Mild Aggression During Grooming?

Hello there! My cat, Adonis, is a long haired ragdoll (presumably, he looks a lot like one, though he was just listed as a domestic longhair when I got him from the shelter) cat, and is overall a very sweet cat, though he is a bit solitary and does like his alone time and time away from people. However being a long haired cat, grooming is imperative - while his fur isn't extremely thick, it is still prone to mats and if they aren't dealt with, he'll take care if them himself (if he can reach them) by ripping them straight out of his fur. I'd rather him not do that if he doesn't have to, and so I also groom him myself, to prevent that as well as to lessen the frequency of hairballs. Issue is, while he might let you groom him for a few minutes, he'll quickly turn and try and bite at the brush. When he does this, I quickly stop grooming him and put the brush to the side. The issue isn't that he tries to bite the brush... It's also just that unless I remove myself from beside him, he will actually reach over, wrap paws around my arm, and PULL my arm to him just to bite me. The bites aren't usually very hard, but they usually do leave welts, and this last one that occurred just moments ago was the first one to be able to draw blood. (A small amount, but drew blood nonetheless.) I have only had him for two weeks today, and he's three years old. Is there a way I can get his mild aggression under control? I can read his body language well and I can tell when he doesn't want to do things like be pet, and that's easy to prevent, but grooming is pretty essential! It also doesn't help that he's been dealing with a few mats in his fur that "came with him" from the shelter that I've been trying to work out over the passed couple weeks.

Is it possible the brush you are using is scratching or pulling at his skin? I know I have to use different brushes with my cats varying coat lengths.

Try giving him treats while you brush and maybe change the style of brush you use!

I have more long haired than short haired with my crew, so I know what you are talking about.  As far as the bristles go, the soft bristles just don't cut it.  But the slicker does hurt.  So I try to get the slicker with the comfort tips (the bulbs at the end of the bristles).  They help a lot.  But, this is common.  Sometimes it's just play and other times it is because the cattery didn't groom them a lot so they aren't used to it.  You need to be consistent and try to groom him at least twice a week.  If he has mats, just snip them out because the slicker does hurt when you're trying to pull it out or untangle it with that.  Think how you would feel and react.  If you are consistent, eventually the "aggression" will subside.  He'll see it as feeling good and a big help.  They don't like pulling mats out themselves!

Agree about cutting out mats. Do not cut close to skin. If the hair is matted down to the skin, cut at least 1/4" above the skin/hair line then wait a week or so for the hair to grow out more so that you can get your trimmers between the skin and the hair.

You may have to spend some money finding a brush that is agreeable and hopefully enjoyable to the cat and actually works.

You've only had him two weeks. It takes time to build trust with the cat about where you can touch and where you can't. Until you build up this trust, except for mats, I'd stick to brushing areas that are allowed, i.e, the parts of a cat that are bony - head, spine, chest, ribs, tail. Stay away from soft places until you have gained this trust. It will be slowly gained.

Also brush a couple of times a day for short periods only. One of my long haired gets over stimulated and will attempt a bite if a complete brush is done.

You could take him to the groomer the first time to bring him back to square one. Then you just have to do maintenance. It will be much easier to gain his trust if you aren't the one to be pulling or clipping mats the first few times.

I did cut a few mats - not down to the skin, but I did cut them. He didn't much like that either, but at the very least it removed a chunk of the mat. It did help immensely, and made it a lot less torture for him!

cocheezie said:

 
You've only had him two weeks. It takes time to build trust with the cat about where you can touch and where you can't. Until you build up this trust, except for mats, I'd stick to brushing areas that are allowed, i.e, the parts of a cat that are bony - head, spine, chest, ribs, tail. Stay away from soft places until you have gained this trust. It will be slowly gained.

Also brush a couple of times a day for short periods only. One of my long haired gets over stimulated and will attempt a bite if a complete brush is done.

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You're right about trust building - I said this on one of my other threads, but this cat is just such a different personality from all my others - you could do whatever to them and they didn't care. They adjusted extremely quickly. Having a cat who is adjusting at a slower speed and expressing agitation/aggression is a new experience to me, so I'll keep working on it!