My long haired, indoor, ninja cat Piwacket had stealthily slipped past me when I was bringing a delivery into the house. We didn't realize until I heard something at the front door 3 hours later and opened it to find him sitting there crying and shaking. I brought him in and made sure that he wasn't hurt then checked for ticks and possible fleas. All seemed well but he continued to shake and twitch which I put down to trauma from being outside for so long. Even though I saw no evidence of them, I suspected fleas since he continued to twitch and I had several bites on me the next morning. I ordered this shampoo, figuring it couldn't hurt and gave him a bath in a tub filled with a bit of gentle castile soap in the meantime. When I received this shampoo the next day my husband and I bathed him again, pouring the liquid into my hand and rubbing it into his fur all over. No it doesn't foam up like most people are used to but I only use natural soaps so it was not a surprise for me. I rinsed him completely and gave him a quick rub down and brushing. Again, we saw no evidence of fleas or anything, the water was clear and brushing him produced nothing. The following morning I finally got my answer - chiggers! I had no idea that we even had them but somehow Piwacket had found a nest of them during his adventure and this shampoo was killing them off. I submerged him into a tub of warm water with the castile soap again and immediately saw the result, there were hundreds of them! Apparently they are microscopic until they get a good feed and puff up with blood. Bleeck! After rinsing him off and then removing the majority of these teeny tiny biters with a flea comb I put Pi back into the empty tub and shampooed him again with this shampoo, rinsed and went over him again with the flea comb until I felt that he was mostly free of the pests. This took over four hours locked in the bathroom and I have to say that my cat was a complete trooper throughout. I think that he knew this was helping him to feel better so he was patient with me. I continued to comb him throughout the day removing a few more bloated chiggers each time. I bathed him with this shampoo again two days later just for good measure and I believe he is now chigger free. He is also incredibly soft, fluffy and smells delightful! Because this contains cedarwood, clove and cinnamon the smell to me is reminiscent of Christmas and I love it. I didn't find it drying at all to either my hands or my cat. In fact after a total of five baths he is almost completely dandruff free, something I've been trying to accomplish for quite some time.
Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]