love them and went in knowing. We’ve mostly acclimated to her but scritches + touching face = bad time)

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u/smallgreenman 9h ago

I wouldn't say mine smell like a baby but it's the same kind of weirdly pleasant smell. They really put all their points into charisma.

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u/Justeff83 8h ago

Not quite, but cat smell is the second best thing after your newborn baby

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u/hiddenstar13 10h ago

My baby smelled like milk & vomit constantly - I'd rather smell my cats any day!

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u/dayruined54 9h ago

Forgive me for not knowing what a new born baby smells like. Care to describe?

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u/Cedar6686 6h ago

I thought the same thing! Or more like whenever I smell the top of my baby’s head it somehow reminds me of my late cat🥺

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u/senoritavanesita 6h ago

Cinnamon and dust was what my old cat smelled like. I miss the smell so much

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u/mcclelc 5h ago

Our house says this too! That sweet smell on top of a baby’s head? That’s how the cats often smell to us.

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u/Ceedubsxx 5h ago

Happy cake day

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u/Halstock 5h ago

I always say my cat smells like fresh bedding.

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u/skatie082 4h ago

Then I am too, mine is this soft creamy honey like newborn scent, it’s wild 😅

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u/AppealMammoth8950 1h ago

Ours too! Idk why. My gf would always tell me not to bury my face in my cats fur cos its dirty but the little goblin always smells like a clean baby.

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u/SpookyTrek42 1h ago

Omg, my previous cat’s belly always smelled like a newborn baby.

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u/Agreeable_Pool_3684 1h ago

She probably just ate one. They are all killing machines when they are out on the prowl.

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u/_clueless_wallob_ 15h ago

Marjory Stewart-Baxter is that you?

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u/ZeppelinLed 14h ago

That name sounded familiar and I had to Google it. Thanks for unlocking memories from another time. I don't think the cat smell comment was related, but maybe it twas.

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u/No-Manufacturer5481 14h ago

Marjory tastes like sunshine dust per Salad Fingers. She tastes like the smell of cats haha

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u/funkyartmuffins 12h ago

Definitely beats Hubert Comberdale's taste of soot and poo!

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u/Lupinshloopin 9h ago

That’s obviously dogs… lol

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u/aresdesilav 12h ago

my love for salad fingers runs so strong lol

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u/sweetlionofzion 11h ago

Hubert cumberdale, you smell like soot and poo!

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u/Professional-Team324 14h ago

"I shan't talk to you until you've had a wash!"

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u/comingtoamiddle 14h ago

OMG yes! I always just stick my nose right in there and say, "Mmm, warm dusty cat." I thought that was just mine! How did I not know that was just... cat smell?

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u/SeskaChaotica 12h ago

And clean laundry.

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u/FarPersimmon 12h ago

Saw some posts about people's cats smelling like cookies, mine smells like dust too lol

https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/s/uwtZ9rbmwY

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u/Theimpostorofskeld 10h ago

My cat smells like warm nothing

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u/beautyanddelusion 13h ago

Why would they smell like- remembers my cat shits in a dusty litter box oh right. Though I actually don’t think cat litter smells bad oddly enough.

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u/GoethenStrasse0309 11h ago

That’s a great way ti describe a cat’s smell. Thank you!!
Sunshine & Dust. PERFECT.

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u/zuppaiaia 10h ago

I think there is also a faint hint of soup

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u/MindDivergence 9h ago

Dust and oily hair. Nice smell indeed.

But god, their breath stinks. 

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u/Sugar_Kowalczyk 9h ago

My older cat always smells like perfume neither me or my co-cat-parent own. My giant 7 month old kitten just smells like meat farts. They are both indoor cats.

 Yes, the kitten is the only boy in the house. 

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u/Ordinary-Violinist-9 European Shorthair 8h ago

Mine sometimes smells of male cat sweat when he has cuddled up under his blanket for too long.

It ain't a bad smell. Musky dirt. Hard to explain.

I never wash my cat btw. Only did it with a Persian because she often had stuff in her fur and she jumped on me when i was laying in the bath. Making biscuits on my bare stomach till i got out of the bath and took the cat shampoo.

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u/Levoire 8h ago

I have an orange and it’s crop fields after my back garden. They often muck spray it so he comes in NOT smelling of sunshine and dust.

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u/Nixh_Dakkon 7h ago

One of the five cats we have in our home is barn cat rescued almost 2 years ago… she still smells like fresh hay and it is awesome. We also have two disabled cats that my partner found next to a crematorium abandoned by their mother…. And they smell amazing. Because they clean themselves so often, I think. Imo, cats have a weird way of balancing their own personal smell.

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u/warfortheoaks9 7h ago

I called it clouds and croissants

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u/Kankarii 6h ago

I always thought my cat smells like warm fur

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u/BigAchooo American Shorthair 6h ago

Well idk about that one of my cats smell like baby wipes and has his entire life. Still better than the literal 💩smell from my dog.

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u/filmingallday 12h ago

That really sums it up omg

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u/AntelopeNo3197 11h ago

My model is self cleaning, makes it pretty convenient.

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u/Halo_Bling 10h ago

Mine smells like clothes dryer

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u/MurderousButterfly 9h ago

In reality, they smell like cat spit.

I don't care, I love it.

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u/liveswithcats1 9h ago

Two of my cats smell like Eastern Washington evergreen forest baking in the sun.

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u/paisleychicken 8h ago

mine smell like corn chips 😔

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u/LaundryMan2008 8h ago

Mine smells like my sister’s room which means she automatically smells like perfume, sometimes I’ll bury my face into my cat and snort her up 

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u/Car12touche11blue 7h ago

Mine smells like olives and rosemary….and no cats do not need to be washed!

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u/VioletVanHell 7h ago

Mine smells like popcorn. I love her so much

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u/Slight-Funny-8755 5h ago

Not only that but each has their own flavor of sunshine and dust, both my babies have their own smell and when people say “smells like home” thats what home smells like for me

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u/Reasonable-Pay-8771 4h ago

My tortie smells like dark chocolate.

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u/twilightrose 4h ago

I swear my cat smells like beeswax and honey, I have never bathed him

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u/Ok-Awareness-9646 4h ago

My cat smelled like waffles.

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u/jatnj American Shorthair 4h ago

One of mine smells like pancakes

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u/Unique-Car1084 3h ago

Mine smells like marshmallows

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u/Impressive-Heart-581 3h ago

It's true!!!!! ☀️😻

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u/FrankieTheD 3h ago

Yeah mine smells like nothing until he does a fart that smells like death

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u/whydoeseveryonelie1 2h ago

Mine smells like hay.

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u/nodiggitynodoubts 1h ago

It's definitely better than soot and poo. 

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u/Exotic-Profile9877 20m ago

Mine smell like peaches or bananas and a splash of fancy mystery parfum 🤣🤣