Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Anyone have grooming tool or method suggestions, particularly for a cat who isn't at all interested in being groomed? For Amber she'll tolerate maybe 1-2 strokes from any brush or similar that I've tried and then she'll round on me and want to swat or such. Even with some treats involved it doesn't seem to be well tolerated. Her self-grooming is still fine, she stays clean, but it would be nice to be able to brush her regularly to get the loose hair out....
I feel your pain,and I don't have much in the way of suggestions, except does she have a special place in the house she's especially fond of? My oldest cat loves the out of doors (supervised or crated only) except in the dead of winter. I can brush her for a long time when she's outside with us on her tie out, and even clip her nails without much trouble. In cold weather, in the house, the nails are a no-go, and she tolerates very little brushing. If Amber has a place where she's more contented and relaxed, it might go a little better there.
I have a cat it has taken 8 years to accept being combed. And she's still not completely tolerant but she's come a long long way from swiping at me if I so much as try to run a comb down her back.
How I did it: I never stopped trying. During grooming sessions of the other cats, I've always made sure to at least give her a swipe or two with the comb.
Then I discovered that when she was relaxed sleeping on my chest, when I read on the couch at night, she would tolerate a couple of swipes. At first, after two swipes she would get up and leave mefor the bed on the coffee table next to the couch. . I made the mistake of persisting, by reaching over to give another swipe with the comb, and she gave me what for, with claws out. I deserved it, because I wasn't listening. So I went back to just trying while she was on me.
And not when she first settled. I wait until she was been on me for a while.
Then, as I continued the two swipes, she stopped leaving, and, instead would simply chirp a growl at me, warning me to stop. So I would stop. Rest my hand on her back. Pet her a stroke or two, get her purring again. Segue from petting to combing again.
Gradually over time she began allowing three strokes of the comb, then four, then ten, then even a minute or two. I listen to all her warnings. If she starts to chirp-growl I stop. Wait and start again. If she begins to twitch her back, or rattle her tail, I stop. Pet pet, start again. She now even leans into the comb, and purrs. I manage to get a little loose fur every night. Still, there are nights when I push to long and she gets off me in disgust. But I do not follow with the comb, any more. I comb her on her terms only, but, it's working for her!
We have several of "those cats" too who do not like to be groomed (they are/were my hubby's cats before we got married- I just think he didn't make enough effort to get them used to grooming them when they were little) and one of the items we have in our cat room is one of those arch shaped self groomer doodads (I recently saw one at Petsmart - it was attached to a scratching post). It has a weighted base that is carpeted and the arch part is made of bristles kind of like a hairbrush. It is hooked into the base forming an arch - about 10-12 inches tall. The cats like to walk through it and smush their bodies and faces up against it and it pulls hair off of them. I think it probably feels like they are getting their back scratched - anyway, it is in no way as good as an actual brushing or combing, but it is better than nothing. I vacuum it every couple of days just to suck the excess hair out of it. My own cats have always been groomed by me since they were babies and they love it. You may just end up taking kitty to a groomer every so often...
I used to have one of those. My cats loved it. But when I rescued a kitten with active herpes, HE loved it and petty much got his gunk all over it, so I had to get rid of it.
I think it's more about the individual cat that how the cat was raised. I have a 2 + year old cat who has been with me since I rescued her at 8 weeks, and I am still trying to get her to like being combed. I have a 7 year old cat rescued at 2 years old who LOVES being combed, though she didn't right at first, she was afraid of the comb. And then, the one I mentioned already, whom I've been working on for 8 years.
Location: the wrong side of the tracks Richmond, VA
585 posts, read 2,015,678 times
Reputation: 794
All of my cats seem to tolerate the Furminator... it takes patience with some of the vagrant fosters I've brought home as I suspect they were lifelong street cats who'd never seen a cat toy much less a brush in their lives. Now they all enjoy it and purr their butts off getting brushed down. I use positive reinforcement and give them treats for sitting through any spa treatment, be it a brushing or a nail clipping or whatever.
Patience is more important than the tool. But with the Furminator, I start with a few swipes and work up from there with a particularly annoyed foster... it's also important to catch them at the right time, maybe just after a big meal when they are sleepy. You don't want to get them when they are all wound up.
And nothing beats the Furminator for removing cat hair IMHO!
After 12 years of trying to get my Blue Persian (Cyrus) to accept brushings, I have come up with only one solution... taking him to the professionals every few months, and paying them $50-100 to do it for me.
Sorry, but some cats will just NEVER accept it! The one thing I can do is "let him comb himself," by just holding the brush a few inches in front of or above him. Most cats naturally rub anything you stick near them, so I can sometimes get him to self-brush a few strokes that way... and if he has a really nasty knot, I'll go for it while he's eating (he ignores me longer while distracted by food). I feel your pain, and have the scars to prove it - LOL.
All of my cats seem to tolerate the Furminator... it takes patience with some of the vagrant fosters I've brought home as I suspect they were lifelong street cats who'd never seen a cat toy much less a brush in their lives. Now they all enjoy it and purr their butts off getting brushed down. I use positive reinforcement and give them treats for sitting through any spa treatment, be it a brushing or a nail clipping or whatever.
Patience is more important than the tool. But with the Furminator, I start with a few swipes and work up from there with a particularly annoyed foster... it's also important to catch them at the right time, maybe just after a big meal when they are sleepy. You don't want to get them when they are all wound up.
And nothing beats the Furminator for removing cat hair IMHO!
I love the furminator as well. With difficult cats, you get more dead hair off with every stroke, so even with just a few strokes a day you'll end up with a big puff of shed hair. However, you need to be careful with it...light strokes ONLY. You can hurt a cat with them if you use it too hard.
I've seen little grooming plates that you can attach to a corner wall for the cat to self-groom on. If you have a cat who will rub his face against a held brush, one of those might work well.
Otherwise I would do one or two strokes with your tool of choice while kitty is sleepy, then give a treat. Repeat daily until kitty starts to look interesting in brush time.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
However, you need to be careful with it...light strokes ONLY. You can hurt a cat with them if you use it too hard. 
