Fur balls and brushing: she won't let us brush; fur balls once a week or so. Seeking advice

[mjgillen]

Hello all, first post. Nice group here!

Our cat "Lila" aka "Catzilla" is hacking up a furball every now and then, like every week or two, and I'd like to get that under control and help her. Currently she does not like us to brush her so we're looking for help (me and my wife).

Catzilla is a 4 year old that we picked up only two months ago at the local shelter. She is a loooooooong hair beautiful mix, well tempered, very loving, a little overweight aka "Butterball". When we picked her up the shelter said that she liked to be brushed however that quickly vanished and ever since she will only let us take a couple of strokes and then she doesn't want that anymore. We've tried a brush that has these little wire things on one side and soft bristles on the other, combs, and I also got a Fulminator which I love because every stroke takes out a large clump of hair. So the brushing thing I think would be the best to help her as if we could just reduce the amount of fur she's ingesting then hopefully she'll hack up fewer fur balls.

We also give her Nature's Plus Egg Yolk Lecithin 600mg every other day one capsule and that has helped from a fur ball every few days to only one every week or two. I have also tried various forms of the "petroleum" fur ball remedies however she does not like them (tube of goo and "treats"). She will eat the food with the egg yolk lecithin sprinkled on top.

So help me out here. Would really like to be able to brush her regularly and thoroughly. Prefer the Furminator as that seems to work very well however open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance,

Michael

 

[red top rescue]

Would you consider getting her clipped for the summer and then letting her grow in her healthy new fall coat after that?  It sounds like the long coat has gotten ahead of you and her, and there is a lot of loose undercoat to comb out that you can't possibly reach with just the wire comb and she should not be ingesting as much fur as she is.  If she is that long haired, she needs true Persian grooming combs, metal with long teeth that are not too close together. 

You can actually find tutorials on YouTube for grooming longhaired cats.  Also, the right equipment is required if you want good results.  Here is a link with some pictures to give you an idea of some of the combs that are used, and what a clipped cat looks like, etc. just to get you thinking about the possibilities.

https://www.google.com/search?q=gro...ChMIkcaB08unxwIVA4I-Ch3diwDN&biw=1280&bih=542

 

[mjgillen]

Hello Red Tp Rescue and thank you for the reply. Do you have any tips on getting her to want to be brushed? Right now she does not like it. We will get proper grooming tools and do our best.

Michael

 

[red top rescue]

If she has tangles that pull, it will be hard to get her to tolerate being brushed or combed.  That's why clipping is a good idea, because if you start fresh with nothing that pulls, she can get used to gentle daily combing and brushing and learn it doesn't hurt.  If she has oily fur, she will need to be bathed occasionally also.  A good indication is that when the fur starts separating and perhaps being hard to comb, the bath will make it silky and non-separating and also easy to comb.  Some longhaired cats seldom need bathing, but others require it to prevent matting.  She should not be washed when she already has mats unless you get them out first.  If she is not matted, perhaps you can get her to tolerate grooming if you do it for very short time periods and pay attention to see if anything hurts and don't pull on tangles.  Consider the bathing option, even if you have to take her to an experienced cat groomer for that, or have someone help you.  Done right, bathing is not traumatic even if they don't like it.  Done wrong, it's traumatic for the cat and the bather and there may be bloodshed!