How to bathe a kitten? Mimpi kitten takes his first bath

One day, I saw that Mimpi was scratching often and persistently, so I thought it was time for a spot check.

Kitten scratching his ears with back legs

And here is what I found:
(I know, I am being over dramatic)

Ear mite, tick and fleas on my cat

Since I found him on the street, it was not very surprising that he had so many parasites. I asked a veterinarian, and he recommended that I wait until my kitten is at least six months old to start any treatment. But honestly, I couldn’t leave him infested with parasites for five months!

So, as per usual when I have a burning question, I checked on the internet. I googled “Natural treatments for cat’s parasites”.

Essential oils recipe for fleas and parasites

Here is the recipe I found:
Peppermint, Spearmint, Lavender, Cloves, Citronella Spray (for cats and dogs)

Fragrant and natural treatment against fleas

Honestly, it seemed a bit too complicated for me. First, where was I supposed to find all these things? How much would it cost to produce it? If I had 20 cats, maybe it would be worth it to buy this amount of herbs and essential oils. However, just for a tiny kitten? Also, I just couldn’t imagine my Mimpi being happy with all these smells…

How to make soap foam with soap nuts

Since I live in Bali, I’ve found some seeds called “soap nuts”. I use them for absolutely everything: as hand soap, body soap, shampoo, detergent… It is natural, cheap and really versatile. I checked if I could use it for my cat, and yes, it actually removes fleas! This is how it works: you put the soap nuts into a little bag, add warm water and it will make some bubbles.

My kitten's first bath in a sink

How to bathe a kitten? It was not easy to convince my kitten to get into the sink that I had filled with warm water and soap nuts.

Actually my kitten enjoys his soap nuts bath

But when he got there, he seemed to be relaxed and almost enjoying it.

My cat is super clean after having a bath

After I got him dry, he was completely clean! There were no more fleas or other parasites. Even though he had a hard time being cleaned, Mimpi wasn’t resentful at all towards me. He jumped into my arms and fell asleep, purring like a motorbike engine.
