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Need help grooming a longhaired cat

post #1 of 5
Thread Starter 
My cats are all short haired, kind of wash-and-wear variety. I've been showing them for a couple of years and have the pre-show grooming down to a science. However, I'll be taking one of the shelter kitties to a show December 11-12 and could use some hints on the best way to groom her.

This is Morgan

She's a 7 month old DLH. Her fur lays close so it's hard to see how long it is except in her tail. It looks like a single coat to me, with no undercoat. Her fur is very silky and never gets mats even though she is rarely groomed at the shelter. Her belly fur is fluffy but it doesn't have any mats either. She hardly sheds at all. I never have to brush cat hairs off after I've been holding her.

I'll be bringing her home on the Friday before the show so I can give her a bath. (I know, it would be better to bathe her a little further ahead. I just can't work it into my schedule). Anyway, I could use some hints on grooming her for the show. I've heard that a comb is better than a brush for longhaired cats. Should I attempt to use a blow dryer on her, or just towel her off and let her air dry? Comb her while she's still wet?

I'm in an extremely dry climate. Is there something I can use in the show hall to reduce the static in her fur?

Any other answers to questions that I don't know to ask?
post #2 of 5
Thread Starter 
Thought of another question. Can I use a regular plastic/nylon comb on her, or should I get a metal comb like I've seen people using at cat shows?
post #3 of 5
I have a friend who breeds a few long haired breeds, she uses a comb I think it's coated in teflon, says it's much better than a regular metal comb and it glides through the fur and don't cause static.

The rest of the grooming I don't really know, I don't have cats that need grooming

Good luck with her, she's a pretty girl.
post #4 of 5
Someone who shows/breeds Maine Coons told me her routine for bathing black MCs since I have one, but her process was really long and involved... First step was to use a degreaser, she use Groomer's Goop. All the Maine Coon people I've talked to use degreaser first on any greasy looking areas (or all over). I don't know if that is common for longhairs in general or if that's a Maine Coon thing though. Sometimes if you don't use one the fur will clump together after it's dry.
The person who gave me their routine said to next put Woolite Dark in the water (personally I didn't like the idea) wet the cat and then rinse. It's supposed to allow the water to penetrate the hair, because Maine Coons have thick waterproof coats. I'm not sure if your cat has that. Since I didn't like the idea of using Woolite I just wet her down with water that had a little shampoo in it instead and that seemed to work. The next steps were to shampoo with Ivory, Suave, Biogroom UltraBlack, and then Pantene-- rinsing between each one. The final step was a vinegar/water mix and then a final rinse.
I tried to do the long involved process at first but I hated all the work and Roxy hated how long it took. I found that she didn't really need a lot of steps and would look just as good with a shorter process. So I usually would just mix a little shampoo with the water to get it wet, then once she was completely wet I'd shampoo well with a black coat shampoo like Biogroom Ultrablack, rinse well, shampoo a second time, rinse, then rinse with a water/vinegar rinse. I eventually found Chris Christensen's After Bath and I'd use that after the vinegar, or sometimes instead of the vinegar, just before the final rinse. I didn't use conditioner because the few times I tried it just weighed down her coat and sometimes the conditioner would leave white specks in her black fur after she dried no matter how long I had rinsed. One thing that everyone seems to agree on is that rinsing well is very important.
Most people I know use a blow dryer. I have used one but I found that if I combed Roxy while she was wet and let her air-dry (with a lot of toweling before the combing) her fur looked nearly as good as with blow-drying. Some longhaired cats will end up with their fur looking crimped/wavy if you don't blow-dry though.
One suggestions is to figure out what breed her coat resembles the most, then do a search online for grooming for that breed.
post #5 of 5
Wow she is the cat that I wished I had my own place, so I could adopt I still can't get over how pretty she is. I usually brush Pixie and I pay to have her groomed. So I don't really know. Is she going in hopes of finding a forever home?
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