Maxwell: "uh, Momma, why are you pointing that thing at me?" |
You know, I haven't bathed Maxie since the day we got him as a 6 month old kitten.
Yeah, I'm totally outing myself.
Have you ever bathed your cat?
Poor little guy - I really thought he needed it at the time. He smelled awful. Turns out he had a wicked bad ear infection. Two, actually. And the smell was coming from his ears.
But it sure made his coat nice and fluffy! When the opportunity arose to check out the ExpertCare Coat Cleansing Foam I thought, why not?
So I went over to PetSmart and bought it. The product details describe it as 'a convenient, leave-in moisturizing foam that’s great for use on water-reluctant cats.'
Okay, confession time. Marty suggested we review this, because in his words, "Max is scruffy, and Allie stinks."
Okay, I agree, he could have put it more delicately. |
Marty's reasoning aside, I've noticed that for the past year or two, Maxie's had a little problem with dandruff. Wonder if that is caused by his being a kibble-addict for so many years?
(I still pinch myself - yes, after three months, Maxie's still eating wet food! *happy dance*)
At any rate, that's my more politically-correct reason for selecting the Coat Cleansing Foam. (See? No use of the word "scruffy" anywhere and the cats aren't glaring at me. Oh look...Marty is.)
The first thing I did was look at the ingredients list. Have you ever heard of the Environmental Working Group's site? I use it a lot (you type in your ingredient in the search box at the top). You can search for virtually any ingredient and the EWG will rate it, based on various health concerns.
The ExpertCare Coat Cleansing Foam gets an A+.
Testing out a cleansing foam had me curious about the products we use to keep clean in all aspects of our lives. Since the dawn of time, civilizations have been using natural oils to create a surfactant to lift dirt and grime from a surface.
(Okay, yeah, I googled that. And then got sucked in to a kind of fascinating study on the origin of cleansers. Really, you do not want to know what the Romans used in theirs. Ewwww.)
I was totally okay with everything in the Coat Cleansing Foam: a sodium salt, amino acids from apple juice, paper bark tea tree oil, vegetable oil, pumpkin seed extract. Yeah, I was totally okay with it. And I assume that the oils are the ingredients in the description where it says the foam "supports skin hydration and helps manage bad odor while supporting hair coat shine."
"Uh, did we agree to this? I don't recall getting a vote.." But... he called you SCRUFFY, Maxie. |
In fact, Max didn't feel overly wet, either. It was almost like a foam moisturizing leave-in treatment.
Maxie was very patient with me, so I'm guessing that it didn't really feel like he was getting soaked. |
Sleek, shiny, handsome mancat, ready to be huffed! Any takers? |
Not sure if you can tell from the photo, but I sure can. His flank is definitely sleeker.
It'll be interesting to see how it helps with his dandruff, especially during the dry winter months.
Overall, I was very pleased with how easily I could apply this - and how quickly it dried. And how smooth his coat feels, too.
And no, I'm not going near Allie. I think that's a job for her father. Don't you?
***
I might have to check this out - Sherpa rolled in chicken poop today. It was not fun to get it out of his long furs. He stunk.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could give this a try instead of my complicated, hour-long show baths and grooms! But I'm afraid that's not gonna fly here!
ReplyDeleteI would love to try it but I bet Katie would NOT love me to. So it s OK for them to wash themselves immediately? I know Kate would.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've studied - and this is me saying this, not a claim from Bayer - but none of these ingredients show up as harmful if ingested in small quantities, like from grooming. I worked the foam in and then toweled Max off and he did groom whatever residue remained. The top 6 ingredients are water, salt, apple juice acid and plant oils, some of which are used in some countries for medicinal purposes like stomach upset and cough. Does this help?
DeleteI had the same question as Katie Isabella? Is it ok for me to baff myself afterwards?
ReplyDeleteWow, that stuff sounds great! We'll have to check it out. Thank you for the detailed and helpful review.
ReplyDeleteSammy's only bath was when I brought him home from the shelter too.....he didn't really STINK, I just wanted him to be "freshened" after being there for a week. Anyway, that's the last time - all these years (almost 16) he's kept himself looking just fine without the bath. HOWEVER, that foam looks interesting......thanks for telling us about it.....might not be a bad idea to give it a whirl. Sam doesn't have dry skin issues but may this winter considering so many things HAVE changed about him since last Winter.
ReplyDeleteHugs, Pam
I only bathed one cat one time. Lesson learned! This is a great solution and much safer! MOL!
ReplyDeleteI need this for Sammy, he gets dandruff.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a good product.
ReplyDeleteAllie, do you realise you look like a snake about to strike?
I guess my cats are very unusual because all 5 of them have tolerated baths with little complaint. They all got baths at least once a year, and sometimes twice. It's not their favorite thing, but it's over in 5 minutes and then they're clean.....really clean, fluffy, and smelling fantastic. Honestly, I'd be hesitant to put leave-in stuff on them for the purpose of cleaning, but if you have a severely "water-reluctant" cat, (love that term!) there aren't many human-blood-free options. As for the dandruff, Raven's skin was fine when she ate one type of dry food, but terrible on another.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool product!
ReplyDeleteMommy says that looks like something she would try. She says sometimes I smell a little stinky. I think she's got some nerve!
ReplyDeleteWE get hauled off to the grooming truck, or even worse, the DEEP SINK! We think this would be much nicer, and involve a LOT let flailing.
ReplyDeleteAw, Maxie. We know you don't stink. We may have to check into this stuff...'specially this winter when all Ernie wants to do is lay on the hot air blowing thingy and it dries out his furs and gives him dandruff. He needs moisturizing.
ReplyDeleteInteresting... I did not see this product at PetSmart. Callie seems like a pretty clean kitty at least. I wonder if this would be safe to use on a rat. Gus has been quite flaky lately...
ReplyDeleteInteresting... I did not see this product at PetSmart. Callie seems like a pretty clean kitty at least. I wonder if this would be safe to use on a rat. Gus has been quite flaky lately...
ReplyDeleteMaxie does look meowvolous! Mom has bathed cats but none of us that she can remember. It never ended well, she says. Fiona is not a fan of wet food and eats very little of it. She too has dandruff, so this might be a great product for her, and Mom is going to have to try it out. She knows she will have to spray the foam in her hand in another room, as she also knows Miss Fraidy Cat will hear it and head for the back of the closet. Thanks for the review. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
ReplyDeletefascinating.. the paper bark tea tree oil kinda scares me because tea tree oil is quite toxic to cats.. how is the paper bark tea tree different?
ReplyDeleteIt's from the same genus but a different species - and it isn't the same species that Tea Tree Oil is extracted from. Here's the wiki on the genus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melaleuca
DeleteI'm seeing varying info online about it, and wonder how much of it is people playing fast & loose with their terminologies and mixing species? I honestly don't know.
I tend to trust published studies from the NIH more than individuals publishing books - here's one study, but again it's on alternifolia not quinquenervia.... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16243420