Grooming in Cat
Grooming in Cat
Grooming your cat has a vital part in caring for it. Grooming necessities differ from breed to breed. Most cats spend a large part of their day grooming themselves. In spite of licking and cleaning themselves regularly, they still need regular brushing and combing. Moreover, as they get older they find it harder to reach certain areas, so it is best to try and help your cat by grooming him regularly yourself. This helps them:
- Remove loose hair
- Prevent matting
- Keep the skin free of diseases and parasites like fleas
Habitual grooming: Regular grooming is a perfect way to spend special time bonding with your cat and is also a good opportunity to check on its health. Plan a regular grooming schedule. For shorthaired cats, once a week is sufficient. However, longhaired cats need daily grooming to prevent matting. While grooming, look carefully for signs of fleas, ticks, skin irritations, lumps or sore spots.
Get your kitten habituated to grooming and being handled as early as possible. Slowly increase the amount of time you spend grooming your kitten until it is happy to allow you to do so. Eventually the kitten will enjoy being groomed and will come to see it as part of its daily routine. Find out how your kitten likes to be combed and brushed. Be careful of its sensitive parts; like her delicate ears and the stomach area.
Combing: Frequent combing helps remove any loose or matted hair. This also helps to keep your house clean and prevents hairballs. Hairballs are formed in the cat's stomach from swallowing too much hair during grooming. This could be very uncomfortable and can cause obstruction.
Comb gently in the direction of hair growth to remove any tangles or knots. If the knots are too tangled, carefully trim them off with scissors. Use wide-toothed combs for longhaired cats and fine-toothed combs for shorter coats. Flea combs help to pick up fleas and flea dirt from the coat.
Brushing: In addition to combing, brushing also removes dead and matted hair and helps the coat to be tangle-free, to stimulate the skin and to spread natural oils evenly giving your cat a healthy, shiny coat.
Always brush gently in the direction of hair growth. Use a wire slicker brush for thicker coats and a soft bristle brush for others. Don't use slicker brushes on older cats as their skin becomes more delicate, loose and saggy with a thinner coat.
Nail trimming: Use special cat nail scissors or trimmers to trim the sharp point of your cat's claws. Press the paw gently to protrude the nail and cut the tip quickly. Be careful of where the blood vessels are. Carefully cut only the hook because cutting too much could cut into the nerve and cause it extreme pain and bleeding.
Bathing: Cats don't usually like to be bathed. However, bathing helps in controlling matting and tangling in longhaired cats. Skin diseases can be treated by washing with medicated shampoos. However a well-groomed cat taking a healthy balanced diet does not need bathing as the coat is always glossy and healthy.
With all these tips grooming your cat could be a special treat for both you and your cat