How to Care for Long-Haired Cats

Long-Haired Cat Grooming

If you have a long-haired cat, it’s imperative for both her health and comfort you regularly brush and groom her. Cats with long, thick coats regularly shed, so when they bathe themselves, they end up swallowing the excess hair, which in turn causes them to vomit up hairballs.

How to Prevent Matted Cat Hair

Brush Regularly

Fortunately, it’s not difficult to employ basic cat grooming methods to care for your pet as long as you regularly attend to her brushing and sanitary needs. When it comes to long-haired cats, it’s almost guaranteed you’re going to have to spend a certain amount of time brushing her. Using a fine-toothed brush is an excellent way to free her of extra fur without hurting her. Plus, a lot of cats actually enjoy being combed.

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Seek a Groomer for Mats

Sometimes, if you neglect grooming your long-haired feline for a certain period of time, she can develop mats in her fur. If you find a mat in your cat’s fur, do not, under any circumstances, cut it out with a pair of scissors.

Unless you’re a professional who has attended grooming school and have extensive experience with trimming cat fur, it can be dangerous. Your cat’s skin is extremely thin and sensitive, and a mat can be deep-rooted in her fur, which makes it complicated to trim out. There is also the possibility you may hurt your cat by accidentally cutting her so it’s safer to use a different method to remove tangles.

Use a Detangling Serum

There are plenty of detangling serums for cats on the market so if you’re faced with a knot in your cat’s fur, go shopping at your local pet store and see what you can find. That way, you can combine the serum with brushing and comb the mat out without hurting your cat.

Shave the Tangled Area

If you still can’t remove the mat, another solution is to shave the spot where the fur is tangled. However, it’s strongly advised you don’t try to shave the cat yourself. If you don’t have experience with complicated grooming, take your cat to your local groomer and have him shave her instead of attempting it yourself.

Remember, taking preventative measures ahead of time alleviates the stress and cost involved in taking your pet to a local groomer. In other words, brush your cat regularly to ensure she is healthy, happy and content.

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