Bathing a cat. Defleaing

Question
My cat has fleas again, even after I removed them the first time via a bath with dawn soap.  She is a strictly house cat and shes very curious and takes every opportunity to run out the door.  Which is how I think she has fleas.  I know theres a controversy between never to bathe and being ok to bathe a cat.  But I dont have the money to buy Advantage and stuff like that right now.  At first I never noticed she had fleas until I associated her scratching with the bites on my feet/ankles which I believed were mosquitoe bites.  I and another sibling gave her a bath today.  It was a nightmare.  She tore up the kitchen rubber gloves off my hands, my siblings shirt, drew blood from his back and close to drawing blood on my arm.  This was even AFTER her nails were trimmed the day before.  We gave her a bath before when she was a kitten to deflea her and it was not so bad.  Now its like bathing a lion.  Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Answer
Hi Matt,

I found that I was a lot less likely to get injured once I stopped kneeling over the tub to bathe my cats.  Now, I sit on the edge of the tub with my feet in the water.  It does leave my legs vulnerable, but since I'm sitting comfortably, I'm in a much better position to react quickly to defend myself.  Also, the farther they are from grabbing your shoulders, the better.  They know this is their best escape route (and it's the most painful distraction).  

The cats also seem to be much more relaxed.  I don't know if they have this idea that I'm trying to drown them when I'm completely outside the tub holding them in, and once I'm sort of "inside" the tub with them, I become less threatening.  But there does seem to be some sort of instant switch, at least with my guys.  So I always make it a habit to put on a suit and sit on the edge of the tub.  When it comes time to lather them up, I even hold them in my lap, and most of the time, they enjoy it as a massage.  Of course, you have to make a personal call on this.  Not every cat will be having such a wonderful bathing experience.  And it will all depend on your willingness to get sudsy and wet.

In any case, I recommend running the water just slightly cooler than you would take your shower in.  I found my cats freaked out when the water was too warm.  Also, I never put in more than four inches of water.  You may need to work with just a few inches to keep her comfortable.  A lot of people recommend placing a washcloth or a piece of screening on the bottom of the tub so the cat has something to grab onto.  I've never tried it (my cats are pretty good in the tub these days), but you may want to see how it works.  If your cat starts to act up, try to get her by the scruff of the neck and just hold her away from you by it until she calms down.  If necessary, hold her scruff most of the time during the bath.  It's a reflex for cats to go mostly limp when their scruff is held.

Best of luck!

Jessica