Grooming your cat regularly can help reduce hairball problems and keep your cat’s skin healthy and beautiful. However, not all cats like to dress up. Some love has been waved away, and maybe even a little need for regular grooming time. Geisha, my long hair calico is great for that. Others want to keep a permanent distance from the brush.
Hence, taking care of a cat can be difficult. But even resistant cats can be taught to enjoy grooming. The key is to take advantage of the interactive fun between cats and people. Most distant cats love to have a good time, but some cats have more sensitive body parts and don’t want to be touched, especially without using a brush.
Understand the cat’s reluctance
Before changing a cat’s negative attitude to grooming, understand the cause of cat hair. First of all, you should realize that cats, like humans, have sensitive parts in their bodies. The cat could be hurt at some point, or it just might not be fun to be touched in a particular area. That’s why it’s important to know your cat before you start grooming. Knowing which part of the cat’s body is sensitive can help you avoid these areas and still provide what the cat or cat needs.
If your new cat hasn’t been overly groomed yet, you may need to work slowly and adjust. Take a few minutes a day to gently pet or brush the cat and make sure to give some sort of treat afterwards. You hope she likes taking care of it. Try to avoid any tricky points.
Another problem that can make your cat reluctant to groom is a dominant personality. When cats have a dominant personality, they may refuse to let you touch certain parts of their body at the same time, especially the head and neck. Now, if you are not sure if the cat resists due to tension or dominance, consider some of the other characteristics of cats:
Does the cat make direct eye contact with you?
Will your cat jump on others to show love?
Does your cat not like to lie in a “down” position?
If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, your cat may be dominant.
As I mentioned above, the key here is to help the cat grooming. To do this, you must first figure out how long it takes for your cat to become upset by its behaviour. Watch his body language. Stop if you start to feel that he is getting nervous. The key is to spend a small amount of time grooming and then stop before the cat crosses that threshold so that you can continue to show that grooming is a pleasant experience.
Here are some other tips to help you take care of your cat:
- Before feeding, groom the cat so that you can use the food as a reward and interact with the cat
- If the cat wants the cat to play with the comb
- Alternating use of comb and brush to make the cat more comfortable
- Grooming activities on the cat’s most relaxing afternoon
- Talk to him or her while brushing your teeth, it will also be a bonding experience
Choose the right tool
There are many brushes and combs designed specifically for cats on the market, but despite the instructions on the packaging, some of these tools are still painful for them. Using them can make unwilling cats more afraid to groom. Cats with long hair may want to brush their teeth with a wire brush, but cats with short hair may prefer to groom them with gloves (my short hair absolutely loves gloves!).
Whichever brush they choose, if you get them used to grooming often, you will please the cat. This makes them look more beautiful and can solve possible hair problems.
