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Long Hair Cat Care

"Long hair cat care requires almost daily grooming with both a comb and brush to stimulate your cat's natural skin and hair oils. Baths may be helpful depending on your cat's grooming habits. If your cat doesn't have a healthy looking coat consider a dietary change or supplement."

Long hair cat care is important because it prevents the hair from becoming matted, prevents excess shedding, and will reduce the development hairballs. (If your cat does have problems with hairballs, you can purchase hairball remedies at a pet store or from your vet). Cats with exceptionally long hair such as Persians should be groomed daily. Other long haired cats such as Birmans, Ragdolls, and Turkish Angoras should be groomed two or three times each week.

Because of their grooming needs and easily-matted fur, long haired cats tend to make better indoor pets rather than outdoor cats. Long hair cat care is much easier when your cat is an indoor cat rather than an outdoor cat. Outdoor cats will require more frequent grooming than indoor cats, because they will “get into things” more often.

Cats generally bath themselves and do not need to be given baths. You will only need to bathe your cat if she gets something poisonous on her skin, if she gets particularly dirty for some reason (being caught outside in bad weather, for instance), or if for some reason she does not groom herself. If you do need to bathe your cat, groom her hair before the bath. Water will tighten any mats already in the coat. After your cat has been washed and dried, you can brush her hair again.

Choosing the Right Cat Grooming Brush and Comb

You’ll need the right tools for long hair cat care. In general, the wider and longer the hair, the more the bristles need to be space. Also, the coarser the hair, the stiffer the bristles.

Dual Sided Pin Type Cat Brush:: (with or without rubber tips) Pin-type brushes work well with or without rubber tips for cats with long or thick fur or woolly coats. A dual brush has a pin brush on one side and soft bristle on the other.

Soft Bristle Brush: : For long, silky fur, soft bristle brushes work best. They are good for most hair types. Use wider spacing of bristles for longer hair cats.

Slicker Brush: These brushes are comprised of fine wire bristles. They are helpful with mats and any smoothing out any tangling.

Grooming Shedding Comb: You can follow up with a metal comb such as a flea comb. The flea comb can help you work out any mats in the hair and will also show you if your cat has any fleas. Combs are good for everything, except wiry hair. They help with small knots of hair. For more severe knots or mats, you need to use a mat breaker.

Rubber Massager Curry Brush : Rubber brushes are good for massaging the skin and removing dead hair. They are are great way to finish after using other brushes.

If there are mats in the hair (regular grooming should prevent these, but if you get off-track they may occur) do not cut them out, because it is easy to accidentally cut your cat’s skin and injure her. Instead use the metal comb and gently work at the edges of the mat until the hair comes loose. Stop when your cat becomes restless and resume again later. It may take several sessions. It is important to removed mats from the hair because skin infections can occur beneath the mats if they are left in.

If you have more than one cat, clean the brush or comb after grooming one before moving on to the next. That way if one cat is developing any kind of skin infection or problem, you make sure not to spread it around.

What To Do If Your Cat Doesn't Like to be Groomed

There are several alternatives if your cat doesn't like to be groomed including:

Love Glove: This is a glove that has a texture that is good for grooming. While you are stroking your cat your will be grooming him or her at the same time.

Self Grooming: You can buy wall attached for free standing poles or toys that when your cat rubs against them, they are actually grooming. Good choices are the wall mounted Cat-A-Comb, free standing arch groomer, and door pathway Arch Kit.

Long Hair Cat Care - When do Bathe Your Cat

While most cats do not need to be bathed, occasionally it may be necessary if the cat's grooming along is not keeping its' coat clean.

1. Groom your cat.
2. Gather for bathing a towel, brush, Shed Control Shampoo and conditioner.
3. Warm the room to avoid chills.
4. Protect your cat's ears with cotton balls and apply ophthalmic ointment to protect the eyes.
5. Put a towel at the bottom of the tub to keep your cat from slipping.
6. Use lukewarm water poured over your cat. Avoid spraying water.
6. Apply shampoo.
7. Rinse shampoo and use conditioner.
8. Use a blow dryer on a non heat setting.

If you cat doesn't like bathing, you could try Cat Bathing Wipes , Waterless Shampoo or powder.

Long Hair Cat Care and Diet

Diet and in particular protein consumption is essential for providing the Omega fatty acids that promotes health cat hair. Most commercial premium cat foods should contain sufficient amounts of protein and vitamins.

If your cat still is having a problem consider a fatty acid supplement such as Vitacoat from Dr. Foster & Smith. To supplement essential vitamins and helpful herbs, PetAlive Skin and Coat Tonic is worth exploring.

Sources

Domestic Long Hair- The Facts Every Owner of This Cat Breed Should Know
Benjamin, Robert W.

Skin and Coat Care for Dogs at Drs. Foster and Smith

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