Cat Hates Getting Groomed

[raintyger]

Any tips? I have a long hair and she doesn't like getting groomed. Will usually get fidgety until you let her go. I don't want grooming time to be a tension time. I did get a Kong Zoom Groom (http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2750594), which has a sticky rubber feel, thinking that it might feel like a momma kitty's tongue. She likes it a little better, but still doesn't like grooming overall.

 

[tammyp]

Raintyger,  sorry I can't comment from personal experience - my cat is short haired and only has one coat.  I have read stuff that might help however, from my fave site that solves all my problems!

http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/grooming-the-cat/202

http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/the-knotty-question/9102

 

[orientalslave]

If she has mats in her coat then grooming might be painful.  If that's the case cut them out, or get them cut out.

Also try a slicker brush, the Zoom Groom isn't really suitable for LH cats as it doesn't get through the coat.  The need combing or a slicker.

Maybe you also need to abandon all hope of grooming her all over in one session, and each time you groom her do a different bit for a shorter time.

 

[dejolane]

Bella & Thunder loves to be brushed. I bring out the brush and they start rolling around on the floor then I leave it on the floor and they roll around on it.

dejolane

 

[LilyRosie]

Hi,

I can completley understand what you are going through, as I have two long haird persian cats. They hate being brushed and are forever getting matts in their hair. For a year now we have been cutting out these matts with tje cats getting distressed until we went online for help and found a tip about using olive oil, and I can 100% say it works, and now use it all the time. What you do is get a small amount on your fingers and rub into the knots/matts then using a comb or rake brush gentley pull the knots out. Now it may feel a little greasey, but it truley works, whatever you do do not go overboard on the olive oil as it will make your cats hair too greasey and for days look like something out of grease. When you pull out the knots you may then need to cut them, but using this method helps keep your cat calm, and matt free. If you need any help im here!

 

[raintyger]

Thanks, LilyRosie. I hadn't heard about olive oil before. Poppy usually doesn't get too many mats even though she is long hair, but I will have to try that out the next time I find something.

I tried out the Zoom Groom a little more, and I actually think she likes it! So for now I'm using the Zoom Groom. It gets a lot of hair. As time goes on I will try to make it more pleasurable, as in the link tammyp posted (thanks, tammyp!). When we get to a certain point I will work in the comb/slicker. Right now I figure some grooming, even if the quality isn't up to par, is better than no grooming.

I also got egg yolk lecithin and slippery elm bark to help with hairballs. I fed her a raw egg yolk earlier in the week, and so far there's been 2 or 3 small hairballs that showed up in the poop.