Oily fur

My nursing mother cat Smokette has VERY oily fur! She has had oily fur since I got her (About 8 weeks ago). I gave her a bath before she had her kittens, and it was fine for a little while, now its been about a month and its all greasy and oily again. AND I notice one of her kittens (6 weeks old) is also getting oily furr like her mom. Do certain cats just get oily fur like some people? How often should I bathe her? (I never bathe my cats unless they need it, and I only bathe my dogs maybe every 6 months since its bad to for their skin to bathe them too often). Any special types of cat shampoos I should use? (Oh and she is longhaired).

What are you feeding her?

My cats eat Kirkland signature (Which I realize is not the best food, but it is good quality. And since my dogs were switched off crap food, and also onto Kirkland their coats have improved greatly. As have my other cats. Shes been eating Kirkland the entire time here, and she has always had oily fur (She had oily fur when I first got her). I definitely don't think its food related.

She is going to be checked out by a vet soon before she gets spayed, so we will see if its maybe health related (Does hypothyroidism make cats oily?)

Some cats are naturally more oily than others...a monthly bath should be sufficient unless YOU are the one distressed about her coat then I would say every two weeks.

I don't mind..its just annoying to pet her and get my hands all oily. I will definitely bathe her once a month. Why type/brand of cat shampoo do you recommend?

Does dry/no water shampoos usually work well?

Easy to get shampoo for you I would get All Systems#1 Crisp Coat. Dilute it to about 1 portion shampoo to around 3-4 portions water. Follow up with a super diluted conditioner. You could also use Dawn Dishwashing liquid.

I only use dry shampoos in emergencies - I normally bathe my cats.

I'm not convinced it's not the food. It's possible that she could have a food allergy--even though the food works well for the others, she may be reacting to one of the ingredients.

An oily coat can also be a sign of illness. Are you feeding her kitten food or adult food? If she is still nursing, she should be getting kitten food until she is weaned. I would recommend consulting with the vet, as they may be able to offer more solutions. I would highly recommend ruling out medical causes before deciding to just bathe her regularly.

Yes, many cats do just have very oily fur. My Jake (RIP) had very oily fur and he was a good self groomer.

I use Goop handcleaner to treat a greasy coat. It also has lanolin in it so it doesn't completely dry the coat out. Some say to leave it on for 15-20 minutes but I never did and it worked great. Just rub gobs of it in the coat down to the skin and rinse. Follow up with Dawn dishwashing liquid and rinse well. Follow up your rinsing with a gallon of warm water with 1/2 cup white vinegar mixed in it. The vinegar gives that last umph in degreasing and also helps to restore pH balance in the coat and skin. When I used this method, Jake's coat would stay in pretty good condition for 6-8 weeks. If I missed one of those steps, he would be greasy again in a couple of weeks.