Cat Grooming Help

[PastryGoddess]

This is Gretchen




Gretchen is floofy,fat, and old.  She is now having trouble with grooming herself. So I have been trying to groom her every second day or so to keep the matting and tangling away


I use a comb like this, which is great for getting down to the undercoat, but she doesn't like it after a while



I also use a brush like this, the wire side mostly  She tolerates it a lot better, but it doesn't seem to get down to her undercoat very well.  It also seems to skim over the tangles rather than help detangle them.



Does anyone have any other recommendations of combs/brushes to use

[atirial]

Have you tried a furminator? You'd probably need the large one but it works remarkably well. I can give it a personal reccomendation: our two hated grooming, but they actually enjoy being brushed with this.

[PastryGoddess]

My cats fight over the brushes and combs.

I'll see if my Petco/PetSmart has one

 

[Bethalize]

Good luck. Nero Cat is very like Gretchen. I tried the Furminator, the zoom groom, all kinds of brushes. I use a comb like yours. Now I get his undercarriage completely shaved three times a year. I simply can't stop his fur matting around his sany (word I learned here) area, plus he hates having his tail area messed with. 

[Snooks]

My old cat wasn't fluffy like Gretchen but he had thick fur with a sort of fluffy top coat, we had an old comb with a few teeth missing (much like the cat!) which worked really well on his fur.  Next time you're at the drug store see if you can find a comb with fairly wide teeth and if that works.

[PastryGoddess]

Good luck. Nero Cat is very like Gretchen. I tried the Furminator, the zoom groom, all kinds of brushes. I use a comb like yours. Now I get his undercarriage completely shaved three times a year. I simply can't stop his fur matting around his sany (word I learned here) area, plus he hates having his tail area messed with. 

I like the shaving idea, but I'm not sure if I'm willing deal with the PA hissing and cattitude putting her in the carrier comes with.

[Bethalize]

I like the shaving idea, but I'm not sure if I'm willing deal with the PA hissing and cattitude putting her in the carrier comes with.

Understood. Nero Cat had to be put under once to get all his matted fur shaved off by the vet. That was the first time. The second time he had a general anaesthetic was when DH cut Nero trying to cut out a matt. After that, a tantruming cat is the lesser of the evils. Luckily I found a good cat groomer who will visit - hen's teeth in the UK.

[Lorelei_Evil]

Take her to the groomer.  She would look pretty in a lion cut.  One of my girls goes to the groomer twice a year (more often than I get my hair cut).  The only brush that she will tolerate is MY hairbrush.  She bites when I use the furminator on her, but I just put on my cut proof gloves and brush her anyway. 

[m2kbug]

The comb you have is what I would use.  I also like undercoat rakes. 

You can also buy mat-combs that have blades that cut through the hair.  Be VERY careful.  Cat skin is thin as paper, you can cut through it so easily. 

Thinning shears might be useful for you.  These are scissors that have notches in the blade (like a comb).  You can get them pretty cheap at the drug store.  You have probably seen them used at the beauty parlor.
https://www.google.com/search?q=thinning+shears&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=iQkpUfuFMOiDiwLQ44Fw&ved=0CH8QsAQ&biw=968&bih=838

Another trick - corn starch.  Rub the corn starch into the mat really well, then use a comb to pull it out.  The corn starch makes the hair slick and the mat it comes out more easily.

Another option is to get the belly and rear end shaved.  A good groomer can do it in a way that your cat doesn't look ridiculous.  Or as someone else said, a lion cut.

Edit to add:  Another brush option which I prefer over the one you have:  http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3469940&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

Edit for spelling

[mechtilde]

Another trick - corn starch.  Rub the corn starch into the mat really well, then use a comb to pull it out.  The corn starch makes the hair slick and the mat it comes out more easily.

Cornstarch makes a good dry shampoo if she starts to get greasy or dirty. A scant teaspoon rubbed into the shoulder area and then combed through does the trick. I used it on a very dark Norwegian Forest Cat, and it worked very well leaving him only slightly grey from when he got fed up and I had to stop combing. As it is non-toxic you don't need to stress too much about getting every last bit out (unless you're going to a cat show!)

[JoW]

I use a coat rake.  It looks like the coarse side of the comb you posted, but its on a handle like a lawn rake.  You pull it through the coat.  It removes a lot of hair and is easier on my wrist. 

[TomatoBunny]

If you can find a groomer that will work on your cat, I'd seriously consider that route. At my current place, only the owner is certified to work on cats, so finding someone may be an issue depending on where you live. My cat hates all brushes and would hiss and swipe at me for daring to brush even his back, where there were no 'problems'. I mostly went to the groomer because while mine still manages to groom himself, he was getting... some issues that were better solved with a butt cut, let's say. He's got that 'lion puff' around his neck naturally, which is hard for him to lick regardless of age (lots of head whipping involved), so I get him a sany shave (butt & gut shaved) then I ask for him to be trimmed down all around and he winds up looking like a 'normal' short-hair cat... with his fluffy tail intact, because he grooms it and I love it. I was leaving him an inch of fur, but we've gone down to half an inch and he just looks sleeker/neater. (I'm also in the south, so it's not like it's freezing down here) Helping with furballs was another reason for a full groom.

When you say that she hisses and gives attitude about being put in the carrier, how is her demeanor with the vet/new people?  I ask because while not as bad as yours, my cat runs away and puts up a mild fuss about getting into the carrier, cries for a few minutes in the car before pouting/ignoring me and then he's basically a timid, shy cat with other people, which makes him a good candidate to put up with grooming. I know some areas* will give the cat a sedation pill if they get anxious, but mine has never needed it. But that would be something you should discuss with your vet before grooming, to make sure it's ok for your cat.

* - I've been to 3 different grooming places. First stopped grooming cats, then I moved away from the second and now I'm on my third.

[m2kbug]

I use a coat rake.  It looks like the coarse side of the comb you posted, but its on a handle like a lawn rake.  You pull it through the coat.  It removes a lot of hair and is easier on my wrist.

I agree.  I called it an undercoat rake.  Sometimes it works better than a comb and is easier to use.

[doodlemor]

Our long haired cat is thoroughly uncooperative. 

We have sedatives from the vet to use for grooming, and I also bought a kitty muzzle online.  This also goes over her eyes, so that she isn't inclined to run away. 

I bought the sharpest craft scissors that I could find to cut the mats that develop.  Dull scissors seem to be harder on her - she gets angry much quicker.

[PastryGoddess]

my cats LOVE to be groomed, so that isn't a problem thank goodness.  The hissing and the attitude is all for me when we get home.  She's 17 pounds so getting her to go into a carrier involves gravity, shoving, and a detailed discussion of all of my faults all the way to and from the vet (her mama was a siamese).

At the vet, she's ok. She'll meow and hide under the chair but she allows them to handle her as long as I'm there.

I can brush and pet her for hours at a time and she'll be happy.  Once I start working on a tangle though her tolerance goes down.  If it's a bad tangle working towards a mat I have to work on it over the course of a couple of days.  If it's just slightly tangled, then she'll stay still for a little longer.  I'm going to try the cornstarch idea first.  I may go and get an undercoat rake as well