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I know there are a lot of Cat owners on the forum. I have an older (6? 7? year old) medium haired, feral female cat that hates almost every other creature in my house. She gets along with the other 2 cats when I am home to supervise.
Lately she hasn’t been grooming herself, at all…she is healthy, eats well, seeks affection from me, but I noticed she had matted hair in spots.
So I started brushing and discovered a lot of mats under her legs. Of course this process of me grooming her out took me a week of brushing, scissoring and at the end a bath, which almost left me without eyes. I have various wounds…
Even after the bath, I had to brush her dry, because she wouldn’t do any self grooming. The whole ordeal has been unpleasant to say the least, she hates being brushed and bites, claws, wails…..
No groomer will even try with this cat.
My big question is why would a cat refuse to groom itself? My other cats are immaculate.
She has always been a frumpy, angry cat…but no one would take her and she would be put down at a shelter. But she seems happy and healthy (in her own way) with me. She likes being petted by me…
Anyone who has advice, it would be appreciated…she has been checked by my vet…and she is in good health.
Just a side note: I ended up with her after she was hit by a truck, trailer and myself on a local highway. Her only injury was a broken tooth. SO I felt we owed her a home. She has her own room away from other pets when I am not home.
hmm maybe she has issues with licking herself… like arthritis or something… or issues with the accident and bending around to groom herself…
there’s a new brush out that cleans as you brush… it might be hard to do at first but it might be a good alternative… that she can get used to…
Hmm…how unusual…I would say maybe she’s sick, but you said the vet said good health, I don’t know the answer for you on this one, good luck.
Kittens that are taken from their mom too early have this issue as the mom doesn’t get a chance to ingrain the grooming idea.
I got our cats when they were 3-4 weeks old. They rarely groom themselves. They have short hair, so not really much of an issue.Time to shave her! 😯
Could be the Phoenix is on to something, or it could be that maybe she does groom, but she’s got so much hair it doesn’t help.
Most long haired cats do need a little help grooming – they need combed and brushed to help get the knots out in the hard to reach spots just like long haired dogs do. And in some cases, they just need to be mown periodically (although where I you, if you really wanted to get her shaven, I’d take her to the vet for complete anesthesia for a shave and a bath. She wouldn’t be the first cat to be intubated for a haircut.)
Rusti wrote:Could be the Phoenix is on to something, or it could be that maybe she does groom, but she’s got so much hair it doesn’t help.
Most long haired cats do need a little help grooming – they need combed and brushed to help get the knots out in the hard to reach spots just like long haired dogs do. And in some cases, they just need to be mown periodically (although where I you, if you really wanted to get her shaven, I’d take her to the vet for complete anesthesia for a shave and a bath. She wouldn’t be the first cat to be intubated for a haircut.)
That’s the truth…we had a nightmare of a persian that that was brought in about once a year..this cat was mean…growled the whole time we were knocking it out, and even growled while under. Without being knocked out, it bit and scratched…mean nasty cat.
I still don’t like persians and have not yet met one that was nice…and most aren’t brushed, add in their squashed face and persians are just plain ugly cats…with the exceptions of the show cats they use in commercials, for some reason those are actually attractive. Though i still don’t like the squashed look.
Kyrin
I have a silver persian (with a nose!!) that we keep in a lion cut… Sweetest, stupidest cat you’ve ever seen. The vet techs at my vet love her to bits, so much so that sometimes I wonder if she’ll get to come back home!
And she gets taken in every 6 months for sedate and lion cut, because she HATES being brushed on her belly and butt…
frozendragon wrote:hmm maybe she has issues with licking herself… like arthritis or something… or issues with the accident and bending around to groom herself…
there’s a new brush out that cleans as you brush… it might be hard to do at first but it might be a good alternative… that she can get used to…
The Pet Groom Pro II? It didn’t receive good reviews. http://www.wnetwork.com/tv_shows/shows/The_Shopping_Bags/ViewProduct.asp?ID=467
If she’s never groomed herself, then she should have been matted all along. If this is the first time she’s had mats, then I’d assume that something is stopping her from grooming herself. The likeliest suspects are either mouth pain (dental disease, a tumor, inflamed lesions) or orthopedic pain (such as back pain, which is certainly possible with a cat who was hit by a car). If she hasn’t been checked over in the last month, I’d have her checked again. If she’s a fire-breathing dragon, the vet may even ask to sedate her to check her mouth. He or she may also ask about running bloodwork. I’d say it’s definitely worth doing.
Generally, for a cat who normally grooms herself to suddenly stop indicates that something nasty is going on. Please have her checked as soon as you can. 🙁
Aww 🙁 My boss has two persians (that I most likely will inherit someday) and they are the sweetest girls. Both of them let me brush them ok. When we first got them though they had to go to the groomer to get some mats cut, and Stormy did have to be knocked out 😳
*shamelessly shows off squished nosed kitties*
http://www.freewebs.com/perfectpurrs/lola.htm
http://www.freewebs.com/perfectpurrs/stormy.htmMaybe Phoenix is right and your kitty just didn’t have as much time with her mom as she should have. I know my moms cat Bear ‘sucks’ on clothing, and I’ve heard that could be because he wasn’t with his mom long enough.
Romeodanny wrote:frozendragon wrote:hmm maybe she has issues with licking herself… like arthritis or something… or issues with the accident and bending around to groom herself…
there’s a new brush out that cleans as you brush… it might be hard to do at first but it might be a good alternative… that she can get used to…
The Pet Groom Pro II? It didn’t receive good reviews. http://www.wnetwork.com/tv_shows/shows/The_Shopping_Bags/ViewProduct.asp?ID=467
I’m not sure does it show a picture of it… our cat loves it…
of course he gets real baths because I’m allergic to cats… 😕
frozendragon wrote:Romeodanny wrote:frozendragon wrote:hmm maybe she has issues with licking herself… like arthritis or something… or issues with the accident and bending around to groom herself…
there’s a new brush out that cleans as you brush… it might be hard to do at first but it might be a good alternative… that she can get used to…
The Pet Groom Pro II? It didn’t receive good reviews. http://www.wnetwork.com/tv_shows/shows/The_Shopping_Bags/ViewProduct.asp?ID=467
I’m not sure does it show a picture of it… our cat loves it…
of course he gets real baths because I’m allergic to cats… 😕
Well, here’s a picture of the brush, and the add for it. http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/pet_groom_pro.html
There’s also one that I’ve seen sold in stores. Personally I’ve never tried it. So, I wouldn’t be able to say if it works or not. But, the brush doesn’t look like it would work for matted coats.This one might work for matts, but, I doubt it would do much for deodorizing. (most brushes wouldn’t….) http://www.asseenontvhotline.com/pd-ionicw_vpetw_vgroomingw_vbrush.html
For now, I’d suggest getting the cat shaved, then use a soft brush like a rubber brush, (I can’t remember what it’s called) then when the coat starts coming in use a soft slicker like this one
Then if the cat will let you go to a rake. But, if the cat doesn’t let you then keep brushing with the soft slicker but, you’d have to brush at least twice a day. Brush against the growth that way you are removing the hair that would be ingested if the cat was grooming itself. (You will also find the tangling hair faster and easier)Actually, I’ve surprised myself by telling you to shave the cat….. That’s a first for me. If you think you have all the matts then don’t shave her (it’s amazing the amount of matts I find hiding on Danny, it’s constant. He hated being brushed as well.) I found that starting with the soft brushes then going for the rakes and hard pin brushes worked for Danny. It took years to get him to love being brushed but, it’s worth it now that he matts horribly.
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