Summer Shedding & Hair Regrowth

[Dette]

Hi Everyone!

 

Does anyone out there have a pure bred Persian?  I need a little help (again).  I'm a NEW Persian owner...still an amateur, but am eager to learn and DO everything RIGHT...so PLEASE be gentle with me, all of you expert Persian owners out there!

  Now that I'm secure with my baby's diet...thanks to ALL of you who helped me with that!!  I have a couple of new questions...bare with me on the length of this (sorry):

ONE:  When I got my "Romeo", he was 31/2 and had had a previous owner, who gave him back to the breeder for allergy reasons.  Sadly, she dropped the ball, for over 2 years, on his proper grooming...so, now he's extremely ANTI-bath and the he was so matted when she gave him back to the breeder, that he absolutely had to be shaved completely down.  That was 9 months ago...I've had him for 6 months and am VERY pro-active in his daily grooming.  His undercoat has grown in nicely, but his coal black TOP coat is sparse.  It's nice on the top of his back & tail, but on his hind hips it's not in at all

...will it ever come in to it's full (long) potential???  He's not a "show" cat...but is a registered pedigree that comes from a line of show cats, so he should look like one, to some degree, based on his DNA, right??

  If I'm wrong, please tell me.

TWO:  He's shedding, as expected, but now he looks thin and of course being on a totally grain free diet, when I pet him I can feel his tiny bones...

  I realize when his winter coat comes in, he'll look "fat" & fluffy again, but is it normal for a Persian to look a bit "nappy" in the summer??  I guess I assumed they were big & fluffy ALL year round in spite of shedding...sorry, I don't mean to sound stupid...I'm just a new Persian mommy and want to make sure everything's OK! 

 

[silverpersian]

I have a purebred Persian. I can't imagine that neglect (in grooming) that your cat experienced could permanently change his coat. I think it will grow back again. It might take a while.

I switched my cat to an all-raw diet, and he is about twice as fluffy now. I barely comb him, and he almost never mats anymore. I haven't had to bathe him in over a year. The difference in his coat is amazing. It used to get greasy and matted, but since the diet switch, he is always fluffy, yet needs about as much maintenance as a shorthair.

 

[Dette]

Oh WOW, that's amazing the difference in his coat that you've seen with a raw meat diet...AND, thank you for the words of hope & encouragement on his hair re-growth!  Now, please tell me what all your raw diet consists of...I was just discussing raw meat on my last thread and I'm very interested in doing just that.  By the way, your silver is GORGEOUS!!!  I almost got one, before I found my "Sir Romeo"...his personality is priceless and he's insanely smart.  If I ever add another baby to my home, I want it to be a silver...my "Romeo" is a bi-color black & white.

 

[posiepurrs]

A good diet goes a LONG way to a good coat. However it is a fact of life that Persians shed. They can, depending on the genetics behind them, look rather sad in the summer.

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• posiepurrs
• Apr 11, 2015

This is my boy, Bamboo in in his summer undies. His coat is so short in the summer that when I was showing him I could only show him 6months of the year

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• posiepurrs
• Apr 11, 2015

This is Boo, as he is known around the house at the Dixieland  Silver and Golden Fanciers show in December a few years ago. Can you see the seasonal change in his coat? Luckily none of his babies inherited his propensity to shed so much.

 

[Dette]

Ohhhhhhh that's SO comforting to know!  Boo is BEAUTIFUL...Bamboo is too...I love BOTH of their faces!!  I've actually been worried, thinking I've been doing something wrong...so I really appreciate your comments!  I have Romeo on a totally grain-free diet, including grain-free treats and am intending to add raw meat as well.  Now, thanks to your comments, I can relax and dump the "summer shedding blues"!!  What is your thoughts on his top coat?  I've heard that if they're ever completely shaved down it doesn't always grow back to it's original fullness or luster.  The breeder told me that his top coat will be as black as the hair on his head, but so far, the coal black top coat has only grown in on the top of his back, not down his sides yet...am crossing my fingers it will eventually.  My Romeo is a pet quality, so I don't show him...just love him...but I do hope he'll be his fully gorgeous self again with his his full coat.  Thank you VERY much!!View media item 267445
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[silverpersian]

Your Sir Romeo is beautiful! His coat seems very healthy. He is very lucky to end up with such a caring human.

I have heard (from non-scientific sources) that the coloring of the coat may change after shaving, specifically, that the coat of a colorpoint might get darker. That doesn't make sense to me. Shaving does not change the follicle, it cuts off the hair. I don't see how cutting can permanently change the hair follicle, which determines the color and texture of the hair. I see how newly-grown hair that has not been exposed to light can be darker, but that is not a permanent change.

