{"id":5029,"date":"2021-06-18T02:51:42","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T10:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=5029"},"modified":"2021-06-18T02:51:42","modified_gmt":"2021-06-18T10:51:42","slug":"frivolous-friday-youd-better-believe-your-cat-needs-grooming-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=5029","title":{"rendered":"Frivolous Friday \u2013 You’d Better Believe Your Cat Needs Grooming Help"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Some cats need extra special attention because of their fur type. However, we\u2019ve found that all cats should be groomed. It\u2019s good for the cat\u2019s health as she will swallow less fur when she grooms herself, it\u2019s a great bonding activity, and you\u2019ll notice less fur on your clothes when you leave the house and clinging to your furniture, carpets, lampshades, floating around under the bed and dressers… those of you with cats know what I\u2019m saying.<\/p>\n

Sophie is a shorthair tortie. She does not get tangles or\"\" mats. Niiiiiice. She\u2019s an easy maintenance cat. And of course, she loves to be groomed. Well, yeah, there are no tangles, so there\u2019s no pain. Grooming is a lovely experience for Sophie. And we groom her often with a fine-tooth comb to remove her constantly shedding undercoat. I\u2019m always surprised at how much fur comes out of her when she seems practically bald to start with.<\/p>\n

\"\"Then there are the long-hair cats. Some of them have nice fur that doesn\u2019t mat, so combing\/brushing isn\u2019t highly necessary, except for the reasons mentioned above. Then there are cats like Olivia. Yup, she\u2019s prone to mats. Darn it. And, like most long-hairs who are prone to mats, she HATES being combed or brushed.<\/p>\n

I thought she might be a fluffy cat, so I started \"\"grooming her when she was quite young. She hated it then and she dislikes it now. I\u2019ve tried a variety of grooming tools and she kicks and bites each one of them. So I\u2019ve had to make some decisions and try some new tactics. I comb her when she\u2019s happily resting in my lap\u2014nothing invasive, just a \"\"comfortable combing.<\/p>\n

The other day I managed to work on a mat while she lay on my desktop. Little by little.<\/p>\n

There are many grooming tools advertised, but I\u2019ve found that not all tools work with all types of fur. Sophie\u2019s fine-tooth comb pulls too much for Olivia, but the wide-tooth comb works pretty well on her fur and it is a good tool for working out the mats and tangles. I \"\"use scissors when I have to, but only when Olivia is super relaxed and then I\u2019m super careful. You sure don\u2019t want the cat to bolt and someone to get cut. Holding Olivia down and forcing the issue is out of the questions. Her feral beginnings still live fiercely inside her. I find that if I work with her mood we can get somewhere whether I\u2019m trimming her claws or combing her.<\/p>\n

\"\"Lily was a dream cat\u2014such a sweet and relaxed and trusting cat, but we had to hold her down to trim her nails. We hated the fight so much that we\u2019d sometimes make appointments with our vet just to have her claws trimmed. Already, though, I can trim Olivia\u2019s claws without issue\u2014if we do things her way. It takes time, but it works and it doesn\u2019t terrorize Olivia (or me).<\/p>\n

I am absolutely no authority on cat grooming, although I enjoy watching the cat groom herself. I think we all learn various techniques and methods with each of our cats. As we discussed, the tools for each cat may also vary. But here\u2019s a site with great tips and pictures. https:\/\/www.wikihow.pet\/Groom-a-Cat<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some cats need extra special attention because of their fur type. However, we\u2019ve found that all cats should be groomed. It\u2019s good for the cat\u2019s health as she will swallow less fur when she grooms herself, it\u2019s a great bonding … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,4,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5029"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5029"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5032,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5029\/revisions\/5032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}