topic Re: do some cats have double coats? in Pet Lovers

do some cats have double coats?

NYwoman — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 17:36:57 GMT

Our nine year old rescue cat is a tabby with ENDLESS hair. We are still slimming her down. She must have been overweight for quite a while. Her hygiene habits as far as her own body are sorely lacking. Most of this is because she cannot reach most areas of her body. I try to brush / comb her daily. She does not like this but I gently persist. I get handfuls of hair daily and she still looks lush with fur. I can't imagine her ingesting this amount of fur with normal self grooming. BTW she has no mats and has short hair.

I have tried every brush and comb I could find. HELP! I need ideas for effective grooming tools and methods to make this daily routine more pleasant for her. Grooming her "bum" is particularly distasteful to her. I spend a lot of time scratching her face and head to distract her as this is her favorite interaction.

Re: do some cats have double coats?

We rescue cats — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 17:52:58 GMT

Yes, your kitty probably has a double coat. Maine Coons always have a double coat. Our Maine Coons were monsters with their coats! The outer long hair was heavier and slick to protect them from water, they also had a fluffy coat that protected them from the cold. I used a Furminator comb for long hair, there is also a furminator for short haired cats. If you cannot find one locally Amazon has them. They are NOT inexpensive, I think I paid over $25 for them and I've had mine since we were in the shows-probably bought them 20 years ago. I always get our cats a 'sani cut', it is a huge help. The vet techs can often do that for you. The trim around the anus and that keeps it clean. I wash that area as well...but the cats are not happy with that.

Re: do some cats have double coats?

Kachina624 — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 17:53:12 GMT

@NYwoman. Google "best deshedding tools for pets". I came up with a list for dogs but in reading descriptions, it seems they can also be used on cats.

The Furminator seems to be the most popular. It didn't work too well on my double coated dogs because their fur was too long (collies). Probably best suited for short haired or a cat.

Re: do some cats have double coats?bit

NYwoman — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 18:09:29 GMT

I have bought and tried a Furminator already. It's part of my collection. I find a comb and a rake type the best so far.

Our girl is short haired. She has a grey tabby coat but I also get handfuls of whitish fluffy fur. Her bum is a fluffy cream coat and fills out every other day. In order to get anywhere near her butt she pulls her back leg to her head with her front paw!

Most cats LIKE to be groomed!

Re: do some cats have double coats?

geezerette — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 19:24:19 GMT

I find that in summer my cats and dog all keep shedding no matter how much I brush them. Once fall comes they have almost no fur coming off. Then I don't get much at all when I brush.

I find a Soft Slicker brush works best for both long and short haired cat. They don't mind being brushed, but they both twist themselves into pretzels trying to get me to only do their faces. So often I do just a few strokes at a time rather than trying to get them to sit still for one longer session. I keep the brush handy so I can grab it and get a few strokes in whenever I can.

Re: do some cats have double coats?

Mz iMac — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 01:31:29 GMT

@NYwoman I solved the problem by getting my cat shaved (lion cut) every spring & Labor Day for nearly 19 yrs.

No more hair balls & minimal to no hair shedding. No more daily vaccuming. I also have a short haired dog.

During the winter months I "brush" him once a week.

I have a 2 coated Russian Blue.

Shaved

Re: do some cats have double coats?

gardenman — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 11:50:16 GMT

There are grooming gloves that might work for a cat that doesn't like to be combed or brushed. I've never used one but they seem to work by just petting and stroking the cat (or dog) as you would normally. The videos I've seen show them covered in hair. It might be an option you could try.

Re: do some cats have double coats?

geezerette — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:51:14 GMT

@gardenman wrote:
There are grooming gloves that might work for a cat that doesn't like to be combed or brushed. I've never used one but they seem to work by just petting and stroking the cat (or dog) as you would normally. The videos I've seen show them covered in hair. It might be an option you could try.

@gardenman

I have grooming gloves and they do work great on both short and long haired cats. They actually work better than a tool in some areas since I can curl my hand and get the entire tail, for instance. They're also softer than most tools so getting tender areas like tummies are not as much of a struggle.

Re: do some cats have double coats?

kindred cats — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 21:26:06 GMT

My short-haired tabby big boy loves to be combed but not with a pet comb or brush.

I use a cheap plastic rat-tail comb that used to be my DH's.

The vet couldn't believe it when I told her he loves being combed. And he insists almost every morning when we have coffee.

Re: do some cats have double coats?

Toppers3 — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 03:06:40 GMT

@kindred cats wrote:

My short-haired tabby big boy loves to be combed but not with a pet comb or brush.

I use a cheap plastic rat-tail comb that used to be my DH's.

The vet couldn't believe it when I told her he loves being combed. And he insists almost every morning when we have coffee.

That's so hilarious!

We can always count on them either using or playing with things that are not made for kitties! LOL!

Our kitty found a Wet Brush of mine and decided that it was a "kitty tooth brush!"

I ended up throwing it out, as I didn't want her to hurt herself with it.

I now have to "hide" my other one because if she finds it, she'll start playing with it besides trying to chew on it. She's so much fun.

By the way, she's a Maine Coon/Shorthair mix so she does have a double coat of fur

She gets happy and overly excited when I try to brush her and she'll start trying to play-bite, so I let my husband brush her. She cooperates better for him.

She knows that I'll play with her so she associates me with play time.

We bought one of these paw-shaped cat brushes with a release button from Amzn not too long ago, and she likes being brushed with it.

My husband just tries to get some fur off of her when he can when she's on his lap, and quite a bit will come off of her when he uses the brush on her.

Re: do some cats have double coats?

We rescue cats — Sat, 03 Aug 2024 21:44:39 GMT

We too have our longhaired cats groomed into lion's cuts each year. Our Maine Coons were used to grooming regularly for shows, but the others get shaved for my sanity!

Re: do some cats have double coats?

NYwoman — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 01:07:29 GMT

To get our overweight cat slimmed down, we got her to eat less kibble and more wet food. To do this we used Forte Flora. Well, I found another such formula from Dr Marty.

She likes that, too. Both the loss of some weight, enabling her to reach more of her body to groom, and this new food additive, has caused her to regurgitate more hair balls.

Before, they were watery. Now, they are full of hair. I consider this a positive. I brush about a full size base ball of fur off her weekly. I groom her as much as she will tolerate it daily.

I have an order in for the grooming glove.