Grooming Day=Mean Meowmy!

My furbabies are mad at me today. I've decided they are getting old enough that shedding is becoming an issue, and hairballs are innevitable if I don't start brushing them on a regular basis. Plus, it has been a long time since I gave them all a bath--their favorite passtime, of course! So, I designated today as "kitty spa day!" First, I gave them all a quick brushing (which they did not like), then they all got dunked in the soapy water and clean rinse water, dried with a warm towel from the dryer, and got a little time to air dry themselves. They seemed pretty annoyed with me after all that, so we played a little game of "chase the kibble." Finally, everyone started to come around to a little petting....that's when I realized that the bath only served to loosen more fur that needed brushed out! Argh! So, mean meowmy came at them all with that awful brush again! Molly actually seemed to enjoy it, which is good, 'cause she seems to have a never-ending supply of unneeded fur. But Max and Maggie are sitting in the family room in the sun, looking at me like I am just the meanest person on the face of the earth and they would like to pretend I'm not here, thank you very much!!!

Topaz likes the brushing, but I cannot seem to get Ari and the brush in the same room.

Tailer HATES brushing or anything like that, too. I always have to pin him down and brush him...then I'm "Meowmy Dearest" for a while afterwards. Fortunately, Forest loves it. I have no idea how I'd ever manage to get a brush on him otherwise.

Both of my girls love to be brushed, especially Abby! As soon as she sees the brush, or hears the word "Brush", she comes running. She will lay there and let me brush her for hours! Chynna loves brushing too, but only for short periods at a time...frequently

None of my short hairs mind being brushed. They let me use pretty much whatever I want from a furminator to a flea comb to a deshedding hoop. They generally seem to like it and in some cases will come up to me when I pull a brush out so that I will brush them.

My long haired kitty was always a problem though. He loves being brushed with something like a soft bristled hair brush, but he won't tolerate anything that will pull on mats in his fur. This was a problem because a regular hairbrush does almost nothing on a long haired cat. I recently picked up a Zoom Groom and it seems to be a pretty good compromise. It gets the loose fur without pulling the mats. I just cut the mats out with scissors as best as I can and have him shaved down if they get bad.