Well, as a general law of nature, cats aren't too fond of baths.  But I
agree that sometimes they just need one.  I have a female cat and I've had
her for about 9 months.  I got her when she was a kitten.  She's only had, I
believe, 3 baths in that time.  She was absolutely terrified and jumping up
my shoulders and running down my back and meowing like crazy the first time.
She jumped out of the sink and was just clinging to me, soap and all.  I
just held her for a while and calmed her down by petting her and talking to
her.  I put her back in the sink with no water in it and ran the water
slowly so it didn't hit her and just rinsed her by catching water in my hand
and sort of massaging/petting the soap off her.  Now she's still skittish,
but the last couple times she sat still for me after a few minutes of trying
to climb up my arm.  I've never put her in a sink full of water, so maybe
that helped.  Just pet them and talk nicely and hold them in  a  nice big
towel for a bit after so it's not so traumatic.  All three times, my cat
fell asleep in a towel in my arms after the bath.  Just try to keep baths to
an absolute minimum.  Cats keep themselves pretty clean and don't need them
that often and it can be pretty traumatic.  If you do feel it's necessary,
just try to keep it as calming as possible.  I think that actually sitting
them in the water might have been the scariest part.  If you need to bathe
them again, try sitting them in a dry sink and petting them and being as
soothing as you can while holding them in the sink.  Turn on the water
slowly, keeping it from hitting the cat if possible, get them wet with your
hand, rub on a little shampoo, and rinse them with you hand or a cup.  That
seemed to help my kitty.  It will still scare them, but may be less
traumatic.

Beth

I don't know about "right", but I've put mine in the tub and let the
water warm up before she gets wet.  

She doesn't seem to mind too badly, but she was younger than 6 months
the last time she needed a bath.

Cats can actually learn to enjoy water, but I've never had much luck bathing
them in a sink.  I usually bathe my cats (of all ages) in the shower with me.  
It helps that I have glass shower doors and they can easily be confined.  I
also have a hand-held shower.  I have the shower turned on very low and just
lukewarm and gradually wet them down.  I mix shampoo with warm water in a
plastic pitcher and work the mixture into their coat.  Finally, I rinse them
gently with the spray until the shampoo is well rinsed out.

No, you fill a little handwarm water into the sink and then *wash* the cat.

Yes!

If you carry on like this, you'll soon need a cat behaviour therapist.

How about going to the library to get some books on cats?

Carola

We have three cats, and we just give them a bath every 3 or 4 month or so, whether they like it or not - - - and guess what, they dont like it :-)

We have this plastic container we bout at Wal-Mart, I guess you are supposed to use it for washing dishes or something like that, and we fill it with warm water, then we get one kittie and take him in the bathroom, (and shut the door so he can't get out!) fill it with water, and wash him/her.  None of them like it, but it's good for them, and they come back to us for love (which we always give them) in just fifteen minutes or so.  We use shampoo made for cats, get it at Walmart.

Im all for giving cats baths.  On the whole they don't need it, but every
once in a while they do - like when my little one decided to investigate a
bucket of oil.  also regular bathing reduces the allergens they produce, so
if you are allergic or have a friend who is, then it is recommended to give
them baths weekly.

I personally fill up my tub 1/4 of the way, and give them something to stand
on, like an overturned laundry basket.  I dunk them, then let them stand on
the bucket, soap them up, then rinse them off, either in the tub again, or
with a cup that I pour water from over them.  I had a shower head once that
I could use, but I found the sound of the running water freaked them out the
most.  As always, I recommend you talk to the cat and explain what you are
going to do, and why.  Picture it in your mind as your explaining it.  Cats
often respond better if you do this.