We've owned six cats so far and only three were ever bathed by us, just once in their lives, each. The first was our first new kitten that my husband brought home as an anniversary surprise for me. There were fleas literally jumping off of him! So he got a flea bath pronto! The second was another kitten that slipped out of our condo unnoticed by us. When we got home, she was sitting on the doorstep, completely filthy. I was flabbergasted to see her there as we've never allowed our cats outside. Sneaky little bugger! We were lucky she didn't get smashed on the road as our home was on a busy main road! The third cat we had to bathe was a stray we took in. He got a flea bath - just in case!
Those were our first three cats. The current three cats we now have have never had to be bathed. They're also all short hair breeds.