I've got a coming 14 year old Persian, Copper, who's starting to get scruffy looking. I was wondering if anyone had any tips for keeping older cats looking young.
A little background: Copper was on fairly good food most of her life (on Iams before they were bought out) and in the past year, I became more nutrition savvy and switched her to Innova Evo. I also got an apartment and moved her to live with me (i'm a college student, she had been at home without me for two years prior). At home, my parents really didn't do any upkeep on her. She had some mats and just didn't look good. She also had NO energy, just layed around like a lump (not that she was ever particularly active). Since bringing her to live with me, and switching her food, she's just bloomed. She runs around now more than she did when she was a kitten. Her coat has gotten much better, and i've been trying to brush her every other day or so.
There are a few problems though. She's decided she need not groom herself anymore. She just doesn't care. So that makes the need for me grooming her all the more important. Problem number two is that she's an absolute hellion to brush. The groomer said she was a cat who made her consider quitting grooming!
Luckily for me, my girlfriend used to be a groomer and helps me control my crazy cat. Since i've really cracked down about brushing her as often as possible, she's gotten 100% better, but she's still pretty bad. Knots around the butt and stomach take some serious holding down.
Besides just carrying on with good grooming, is there anything I can do to help her coat condition? She has greasy, clump prone hair since she doesn't bathe herself very often. I've had to give her a couple baths over the past few months she's gotten so bad (I try to keep them as few as possible, i've heard it's not ideal for the coat).
Here are some pictures after her bath and brush about a month ago.
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/23755...68265416cYFcUB
A little background: Copper was on fairly good food most of her life (on Iams before they were bought out) and in the past year, I became more nutrition savvy and switched her to Innova Evo. I also got an apartment and moved her to live with me (i'm a college student, she had been at home without me for two years prior). At home, my parents really didn't do any upkeep on her. She had some mats and just didn't look good. She also had NO energy, just layed around like a lump (not that she was ever particularly active). Since bringing her to live with me, and switching her food, she's just bloomed. She runs around now more than she did when she was a kitten. Her coat has gotten much better, and i've been trying to brush her every other day or so.
There are a few problems though. She's decided she need not groom herself anymore. She just doesn't care. So that makes the need for me grooming her all the more important. Problem number two is that she's an absolute hellion to brush. The groomer said she was a cat who made her consider quitting grooming!
Besides just carrying on with good grooming, is there anything I can do to help her coat condition? She has greasy, clump prone hair since she doesn't bathe herself very often. I've had to give her a couple baths over the past few months she's gotten so bad (I try to keep them as few as possible, i've heard it's not ideal for the coat).
Here are some pictures after her bath and brush about a month ago.
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/23755...68265416cYFcUB
