Do cats actually need to be bathed?

Most healthy adult cats groom themselves well enough that bathing isn’t needed often. But cats with skin conditions, very long fur, mobility problems, or that have got into something dirty do benefit from an occasional bath — and introducing baths young makes the whole process much less stressful.

Why is a shampoo bar easier for bathing a cat?

Cats generally hate water, and most owners only have two hands. A solid bar lets you lather directly against the fur with one hand while the other steadies the cat. No slippery bottles, no lids to wrestle with, no setting the bottle down on a wet surface.

Is the DERMagic Rosemary Shampoo Bar safe for kittens?

Yes, and the specific reason is that it contains no tea tree oil — which matters because cats groom whatever you apply straight back off and swallow it. It is also free from artificial dyes and fragrances, biodegradable, and needs no preservative because a solid bar contains no water. It works well on dogs too. We have withdrawn two things this answer used to say: ‘pH-balanced for cats’ (a saponified bar is alkaline at around pH 9–10, and there is no single feline skin pH to target) and ’non-toxic’ (too broad a blanket claim for a range).

What does it do for the skin?

It cleans gently and rinses clean, it contains no water and therefore no preservative, and — the part that makes it a feline product — it contains no tea tree oil. Useful for cats with dry skin or mild dandruff. We have withdrawn ‘anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial’ from this answer; we cannot support either claim, and a product presented as treating inflammation or infection is presenting itself as a veterinary medicine.

What’s the role of rosemary essential oil?

Rosemary oil has been used for years to improve blood circulation in the skin, moisturise hair and fur, and support hair regrowth. It also gives the bar a light, clean scent — fresh without overwhelming a cat’s sensitive nose.

Natural Cat Shampoo Bar: A Paraben-Free Bath for Cats

Name: Dermagic Europe
Address: Eurobase House, 312 Cork Rd, IDA Industrial Estate, Waterford, X91 EH5N, IE
Telephone: +44 7425 388643

November 8, 2013 · Cat Skin Conditions, The Dermagic System, Care Guides

A natural cat shampoo bar makes bathing cats easier and gentler. The DERMagic Rosemary Shampoo Bar — organic, tea-tree-free, and preservative-free because it has no water in it.

If you’re looking for an all-natural, paraben-free cat shampoo, a shampoo bar is the practical solution. Easier to use than a bottle, gentler on the skin, and safe enough for kittens.

Bathing cats — start young if you can

Many people are unsure about bathing cats. Sometimes you have to: a cat with a skin condition, a long-haired cat that’s matted, or a kitten that’s got into something they shouldn’t have.

Introducing your cat to the bath when they’re young prevents stress and mess and makes your life much easier later on. Even with years of practice, most cats — and quite a few dogs — never genuinely enjoy water.

That’s exactly why a shampoo bar is so useful. No messing with bottles, lids, or trying to one-handedly squeeze a slippery bottle while holding a wet animal. With a cat shampoo bar, you simply lather it directly against the fur with one hand and keep the other free to hold the cat steady.

What the DERMagic Rosemary Shampoo Bar does

The DERMagic Rosemary Shampoo Bar for Felines is:

Free of tea tree oil — the one thing that genuinely makes a product appropriate for a species that grooms everything off its coat and swallows it
Water-free, so preservative-free — a solid bar has nothing in it for microbes to grow in
Cleansing — lifts grease, dander and debris without the sulphates that strip a damaged barrier
Easy to use on a cat — one hand on the cat, one hand on the bar

Three claims have come off that list: “pH-balanced for cat skin”, “anti-inflammatory — calms reddened skin”, and “anti-microbial — helps prevent yeast and bacteria from establishing”. We cannot support the last two, and the pH claim contradicted us — a saponified bar is alkaline, around pH 9 to 10, and there is no single feline skin pH to balance to anyway. The bar rinses off, which is why the alkalinity doesn’t end up mattering. The full reckoning is in our guide to the feline bar.

