Cat Help :(

Factual Questions
1

I have a cat that I found, adopted, and have had her for about six months. Unfortunately, there is cat hair everywhere. I’ve tried purchasing the combs and the brushes to get rid of it, but she hisses, snarls, and scratches whenever I try to groom her. I am at my wit’s end :(. I sweep twice a week, bought two air purifiers, and even as I write this I can see cat hair floating in the air.

Is it considered cruel to simply shave off her hair with clippers? How long does it take for a full coat to grow back?

Thank you.

2

If she’s a long haired cat, then having a vet trim her, is not an unusual thing (and it’s better that you have a vet do it, unless you’ve got 55 gal. drums of bactine handy [for you, not the cat]). Have you tried slowly introducing her to the comb/brushes? Just setting it near her, and leaving it there, until she sees it’s not going to bite her, then occassionally touching her with it, so that she understands that nothing bad is going to happen to her if the brush touches her. That might work.

Someone used to make a glove that was designed as a stealth cat comb, you might see if you can find one of those, and try that out on her.

3

Is the kitty otherwise affectionate? If yes than I wonder if the cat’s back/skin may be hurting from something when you touch it with the brush.

IME, most cats really enjoy brushing. I now have 3 and all of them eagerly await their turn when I bring the brushes out.

Now if your cat is not an affectionate type than you will just have to take it very slow, make sure it’s a nice soft brush and have lots of treats ready as well.
Cat hair can be managed!

4

Yes, she is very affectionate. Though this is the first cat I’ve ever had. She comes in and sleeps with me in the bed, routinely plops herself on my lap, rolls over for me to scratch her tummy, etc etc. I think her skin might be sensitive. She seems to have some skin flaking near her tail that looks like it could be very mild psoriasis. You can’t see it unless you dig in with a comb to part the intervening hair.

I just groomed her half-way successfully a few hours ago, but I had to do it by holding her by the nape of her neck. Otherwise she would have scratched me. She growled and hissed the entire time. I feel very bad having to do that but I have a very small apartment and I’ve spent at least $200 trying to tackle the problem (whether that be purchasing air purifiers or buying new brushes).

I am going to try to find softer brushes but I have four of them here and she hates them all. Can you tell me which kind (brush) you have? Or describe it?

5

We have one of those cat gloves like this and our cats love it.

6

Force-brushing her is just going to make her more disturbed and upset by brushing. (And I hope you had her with her feet on the ground while holding her neck; some cat owners don’t realize that you cannot hold an adult cat up by their neck skin without the potential of extreme cat damage occurring.) She’s freaking out, the brush is still there, the brush gets associated with the ‘freaked out’ emotional state, so next time she sees a brush she remembers how freaked she was, and gets even more freaked, etc.

First thing first is to figure out what her flakey skin is. It might be a mild allergy, some parasite, or just sensitive skin, but it’s likely treatable. Get her to a vet and see what he recommends. When her skin doesn’t hurt (assuming that was the root cause) she should be much more groomable. At that point you will probably need to re-introduce her to brushes.

This will involve leaving the brush in an obvious place, like the middle of the floor, away from food dishes, water dishes, toys, bathroom areas (it might be trying to eat her food! :open_mouth: ), but where she’ll notice it. If you see her looking at it, but not fluffing up or growling or giving it really angry ears, praise her in your customary fashion (pats, an extra food nibble, whatever). If she goes toward it willingly, praise her extra. Eventually step up to holding it in one hand, away from her, while praising her with a nibble or pats, then eventually to touching her with it, just once, not a brush…just a tap. More praise. Then start up on grooming say, for 10 seconds, or five strokes or whatever. Praise praise praise.

Whenever she seems to not care about a certain stage, with no apprehension, bump it up to the next stage. If she gets too freaky, pull it back a stage for a few days.

She may have no brush issues, but she’s probably associated brushing with pain and fear and loathing by now, but that’s not permanent; it just requires some patience. Even if you do get her shaved by a vet, which is nice in hot summers, having her not have a fear of brushes is a good thing, as you never know when you might need to give her a quick brushing and only have a normal one available.

(I’m having to get my chihuahua re-used to baths right now. Somehow walking around in heavy rain is great, but just getting your feetpads wet by a wet paper towel is the most cruel thing imaginable to him.)

7

Nutrimalt. After you make her lick it once, she’ll gobble it down like crazy and it reduces shedding quite a bit. And make the fur nice and glossy and healthy looking too.

Most cats like brushing but not if they have tangles. Try a regular human hairbrush with soft bristles. It won’t get much, but she’ll get used to the idea.

8

Tying a string to the handle of the brush, and then dragging it across the floor like a cat pounce toy is one way that sometimes works. Then the cat begins to associate the brush with pounce & chase games. Especially for kittens, who like to pounce on anything.

Of course, some cats are smart enough to recognize these differences:

  • brush being dragged along floor = fun game
  • brush picked up in owners hand = danger, about to groom me!

But even so, keep at it – eventually the cat will allow it – even if only tolerated because she gets treats afterward.

9

Some long haired cats do well being shaved down once or twice a year. In my practice, it is down under anesthesia. It takes around 45 minutes to shave down and bathe a typical cat. I believe we charge around $125 for anesthesia and technician time.

10

Lots of good tips here already. Definitely get the cat to a vet to see what’s going on with that skin.

My brushes are just run of the mill cat brushes from Petco. I have one that is specifically for grooming and removing excess hair, it has metal teeth and they love it but I can’t use that one every day. That one is NOT for your cat at this time.

I rarely brush their bellies or do it very softly as they don’t seem to care for that too much.
One of my cats has a TON of fur and I actually do clip her every so often. It helps reduce hairballs for her as well as keep the rest of the house less hairy. She enjoys being clipped too.
Good luck!