Pet Lovers

[jaxs mom]

Good idea. Since he's shaved I'd start with something like the zoom groom because it's not as ticklish or scratchy to the skin. As his fur grows back in you can switch to other brushes that work better on the longer fur. 

[NickNack]

I agree with Jaxs mom about the Zoom Groom.  My cats loved it.  I'm glad he got shaved and you can start out fresh.  How is his ear?

[sabatini]

Hi! I'm glad kitty came home all cleaned up w/ no more mats!

I have a big male Maine Coon who is a dirty boy! He rarely grooms himself, hates being brushed, and I've tried everything out there to remove the mats.

What has finally worked for me (him), is that he gets a 'lion cut' twice a year by a local cat groomer. He stays comfy that way, and no more mats. You should see him when he comes home from the groomer's; he scampers all around like a kitten, & I can tell he feels great.

A good groomer won't need to sedate your kitty. Mine is like a cat whisperer!

[JeanLouiseFinch]

One of our little ladies was a long-haired blue-cream calico.  She always needed more attention than any of the others.  When her matted spots were too bad, I'd get busy with a small scissors and give her a little haircut, but I'd never scalp her.

[Witchy Woman]

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@Nicknack wrote:

I agree with Jaxs mom about the Zoom Groom.  My cats loved it.  I'm glad he got shaved and you can start out fresh.  How is his ear?

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Thanks for asking.

Kitty is being treated for a chronic ear infection.

Every time he visited the regular vet, she would clean his ears, but a month later, the left ear was awful again.

He had to be sedated to go very deep and see that the meds we had been using never really got to where they were needed.  So, we are working on all that through treatment and changing food.

The emergency vet said that 85% of kitties with similar trouble are allergic to protein in their food, so kitty has been switched to a hyrolyzed protein food by Hills.

I would encourage anyone who has noticed chronic ear problems to ask their vet about this.

My regular vet just kept cleaning out the ear, but never suggested we do anything more. That was the mistake.

I'm hoping for a healty outcome.  In the meantime, I'm going to ATTEMPT to switch all kitties to the new food, just because I think so many problems in our pets stem from their food.

[NickNack]

I'm glad the Vet was able to come up with a solution for your kitty.  I hope it works!

[jaxs mom]

I hope he allergy tested your cat to be sure it was an allergy that was causing the problem. I would not switch my animal to a Hills rx diet without allergy testing.