I feed a variety of meats -whole animal grinds from mypetcarnivore.com, bone-in chunks of Cornish hen, chicken wing tips and necks, and boneless (chunks, not ground) meat from the supermarket. The meat needs to be supplemented to provide all of the needed nutrients. You can see my recipe here for the whole animal grinds here:
http://www.thecatsite.com/t/294384/...-with-hare-today-s-ground-rabbit-bones-organs

The "Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food" forum has a wealth of information:
http://www.thecatsite.com/f/65/raw-home-cooked-cat-food

I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. I am beyond happy with the raw diet. It is cost-effective (as compared to premium canned food) and I have seen the dramatic difference it makes in the coat. I recommended it to a friend who had been feeding canned food. Her cat's daily vomiting episodes and frequent diarrhea ended completely. She didn't even transition slowly. Her cats refuse to eat the canned food now.

Oh WOW, that's amazing the difference in his coat that you've seen with a raw meat diet...AND, thank you for the words of hope & encouragement on his hair re-growth! Now, please tell me what all your raw diet consists of...I was just discussing raw meat on my last thread and I'm very interested in doing just that. By the way, your silver is GORGEOUS!!! I almost got one, before I found my "Sir Romeo"...his personality is priceless and he's insanely smart. If I ever add another baby to my home, I want it to be a silver...my "Romeo" is a bi-color black & white.[\QUOTE]

 

[Dette]

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Thank you so much, that means a lot!  I adore him and want him to be healthy, as well as happy!  I'm also happy to know his coat looks healthy, because as a new Persian owner I sometimes stress & worry, when probably I don't need to.  I think, that had he not been shaved down when I got him, I wouldn't be as sensitive or anxious.  I DO agree with you on the point of his coat color...when we cut our hair, it grows in the same color...so, I don't always go along with those theories.  So far, from what I understand, the bi-colors have a thick undercoat that has lots of various shades of grey, ash & auburn and once all that's grown in, their top coat is supposed to grow over that and it's the top coat that's a solid color (in Romeo's case, coal black), but someone told me that if they're ever shaved down the top coat won't always grow back in to it's original condition.  Here's hoping that's just one of those "theories" out there that's wrong!

I will absolutely look up your recipe for whole animal grinds...and will also check out the website for raw & home cooked cat food...that's great information, thank you!!  When I got him from the breeder, she said the only wet food he would eat was "Fancy Feast Classic" and that he didn't take to the raw ground beef that she typically feeds all of her litters...so I may have some experimenting to do with him, but I'm a strong believer in an organic raw meat diet and I feel the effort will be well worth it, in the end!  Thankfully, Romeo hasn't had any diarrhea or vomiting issues since I've had him, but 2 months after I got him, I switched him to a grain free diet, for no other reason than because I felt it is the very best for him and would prevent those types of issues, as well as many others down the road.  I've always believed that exercising wisdom in "prevention", is better than trying to cure terrible conditions later on...my own Diabetes taught me that...and I want to have Romeo for many many healthy years! 

I will for sure ask questions as they arise and I truly appreciate the time you took to respond!

 

[posiepurrs]

One thing that will help with the shedding is regular bathing if he will allow it. If he lies in the sun (and what cat doesn't love a sun bath?) it will turn his coat a rusty color. By the way - Boo and Bamboo are the same cat - he is called Boo for short at home.

 

[Dette]

Yes, I do know that bathing will help with shedding, but so sadly, he won't allow it.  His previous owner totally dropped the ball on ALL of his proper grooming routine and when the breeder got him back, she worked diligently at bathing him every two weeks to try and get him used to it again, but she said it traumatized him so much that it just wasn't worth putting him through it anymore...which really upsets me.  WHY do people buy these magnificent royal creatures and then neglect their care or just shave them down because their too lazy to do the right thing by them???  I'll NEVER in a million years, understand it....why not just get SHORT haired or no haired breeds

  Now, being his new owner, I'm struggling to do all the right things, but am unable to bath him, which in my opinion, is one of the most important things to do on a regular basis...and, because I can't, he's cheated (as well as me) by not having the coat he should have in both summer and winter.  At least he WILL let me comb him every day, which I'm SO thankful for and in lieu of bathing, I rub him down daily with a warm damp cloth, which he actually really likes!  Ohhhhh Romeo will lay by our living room sliding glass door once in a while in the sun, but he mostly seems to prefer the shade more...but still, maybe that's why he's got the rusty hue on his sides, I hadn't thought of that...makes perfect sense!

OH, I'm sorry...I didn't realize Bamboo & Boo were one & the same!  His coat color looked so different in the one summer photo over the other one where you are showing him, then you used both "Bamboo" & "Boo"...so sorry...I get to reading too fast and lose a detail here & there!

  Either way, Boo is GORGEOUS!!!