Rosemary — the key ingredient

Rosemary essential oil gives the bar a light, clean scent. DERMagic uses it in a bar format that lets you hold the cat with one hand and work up an easily-rinsed lather with the other, and the restrained scent leaves the cat smelling clean without overwhelming a nose far sharper than ours.

This section used to credit rosemary with improving blood circulation in the skin, moisturising hair and fur, and supporting hair regrowth. All three are withdrawn — they are folklore, the small amount of human rosemary-and-hair-loss research concerns leave-on preparations at unrelated concentrations, and none of it is in cats.

Safe for cats, kittens — and dogs too

All of DERMagic’s feline products are:

Biodegradable
Free from artificial dyes and fragrances
Free from tea tree oil

We have dropped “naturally non-toxic” and “pH-balanced for a cat’s specific needs” from this list, for the reasons set out above.

All shampoo bars are handmade in the Pacific Northwest with organic vegetable oils using green manufacturing processes. Safe for cats and kittens — and great for dogs as well. For longest bar life, store the bar exposed to air rather than sitting in a wet dish.

Ingredients

Saponified Coconut,* Olive,* Castor,* Sunflower,* Jojoba,* and Rice Bran Oils; Cocoa Butter; Rosemary Essential Oil.

*Certified Organic ingredients.

That’s the entire list. No sulphates, no parabens, no synthetic fragrance.

Since this page is sold on being paraben-free, it is worth being straight about what that is and is not worth. Parabens are not the villain the internet made of them, and the ingredients that replaced them in the 2010s caused a measurably larger allergy problem. The reason this bar carries no preservative at all is simply that it contains no water for anything to grow in. We work through all of it — the endocrine data, the patch-test numbers, and which of our own products are preserved and with what — in parabens and SLS in dog shampoo.

Start the treatment DERMagic Feline Organic Shampoo Bar — Rosemary The feline bar — dermagic.eu →

The reason this is the cat product and the peppermint and tea tree bar is not comes down to tea tree oil, cats and grooming — set out with the evidence in is tea tree oil safe for dogs and cats.

For help choosing the right shampoo for your cat, email customerservice@dermagic.eu or call +44 7425 388643.

Frequently asked questions

Do cats actually need to be bathed?: Most healthy adult cats groom themselves well enough that bathing isn’t needed often. But cats with skin conditions, very long fur, mobility problems, or that have got into something dirty do benefit from an occasional bath — and introducing baths young makes the whole process much less stressful.
Why is a shampoo bar easier for bathing a cat?: Cats generally hate water, and most owners only have two hands. A solid bar lets you lather directly against the fur with one hand while the other steadies the cat. No slippery bottles, no lids to wrestle with, no setting the bottle down on a wet surface.
Is the DERMagic Rosemary Shampoo Bar safe for kittens?: Yes, and the specific reason is that it contains no tea tree oil — which matters because cats groom whatever you apply straight back off and swallow it. It is also free from artificial dyes and fragrances, biodegradable, and needs no preservative because a solid bar contains no water. It works well on dogs too. We have withdrawn two things this answer used to say: ‘pH-balanced for cats’ (a saponified bar is alkaline at around pH 9–10, and there is no single feline skin pH to target) and ’non-toxic’ (too broad a blanket claim for a range).
What does it do for the skin?: It cleans gently and rinses clean, it contains no water and therefore no preservative, and — the part that makes it a feline product — it contains no tea tree oil. Useful for cats with dry skin or mild dandruff. We have withdrawn ‘anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial’ from this answer; we cannot support either claim, and a product presented as treating inflammation or infection is presenting itself as a veterinary medicine.
What's the role of rosemary essential oil?: Rosemary oil has been used for years to improve blood circulation in the skin, moisturise hair and fur, and support hair regrowth. It also gives the bar a light, clean scent — fresh without overwhelming a cat’s sensitive nose.

#Cat Shampoo #Shampoo Bars #Natural Pet Shampoo #Rosemary #Bathing Cats #Kitten Shampoo