How To Groom Your Cat

Grooming is an important part of caring for your cat, especially if you are the owner of a long hair breed. Proper grooming will minimize your cat shedding all over your clothes and furniture, prevent the matting of its fur, and will help promote a glossy and healthy coat.

Combing and Brushing

Combing and brushing are important to keeping your cats coat healthy and clean; this should be your first task. Always comb gently from front to back, to avoid agitating your cat – reassure your cat with a treat and a soothing voice if he or she finds the process distressing. This is applicable if your cat has a matted coat or if this is the first time you have attempted to groom him or her.

You should aim to use pin brushes or a boar’s hair bristle brush for a long hair cat to really get through the hair; with dense coated shorthaired cats the boar’s bristle brush also works exceedingly well.

How to deal with mats

A mat is when your cats fur gets knotted into a matted mess and sticks to the body, unfortunately,  your cat can get mats even if you groom regularly (especially during its seasonal shedding).

Never attempt to cut off a mat, it may seem the easiest option but you could accidentally damage or cut the cats skin in the process. You should hold the cat’s fur as close as you can to its skin without pulling on it, then proceed to working out the knots by picking at them with the tip of a brush. As they loosen and break apart you can easily comb them out.

Eyes and Ears

Breeds that have a compacted snout can often end up with debris in their eyes from eating and foraging. To clean your cat’s eyes, get a cotton ball or two and gently wash the area with warm water, making sure you don’t directly touch the eyeball. Once you have dampened the debris with the cotton ball, use a clean cloth to wipe it away.

For your cat’s ears, you should gently massage in some warm water or room temperature olive oil to soften up any debris and to generally moisturize his or hers ears. Leave it on for about 5 minutes; your cat will try to remove the substance itself, but this helps with emptying dirt from the ear canal so leave it be. After the 5 minutes use some cotton balls or swabs to remove any loose debris that’s left and reward him or her with a healthy cat treat.

Bath Time

This is the fun part considering most cats are not big fans of water, but it is needed if your cat’s fur has become overly greasy or they have managed to get themselves coated in dirt. If you can convince your feline into a bath then be sure to use a reputable brand of animal shampoo to ensure you don’t irritate your cat’s skin.

If you have succeeded in bathing your cat, be sure to dab him down with a towel until you have dried most of the fur. Be sure to comb and brush at this point to avoid your cat’s fur getting knotted.

Hopefully this little guide will help you to care for your cat and keep its coat in tip top condition.