A dirty little Harlem Fur secret is that Cheryl is deathly allergic to cats. We work around this minor inconvenience with general apartment maintenance that includes severe constraints on the use of rugs and cloth covered furniture, running a Honeywell air filter, constant clothes washing, twice daily litter box attention, a sweep-vacuum-Swifer weekly floor regimen, and frequent cleaning of the bedding. This helps to an extent.

Although we keep the apartment as free of cat dander as we can, Cheryl adds a layer of complication to the situation with non-allergic lifestyle behaviors. She encourages Cimbi to sleep in bed with us, nuzzles her face into Cimbi's side, and frequently kisses her on the head. So, in addition to keeping the apartment clean, we also have to keep the cat clean, and that means baths.

Usually the cat's bath is a private affair, but this time we have an opportunity to share the experience.

Stuff On My Cat's weekly contest that ended Saturday has a theme that jives perfectly with Cimbi's wash schedule. The contest theme of "bath time, before and after" allows Cheryl and I a rare opportunity to share the pure joy that is Cimbi's bi-weekly summer bath with people at a website who constantly ignore our submissions.

I am providing this teaser photo of Cimbi on her way to the bath, and trust that Stuff On My Cat will post the after photos tomorrow, where everyone can vote for Cimbi.

If not, I will post the after photos myself.

UPDATE
Cimbi's bath photos made it onto Stuff On My Cat!

Please vote for her, and see the amazing after-bath photo, here!