I had to share this trick with you all about correcting poor grooming habits.
A friend of mine called me for advice on a problem with her cat. She has a 13 month old very large boy that wasn't grooming his rump region. He is a large boy, his stomach is more round than it should be, but his skeletal structure isn't fully grown so we expect him to eventually even out once he is done growing.
She wasn't sure whether he was just too fat to clean himself, too lazy, or since he was pulled from his mom very young, didn't know how to do it. He would get a urine on his hind legs and my friend would have to clip and wash him on a regular basis. He didn't like that procedure so she called me for some suggestions.
Since he is soooooo motivated by catnip, I suggested that she spray a tiny bit of catnip spray on his back legs. Guess what? He started cleaning his back legs and has done so since the initial spray without having to repeat the procedure. She'll do so again if he ever gets sloppy about it again.
So we figured out that he just didn't know how to do it. He's happy that she is no longer cleaning him, she's happy not to fight him to do it, and the little bit of nip was a bonus. She's addressing his diet as a separate issue.
A friend of mine called me for advice on a problem with her cat. She has a 13 month old very large boy that wasn't grooming his rump region. He is a large boy, his stomach is more round than it should be, but his skeletal structure isn't fully grown so we expect him to eventually even out once he is done growing.
She wasn't sure whether he was just too fat to clean himself, too lazy, or since he was pulled from his mom very young, didn't know how to do it. He would get a urine on his hind legs and my friend would have to clip and wash him on a regular basis. He didn't like that procedure so she called me for some suggestions.
Since he is soooooo motivated by catnip, I suggested that she spray a tiny bit of catnip spray on his back legs. Guess what? He started cleaning his back legs and has done so since the initial spray without having to repeat the procedure. She'll do so again if he ever gets sloppy about it again.
So we figured out that he just didn't know how to do it. He's happy that she is no longer cleaning him, she's happy not to fight him to do it, and the little bit of nip was a bonus. She's addressing his diet as a separate issue.
