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Cat hair care

Feline Hair Care:

Cats naturally groom themselves well, but sometimes their hair tends to get matted and becomes difficult for them to take care of.



Cat hair care involves untangling their hair and snipping off the matted hair if necessary. First and foremost, you must feed your pet as they are more relaxed on a full stomach and are easily approachable. Cuddle and soothe your pet for a while and keep your manicure scissors hidden lest it bolt at the sight of it.



Use your fingers to gently untangle the knots and if this doesn’t work, snip it from the middle rather than too close to the skin. Soothe the cat as you do this by talking gently to it, and if it gets irritated and wishes to leave, let it go. A lot of matted hair will require a few sessions.



Reward your cat for each successful session with a treat of its favorite food. The cat is likely to require more grooming if you notice it vomiting out hairballs. The cat can even have a hairball blocking its digestive tract if it shows symptoms like vomiting for days at a stretch, constipation and an inability to ingest food. This condition may require surgery, hence cat hair care and grooming is essential to avoid this.

Cat hair loss is a common phenomenon and not something to be unduly worried about. However, if you notice that this loss of hair is in a place that it licks, scratches or bites regularly, you may want to examine its coat for fleabites and other parasite attacks. If you notice a sudden loss of hair in the lower legs, it could even be an allergy to new carpeting. Cat hair loss can also be a symptom of inadequate nutrition. Therefore it is important to feed your cat plenty of protein and supplement its diet with vitamins and minerals. A wet food diet is beneficial as cats can get dehydrated and many of them are reluctant to drink just water. Sometimes chronic hair loss accompanied by rashes, flaky dandruff and a dull coat can be a sign of cat alopecia areata which is something that most pet owners fear as it has no known cause. An immune disorder, it can be extremely painful and could be caused by allergies to food, new carpeting, carpet deodorizers or even be stress related. This condition is in most cases temporary and if stress related, give your animal more attention and give it a new toy or introduce it to another cat if it requires company. 

 
  Submitted on May 7, 2010