Everyone knows that cats are naturally clean creatures. Your favorite feline is expert within the art of using a wet-tongue-and-paw combo to scrub themselves. Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean you possibly can skip putting a daily grooming regimen into place. Grooming will be tough in case you don’t know what you’re doing. And quite a lot of cat parents don’t know what they’re doing! They make cat grooming mistakes and inadvertently create a stressful grooming process for his or her fur babies.
Listed here are a number of common cat grooming mistakes and the way you possibly can successfully groom your feline while avoiding those mistakes.
1. Failing to begin grooming at an early age
First up, start early. When you’ve just added a kitten (or two) to the household, teach them that grooming sessions are secure and fun. Introduce the method slowly and provides loads of rewards and praise.
Possibly you adopted an adult cat who’s already passed the kitten stage. While starting early in life is right, you possibly can still make your grown-up cat comfortable from the moment you begin grooming. Make it a positive experience!
Avoid a situation where your cat starts to view the comb as something to fear. Too often, cat parents don’t create positive early experiences with grooming. Their adult cats fall into unwanted behaviors and get anxious across the brush.
Don’t make that mistake. Start brushing your cat and using positive reinforcement shortly after you bring them home.
2. Not grooming recurrently
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It’s a standard misconception to think that you may get away with just brushing your cat on the odd occasion. The reality is that, in your standard short-haired number of feline, you’ll wish to brush a minimum of a few times every week.
When you end up cohabiting with an opulent long-haired kitty, you’ll actually need to ensure you’re running that brush through those locks each day.
Doing so will help prevent matting, decrease the likelihood of the dreaded furballs, and provide you with a warning to the presence of any pesky fleas that could be hibernating in that forest of fur.
3. Being too aggressive with mats
In case your cat does appear to have developed matted fur, be happy to make use of cat-specific clippers to remove the mats. Nonetheless, avoid the temptation to choose up a pair of household scissors, which could cause injury.
Never pull or yank the mat as that can cause distress and hurt your cat. Also, if the mat appears to be stubborn, you’re going to wish to schedule a visit to a vet or an expert groomer to securely remove it.
4. Picking the unsuitable brush
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There’s an array of brushes racked up at your local pet store for a reason. Several types of cats with different lengths of hair require various kinds of brushes.
Try a brush that features a comb on either side. That way you possibly can get an idea about what’s working and what could be annoying to your kitty.
Also, in case your cat seems wary of the comb, check out one in every of those mitts that you just slip onto your hand and use to groom your feline while petting them.
After all, you possibly can remove a few of the guesswork by asking your vet or skilled groomer for recommendations. They’d be completely happy to assist guide and advise.
5. Making the grooming session unpleasant
Attempt to be certain that your cat is having fun with the grooming session. You wouldn’t pet your cat against the grain, so ensure to go along with the fur flow when brushing.
Also, take the time to provide slightly extra attention to areas that send them right into a state of purred-out bliss, like across the neck and even the great ol’ base of the tail area.
6. Being inconsistent with nail care
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Unless you’re clipping your cat’s nails consistently every two weeks, the method is slightly pointless. You’re higher off ensuring that the cat has access to scratching posts and cardboard scratchers to assist keep their nails trimmed naturally.
So make the choice to either commit to scheduled nail sessions or kit out your private home with suitable scratch-friendly cat furniture.
