Bath time

I love bath time, not mine obviously as that would be just horrible but bath time with mummy is such fun and I’m always there to help her and make sure she doesn’t miss a bit and show her just what to do. She calls me her bath buddy.

Once mummy’s run the bath I need to make sure that it’s not too hot and not too cold and just right for mummy’s furless body. I wouldn’t want her to burn herself so I sample it just to make sure it’s ok. She always says that she’s tested it first but I always like to make sure. As a cat, there’s really only one way to properly test the temperature and that’s to put your paw in it I hear you say? No! That would be silly, as the water makes paws slippery and slippery paws on the side of the bath is a recipe for disaster! Drink it of course, I know it sounds strange but trust me, I’ve done lots of trials into this and it’s the best way for sure.

Then I’ve got to show mummy how to wash properly, sometimes I cheat a little bit and dunk my tail in the water to get it wet then I walk up and down the side of the bath and use my tail to help wet mummy’s face, splat, splat! She does need a bit of encouragement after all. Then we sit together and I supervise whilst mummy does her thing and we chat away. Sometimes I sit on guard duty in case Millie or Angelin try to get in the way, they’re not nearly as good at making sure mummy washes properly as I am and that crazy Millie is more likely to fall in than help! Sometimes though I do let them up on the side of the bath with me as they do need to learn how to properly supervise mummy. Millies job is to keep mummy’s clothes warm by sitting on them and leaving as much of her warm floofy fur on them as possible. We don’t want mummy to catch a cold after all!

Then once mummy’s covered herself in funny smelling foam and thinks she’s all clean it’s time to have a bit of fun and we play the damp hands game on the side of the bath, that way I get a free wash as well. I walk up and down on the side of the bath and mummy rubs her damp hands all over me, she uses her fingers so I get a good scratch at the same time. Ooh it feels so good, it’s one of my most favourite games to play and each time I walk up and down I shout “again mummy, again”. This is the advanced version of damp hands and not to be tried if you’re a novice as both me and mummy have to be very careful as one rub too hard one way and I could wobble the wrong way and fall into the bath with mummy. Mummy also has to be careful not to use too much water as it could make the side of the bath wet and slippery!

Once we’ve played enough and she’s ready to get out I get her big snuggly towel down from the radiator. I know mummy could get it herself but as a good helper cat and bath buddy it’s nice to help spoil mummy. I’m such a helpful girl I’m not sure how mummy would cope without me. “Thank you Jenny “ she says “You’re such a good helper” and bath buddy, everyone needs a Jenny at bath time”. This is a highly practiced move which if you’re going to try this at home make sure you practice on the edge of an empty bath until you’ve got your technique purrfected.

After mummy’s got out I check those difficult places to clean such as her toes and give them a little lick just to make sure she got right down in between them. Humans have so much skin, it’s easy for them to miss a bit plus they’re not as fastidious at washing as us cats are. I know she doesn’t always like doing her toes as when I inspect them with my tongue she says to me “eww Jenny, stop it that’s horrible, it tickles” so just to make sure she learns from her mistake I give them a sneaky little nibble with my sharp teeth which makes mummy squirm. Well she really should learn to do it properly then!

After that mummy and I get to have a little snuggle together, I jump up on her lap and curl up, have a quick dry off on mummy’s towel after the damp hands game and just chill together for a few precious minutes. Whilst mummy and I are cuddling, Millie normally hops up on the side of the bath to watch the water go away, we wouldn’t want it to stay in there and it makes fun glugging sounds as it swirls away into the mysterious world below.

Mummy doesn’t always have a bath, sometimes she uses the noisy rain machine, which I don’t like as much because it’s a bit too noisy for me. If she does use the noisy rain machine then sometimes as a joke, when I’m feeling very brave, I sneak in and hide in the middle of her towel and then just as she turns the water off I reach up and pull her towel down around me and sit in it! “Oi! Jen that’s my towel, give it back, I’m all wet and I’ll get cold!” Then as mummy starts to moan coz I won’t move she picks up the towel with me in it and I get a big wet cuddle with her! Haha my plan worked!

Fun times are just what you make them, it doesn’t always have to be outside or involve being adventurous. It’s about enjoying spending time with each other, helping each other and having a sense of humour with just a little bit of mischief thrown in.