These lick mats work well for my sister’s dogs, so I decided to try them for my cat... yes, cat. To start, I puréed canned tuna and smeared it all over a mat that I stuck to the wall of my bathtub and let him go at it. At first he was skeptical since he hates the bathtub, but once he smelled the tuna he was all about it. I did this three times with no water involved.
Next, I filled the tub with about an inch of warm water and offered him the mat again. After hesitating he decided it was worth it, and willingly went into the water! So the next time it was two inches of water, then three, and finally four!
Then I tried to gently pour water on his back with a cup. That did NOT go well the first time, so I backed off for a few times lol. But the next time he actually let me!
Now, this is as far as I have gotten, but I really feel like this is a serious victory. I will continue slowly working up to a full bath, but I think it will continue to go well as long as I don’t push him too fast. I’ll update if anything changes, but these lick mats work!