Results tagged “cat grooming” from Face Kitty

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When you say hairballs, pet owners who do not know better will probably think of fluffy balls that cats love to play with; or if ever they have an idea that it is a condition, they would not really think that it is something serious. That’s where they are wrong. Hairballs is serious and not to mention disgusting and quite alarming.

Hairballs are developed when cats groom themselves and they accidentally swallow their own hair. As you well know, hair cannot be digested and if ever cats can do it, they would not be able to digest hair strands that easily. Swallowed hair can pose danger as it can block the passage of oxygen to the lungs and the passage of food through the stomach and the intestines. In fact, cats who have hairballs will tend to cough severely because they find it hard to breathe while others will develop impactions in the intestines and the gastro-intestinal tract. These impactions is so serious that a surgery may be advised in order to remove the hairballs inside. In less serious cases, the hairballs can just cause constipation or problems with the stomach.

Symptoms of Hairballs

Masses of hair on the carpet or on the floor. The hairballs are frequently circular or cylindrical in shape.

Stools that contain hair

Difficult time excreting

Coat of fur that is matted and dry

Coughing especially dry coughing especially after every meal

Choking sounds.

Loss of energy and vibe; lethargy

No appetite or interest on their food

Depression and inactivity

It is not good to wait around for hairballs to attack and make your life and house a mess. Hairballs can actually be prevented with just one simple tool— brushing! Most cats will even enjoy frequent brushing. And what is more the bond that will develop between you and your cat during these kinds of activities will strengthen your relationship. You won’t even have to do much because your cat will do almost everything. Most cats will be the ones brushing their faces on to the brush. All the owners have to do is to just hold the brushes still while the cats do the task. Some cats will also love vacuuming. Once they realize that it will not harm them, cats will love the feel of having their hair pulled on.

Another way of ensuring that hairballs will not develop is to help cats with their digestion. Give them foods that will help them digest and to also make the passage of food easier. There are special hairball formula foods that are available in the market. This will help them with their food. There are also different remedies that your cat can take in order to relieve himself with the unwanted hair. These remedies often contain mineral oil, which provides lubrication on the food during meal times. Taken in quantities, the mineral can also cause problems in the body as it can deplete the body’s stored vitamin A. It is important that before you have your cat take in these medications, you have already consulted a veterinarian.

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Grooming sessions are the perfect time to check your cat for potential health problems. After all, the sooner you catch a problem, the better chance that your veterinarian has to fix it.

So, while grooming, look for the following symptoms:

- lumps, sores, or tender areas anywhere on her body or changes in her fur or skin

- excess discharge from her eyes, signs of squinting, or other abnormal eye appearance.

- excess discharge from her nose

- excess discharge or sore or red areas in her ears>

- cuts or other abnormalities on her feet

- redness or sores on her gums, loose teeth, lumps in the mouth or drooling

Proper grooming is important throughout your cat's life but especially so in her senior years. As your cat ages, stiffening joints and waning energy may make it difficult for your old friend to groom herself.

The infamous hairball is formed when your cat ingests hair while licking herself. Her stomach cannot digest the hairs, and they gloom together into a ball. As owners know all too well, most cats cough up their hairballs.

Sometimes, though, hairballs cause vomiting, constipation, and loss of appetite, and in severe cases they must be surgically removed. You can protect your cat from these problems by brushing her frequently, especially when she is shedding, and by feeding food designed to prevent hairballs. If the problem is frequent or severe, talk to your vet.

When humidity is low, especially in winter with the heat on in the house, you can get quite a charge out of your cat, a charge of static electricity. To reduce the chock, try rubbing a small amount of no rinse conditioner for cats into her fur. You also might consider adding moisture to your home with a humidifier.

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It's a myth that because cats clean themselves, they don't need to be groomed. If you have a Sphinx or a cat with VERY short hair, maybe that's true. But for cats with short, medium length or long fur, grooming has benefits greater than just giving them pretty fur.

One obvious benefit is a huge reduction in shedding, if you comb your cat regularly, you'll notice way less fur left on your clothes and on the couch.

Another benefit is a huge reduction in fur balls your cat coughs up. I don't know about you, but I had the unfortunate experience of stepping on one of Neo's with bare feet and it left a lasting impression, let me tell you. The soggy, matted, sausage shaped fur ball felt like I was stepping on some sort of rodent or reptile. Not a feeling I wish to repeat, so I comb Neo regularly now. I like to comb Neo once a week, more often when he is shedding in early spring.

But the best benefit of all is the bonding that develops between you and your cat when you are combing him. Seriously. Even the most cranky cat learns to love grooming. Neo has always loved being combed and now he moves around and offers different body parts for me to comb - he loves his head combed, he's gotta look good!

Kitty's been exploring and is really dusty and dirty now. Or maybe kitty came home covered in what looks like oil and smells like an engine. Now what?

You can’t let her clean herself, engine oil is toxic...the only thing you can do is give her a bath. Here is the best way to give a cat a bath. If you can get help, great, one of you to hold the cat and one to wet, shampoo, and rinse. Either way, follow these five steps for bathing cats and you and kitty will live to tell the tale!

That’s an awful lot of fur to clean! But even though cats have been domestic for thousands of years, cleaning is one of the traits left over from their wild ancestry.

Have you ever noticed when cats clean themselves? before they sleep, after they eat and after you touch them? Well there are reasons for them to clean themselves. Grooming and combing are just part of the answer. Get this…

Cats clean themselves after they eat because they want to remove all scent of food from their bodies… in the wild, cats are small enough to become a meal for a larger animal. They want to remove all traces of food so that a larger predator doesn’t sniff them out and mistake kitty for a tasty treat…

…it’s the same when the clean themselves before they sleep. They think they are safer from larger predators if they remove any scent of what they ate, where they’ve been, who they met up with, etc. Kinda like taking a shower after a night of club-hopping and…. you know what I mean?……um…ahem … I guess that’s a story for another day…

Anyway… Cats also clean themselves after you pet them because they like how it feels to be petted, so they clean themselves as a way to keep the feeling going!

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