Cat Fur

How to Groom Your Cat

Cats are basically very tidy creatures. They are in the habit of grooming themselves by licking every part of their body clean with their tongue.

This habit of tongue-bathing has several benefits to your pet cat:

- promotes better circulation of the blood - gets rid of dead skin cells - removes excess/dead hair on their coat - tones their muscles - keeps the fur soft and clean

Although your feline friends groom on their own, you should still do your part in keeping your cat clean and well-groomed.

Here are several ways to keep your cat well-groomed:

1. Brushing

Depending on the breed, your cat can either have long or short hair. Make sure that you brush your cat's coat well enough to promote proper grooming.

-For cats with short hair, use a brush with soft bristles so that the skin will not be scratched or hurt in the grooming process.

Use soft, gentle strokes while brushing. This should make them purr in pleasure and you will have an easier job of grooming your pet cat.

After brushing the coat with a comb, you can finish the job by wiping the fur with a dry, soft and clean piece of cloth. This should maintain the shine on your cat's coat.

-As compared to cats with shorter hair, long-haired cats would require more brushing time.

For this, use a comb with wide-teeth that is specially designed for cats. This should initially remove the knots and tangles on their fur.

Afterwards, you can use a fine-toothed comb to work the smaller knots on the fur and eliminate the more stubborn knots.

Do not forget to brush the hair around the face with a smaller comb or a toothbrush.

Avoid the eye and whisker area when brushing.

Brushing your cats fur on a regular basis will help keep their coat shiny and healthy, and will also give the owner and the pet some bonding time together.

2. Bathing

Cats do not often require bathing because they basically take good care of themselves when it comes to grooming.

However, there are some cases wherein you need to give them a bath no matter how you - and your pet - dread the chore.

You need to bathe your cat if the coat has excessive dirt.

Sometimes, a substance that can possibly poison them sticks on the fur and it is vital to give them a bath in this case.

Another instance where you need to bathe your cat is in case of fleas, ticks and lice clinging to their skin.

3. Cleaning the eyes and ears.

For the eyes and ears which are the most sensitive areas in your cat's body, there are solutions that you may use.

Choose one which is specifically designed to prevent cats with light-colored eyes to develop stains.

For the ears, cats collect a considerable amount or wax so you have to take care of it when grooming.

Removing this would maintain your cat's health and help prevent infections.

There are also cat wipes that you can use for the ears, eyes and teeth.

4. Keeping the paws clean.

Cats are in the habit of scratching surfaces so it is better to keep them away from the furniture items in the house. It would also help if you keep those paws clean and trim their nails.

You can go to a pet store and buy a nail trimmer specially designed for cats.

Ask your veterinarian for the proper way to trim your cats nails so as not to hurt them in the process.

If you find that your cat exhibits a not-so-healthy clawing habit, you may go for the option of declawing your cat.

This is a surgical procedure where the nails are permanently removed so that it will not grow back.

However, you should still ask your vets advice if you want to go for declawing because with this, cats will lose a natural defense mechanism.

A better and kinder option is to regularly trim the cat's nails, have them use a wooden post for scratching, or crate-training to prevent them from clawing at your most-treasured possessions.

By following these tips and making time in your busy schedule to groom your cat, you would have a healthy and happy cat and be a happy owner as well.

To learn about elephant facts and wolf facts, visit the Animals Facts website.

What is the best cleaning product to use to clean semen from my cats fur?
I accidentally knocked my sample off the bench. I'm always clumsy when I'm in a hurry.

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What is the difference between dog and cat fur?

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What is the weirdest question you've ever seen asked on Y!A?
Mine's gotta be one about "How do you get semen out of cat fur?" or maybe it was one about a hamster's penis falling off

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Why are the holes in cats fur always in the right places for their eyes?

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vegans, what do you think about people doing this?
Making items out of their pets fur or if you had a cow that you were really really close to and wanted to make a small bracelet or swatch of leather from it? I know already how vegans feel about wearing fur in general but if the animal was close to you and you wanted to keep something of it as a keep sake or whatever. I know some have their pets stuffed after they die, which I think is a bit on the creepy side but to each his own. Would you do it or think it's alright? Does this sound weird? I've seen a show where some people, who have long haired cats, who use their cats fur, after a trim, to make things out of their cat's fur. If I remember right they do sell the product but I could be wrong about that. Btw no cats are harmed in the making of the items :)

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