brushing difficulties need HELP

My stormie who is now about 14 weeks old attacks the bursh she is a long hair manx, so that technically makes her a cyrmic lol, but everytime i get that brush out we sniff it then we attack it, i guess she thinks it is a play toy, i tried to pet her and then brush her slowly and it still doesnt work, she is too playful lol and i dont know how to brush her and she is young and i have been trying to do this since we got her at 10 weeks old but all she does is attack it...any advice on things i can do? Also i wanna give her a flea bath but seeing how she already had an URI i dont want to give her one because she even has bad sinuses and so we have flea treatment stuff and also we are giving her medicine how can i get the medicine that gets on her long fur out, without giving her a bath? PLEASE GIVE ME ADVICE lol !!!!!

Uh-huh.... good luck with brushing a young kitten.

Seriously, I have a couple young kittens here and one is long haired. Ain't no way she is letting a brush settle on her now. I'[ve tried and of course she thinks it's all about play. I'm thinking that you will have to settle for a few swipes here and there with the brush or comb when she is just waking from a nap and is too drowsy to start playtime.

As far as a flea bath, it's probably best you have been afraid to give her one as the chemicals in such flea products can be toxic to your kits. Frontline, Advantage or Revolution that your vet suggests and they all sell are the best and safest to use. I've used all three and have found that many will alternate between the three so the fleas don't build up a resistance.

Also avoid flea collars as those are extremely dangerous. I had a cat suffer neurological damage and some have had cats die from fle collars.

Keep trying with the brush from time to time and eventually your little girl with no doubt grow to enjoy it eventually.

Oh yeah, I have an adult long hair that usually doesn't want to be brushed because he is always getting into burrs and stickers so his hair often gets tugged on so I have to do him in bits and pieces too. :-)

Please dont give your baby a flea bath. As Tru said it can be very toxic to her.

As for brushing. When mine were kittens and started trying to "fight" the brush, I would just let them "fight" the brush and get another brush and start brushing more in a massaging kind of way. I still have to use the 2nd brush trick with Ducky sometimes, but it works for me and he gets his daily brushing in.

Have you tried a comb? Seriously...not kidding - combs are better then brushes for long hair cats. They get down into the undercoat whereas brushes would only brush out the top coat. Let her play with the brush for a while and then brush under the chin - that usually gets them to calm down a bit.

As fo flea treatment, frontline would be best right now IMO.

If your kitten has fleas, you need to be using a FLEA COMB on her and the comb can also be used for general grooming. Brushes don't do very much on a longhair cat. Let her play with the brush but use a comb.

Get a small table you can use as your grooming table. Then teach the kitten to stand or sit while you comb them. Take charge of things - don't let the kitten control on what you do or don't do. If you've ever seen persians being groomed at a show they are taught to stand on a table and be still - this is done from when they are kittens. Use the command sit, stay, or stand and make her do it. Be gentle but firm on what you expect.

Another question - where did the fleas come from? Is this kitten allowed outside? If the kitten has fleas on her, they are in your carpets so you might have to treat your house as well as the cat.

You can flea bathe your cat, but call your vet for recommendations on what to use on a young kitten. Now go get that flea comb and get started

Combs are excellent! I refer to them as brushes, but its actually combs! and they get out so much hair!

It's ironic that your longhair fights the brush, while my shorthair loves being groomed - yet all he requires is handgrooming to get out any loose hairs, and he loves it when I ruffle his fur all over the place so it is nice and relaxing for both of us. I still brush him occasionally just because he likes it.

I would let your cat fight the brush, while you groom her with a comb. Also pick times when she is sleepy rather than energetic. If she likes being stroked, start off with stroking, combing her hair with your fingers, then move on to using the comb.

I hope that she learns to enjoy being groomed.

Prego has a touch of overstimulation aggression, and he'll scratch when I brush him too much. My solution is to comb and Zoom Groom him while he's eating so he's distracted.

see the pme brush is a comb but it has a handle and i have tried to let her play with one brush while using the other she just drops it and goes after the new one lol its all about play, and the fleas came from wherever we got her and i wasnt to happy about that but what are you going to do and the vet did give us stuff but when we went it was chaotic because a little girl got bit by some guys dog and whats funny bout that is me and my mom were in with the vet and his phone rang so we were sitting there and i over hear this guy saying he is a good dog owner and the humane society people were watching him because his dogs are out ALL the time and arent socialized and he left the dog tied up outside and sat inside and a little girl and her mom were coming for their kittens and the dog went and took a chunk out of the girl, so the vet really never said that much about the flea medicine so i am not sure if i can put it on her because she is on antibiotics any one no if thats ok because it is just flea medicine? Sorry i went off topic a little bit but like i said the vets office was too hectic for me i am scared to go back lol i am happy we didnt have to take her abck and for her shots and to get fixed we are going to a clinic thats cheap and really good!

Ok is this weird, and is this ok to do I read some ones post about fleas and they siad to use water in a cup and dish soap, that was for baby kittens like 3 days old lol but what i did was get luke warm water put it in a cup and dipped it in the cup before i started to comb stormie and she let me she loved it and she didnt even try to play with it...is that weird because i have to use water??? And also bella let me brush her more than usually without trying to attack it as well, is this ok to do ????

Like Goldenkitty said, you have to take charge of the situation with the brushing. Many kittens do like to play with the brush, i personally with my persians ocassionaly allow it, when we brush bellies. but they know when they get a tap on the paws that means No. and most of them stand right back up for brushing. (yup mine sit and stand for brushing on my little table) most of my kittens going home, are going home as pets and not for show. But my personal belief is they should still have good brushing manners cause they are long haired persians, and need daily brushing.

Good luck with the little one. Just be firm and let he know your in charge but bryshing can be fun

Good luck with the fleas, i have luckily not really had to deal with them, just some out at the barn.

That is a difficult problem. You'll just have to try different things. One thing you can try is giving your cat some catnip and then try brushing her about 20 minutes later. ScamperFarms is right though. You have to let them know you are in charge and you are bigger. You can be firm, yet gentle.

Originally Posted by Abymummy

Have you tried a comb? Seriously...not kidding - combs are better then brushes for long hair cats. They get down into the undercoat whereas brushes would only brush out the top coat. Let her play with the brush for a while and then brush under the chin - that usually gets them to calm down a bit.

As fo flea treatment, frontline would be best right now IMO.

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A comb was exactly what I was thinking. I have a small one that does the job, and for a playful cat would be easy to hide it in your palm to keep from being a play object.