The Importance of Grooming

Regular grooming is essential for your cat's good health. A glossy, beautiful coat is a sign of your cat's overall health and wellbeing. It not only helps your cat to look its best, it helps you avoid more complicated problems like parasites and skin diseases. Most cats do a credible job of keeping themselves clean, but they'll need your help when it comes to avoiding matted hair and fur balls, and in detecting problems with their eyes or ears. If your cat is not used to being groomed, start with a gentle combing in areas that it seems to enjoy and gradually work up to a full grooming session.

Shedding
Hairballs are common, especially in long-haired cats. To minimize hairballs, brush your cat thoroughly and regularly or try a commercial hairball control formula, closely following package directions.

Brushing and Combing
For shorthair cats, we recommend grooming once a week with a natural bristle brush and a fine-tooth comb. For Siamese and other breeds without an undercoat, you can substitute a rubber brush for the natural bristled one. Longhair cats require more frequent grooming, usually two to three times a week unless it is an outdoor cat. In that case, every day might be necessary. In order to properly groom your longhair, you will need a wire brush, a wide-tooth comb and a fine-tooth flea comb.

Start by untangling your longhair with a fine-tooth comb or mat splitter. Carefully untangle mats, working toward the skin, not away from it.

Next, use long, gentle strokes to brush your cat from the nose to the tip of the tail. Remove as much dead and loose fur as possible. If necessary, rub your cat's coat with a nylon stocking to remove static electricity.

Finally, give your cat the once over by running your hands over your cat's body, looking for any unusual lumps or sensitive spots.

Bathing
In general, you should not have to bathe your cat, as they are very good at keeping themselves clean. However, should bathing be necessary, use only warm water and mild soap, preferably a cat shampoo. Rinse your cat thoroughly, dry it well with towels and keep it away from drafts until fully dried and fluffy, as cats can easily catch cold. If possible, use two tubs or a double sink to speed up the bathing process.

Reasons you might need to bathe your cat are:

• Poison on its fur
• It doesn't take care of its coat as it should
• You are allergic and need to minimize allergens
• You are about to show your cat
• It needs a flea, tick, or lice dip
• Bad weather has left it unusually dirty