Grooming Your Cat

You can keep your cat from having a "bad hair day" by regularly brushing and combing his hair. Cats have many types of coats, but all of them need to be brushed and combed.

Types of Coats:

Some shorthair cats, such as the Bengal or Russian Blue, have sleek hair that's flat against their bodies. Shorthair cats, such as the Exotic or Manx, have thick hair with dense or cottony undercoats. Longhair cats, such as the Turkish Angora or Norwegian Forest cat, have soft, silky hair that is easy to brush and comb while others, such as the Persian, have coarse hair with an undercoat that knots up more frequently. Some cats, such as the Devon or Selkirk Rex, have curly hair. Even though you'll never have to give a curly cat a perm or put his hair up in rollers, you'll still have to brush and comb him regularly.

Brushing and Combing:

The combo brush will keep your cat from developing painful knots, often difficult to remove without the services of a professional groomer. If your cat must be shaved due to excessive knotting, a veterinarian must perform the procedure, and your cat will have to be anesthetized.

The Benefits of Grooming:

1. Grooming helps minimize the formation of hairballs – hair that a cat ingests as he washes himself. If a hairball lodges in your cat's digestive tract, it may require surgery to remove.

2. Combing and brushing helps you detect fleas which deposit dark bits of feces, commonly called "flea dirt," on your cat. Timely detection of fleas is necessary before the fleas infest your cat and your home. The most efficient way is to use the flea comb to brush out fleas.

3. Brushing your cat means less vacuuming because more hair will be trapped by your cat's hair brush and less hair will be deposited on the carpet.

4. Regular grooming sessions are a way to spend quality time with your cat. Grooming should be as much fun for your cat as playtime.

Grooming Tools:

The right grooming tools will make the job easier. Have a variety of grooming equipment available based on your cat's coat type and use them concurrently. Combs can be used in conjunction with brushes. Start first by combing your cat, then follow by brushing your cat to distribute the natural oils throughout his hair.

Try the brand new FURminator: a special anti-shedding treatment that dramatically reduces the mess and clean up of unwanted pet hair.

A flea comb is a metal comb that has fine teeth that are close together. Flea combs trap fleas in the teeth of the comb. Once the flea is on the comb, it should be dipped in a cup of flea shampoo or removed by smashing it in a tissue.

Metal combs with teeth that are farther apart should be used on cats with long hair and a dense undercoat to keep the coat from matting.

Brushes remove dry, dead skin from your cat's coat along with the excess hair. They may be soft- or hard-bristled. Hard brushes keep the dense coats of shorthair cats from knotting. Soft brushes can be used effectively on cats with short, sleek coats.

Pin or wire brushes have metal bristles that are farther apart than regular brushes. They keep longhair cats' coats from knotting as do metal combs. Brush first with a pin brush, then with a hard or soft brush to distribute the cats' oils through his coat.

A slicker brush is a flat, metal brush with small, fine wire bristles about one half inch long all over its surface. The bristles are bent at a right angle and help trap loose hair. Grooming first with a slicker then following it with a soft-bristled brush makes your cat's coat shiny and smooth. Slicker brushes can be used on shorthair or on a longhair cat, even one that has an undercoat such as the Himalayan or Persian.

An undercoat rake looks very much like a mini rake that you might use for raking leaves in your yard. They thin and remove the thick undercoat and keep it from knotting.

Tips and Alternatives:

1. Cats that run from an owner wielding a brush may be more accepting of a grooming glove that you wear on your hand. The tiny prongs on the glove's surface remove loose hair as you gently stroke your pet.

2. Another alternative to a brush is a device that fits into the palm of your hand and is easily concealed from your skittish kitty. Made of rubber with tiny projections, the palm-held rubber brush enables you to groom your cat without him being the wiser.

3. If your cat develops a knot in his hair, remove it carefully by using a seam ripper. Keep your fingers between your cat's skin and the knot so you don't pull it. Start at the outside of the knot and gradually loosen the hair with the seam ripper as your work your way in.

4. To make grooming more appealing to your cat, store the brushes and combs in a plastic bag with loose catnip.

5. Give your cat the opportunity to groom himself by attaching a corner-mounted comber to a wall at your cat's eye-level. Sit back and watch your cat have a blast on the corner-comber

[ See Also Shedding ]

Hairballs

What Are Hairballs?

A hairball, or trichobezoar, is a ball of undigested hair in stuck in the stomach or small intestine. However, they are not all ball-shaped. Some are sausage shaped and more difficult for the cat to expel. Normally, the wad of hair will pass through the cat’s stool. However; the more hair, the greater the chance of it becoming lodged in the cat’s digestive tract.

How Do Cats Develop Hairballs?

Cats develop hairballs when they clean themselves by licking. Cat’s tongues have rough surfaces made of backward slanting papillae. Much of the hair can’t be dislodged, and the cat is unable to spit it out. Ad a result, loose fur becomes swallowed and eventually leads to gagging, retching, and vomiting of hairballs.

The Symptoms:

Hacking, retching, gagging

Vomiting

Constipation

Diarrhea

Loss of Appetite

Swollen abdomen

Weight Loss

Are Hairballs Dangerous?

While hairballs are often a normal routine, they can potentially be dangerous. If the hairball becomes large or dense enough, it may block the intestinal tract so that the cat is unable to hack or vomit it out. If this occurs, it may need to be removed by surgical means. Hairballs can potentially reach the size of a baseball.

What You Can Do:

Groom Your Cat: Since there’s no reason to stop your cat from licking, brushing your cat is the most helpful way to prevent hairballs. The more fur you remove from brushing, the less the cat will have to consume.

You can check out various Cat Grooming Products.

You can also learn more about Grooming Your Cat by reading the information above.

Products: If brushing just isn’t getting the job done, there are various products to help the cat easily discard the hairball. These products, which are pleasant tasting to cats, can be fed in paste form or applied to your cat’s paws to allow your pet to lick it off.

1. SHED-STOP for Cats reduces or eliminates hairballs in cats, while promoting healthy skin and a glossy coat.

2. Laxatone is a laxative and hair ball remedy.

3. Laxatone Tuna Flavor is a laxative and hair ball remedy in a tuna-flavored gel that your cat will love.

4. Cat Lax is for the elimination and prevention of hair balls in cats.

Diet: A diet that is high in fiber may also aid in the digestion of chronic hairballs. Used on a regular basis, it can prevent reoccurring hairballs.

Some material on this page supplied by the Pet Resource Center, www.entirelypets.com/healthtopics.html. As a pet owner, you’ll want to learn more about pet care including flea control, pet behavior, diseases, safety, grooming and care for your aging pets. These informative articles are filled with information and suggestions.

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