Conference misery::feline

    My coon kitty hates being groomed, too - luckily, she does a pretty
    good job by herself.  I try to groom her (in spite of her protests)
    about once a week.  She really only gets mats in the places she can't
    easily reach - under her tail, and behind her front legs.  She had a
    small one on her "pantaloon" area this morning.  She hates the whole
    thing.  I don't think she would tolerate anyone else trying to do it.
    (She's not too keen about having her claws clipped, either - which I do
    at the same time.)  I cut the mats off her with a tiny pair of
    fingernail scissors (curved blade) if I can't comb them out.  She likes
    the scissors better than the pin comb, though not by much.  Melody has
    funny fur for a Maine coon anyhow, since she is a "blue" - her fur is
    sort of kinky.  She doesn't have the long, straight top coat my other
    cats have had.
    
    My other cat, elderly JFCL, who is a domestic shorthair, just LOVES
    being brushed, especially now that she is too arthritic to get the back
    of her neck groomed the way she likes it.  She doesn't get mats, since
    her fur is short, but she gets clumps of loose fur that need to be
    removed, and she really likes having someone else do it for her.  Even
    Melody, though that youngster doesn't often groom her old companion.
    
    /Charlotte
                      

    
    Floyd (my Coonish boy) loves to be ZoomGroomed.  All he has to do is see
    it and he comes running.  In fact only one of my cats, Robin, doesn't come
    running for the ZoomGroom; she runs away.  Who knows what goes on
    inside those little brains.
    
    len.
     

    Len -
    
    I don't think a ZoomGroom would work with Zachary.  He HATES to be
    touched much past his mid-back.  Get anywhere near his tail, his
    britches, his back legs and he starts whining.  Continue and he starts
    growling, his ears flatten, his tail starts thumping.  At this point,
    if you haven't gotten the message, he might give you a fierce hiss and
    swipe at you with one of his enormous paws. He's not a vicious cat, (in
    most cases he's quite the wuss) but something must have happened to him
    in his past that left this enormously negative impression in his mind.
    
    I don't know how he was handled as a kitten or if this just happens to
    be his nature.  When I got Romeo and Juliette, the first thing I did
    was buy a kitten brush and brush them every chance I got.  Romeo
    absolutely LOVES being brushed and combed and Juliette doesn't mind. 
    In fact, when I try to brush Zachary, Romeo comes running over and
    tries to get in between the brush and Zachary.  Zachary, of course, is
    more than willing to oblige since it gives him the opportunity to run
    away from me and hide under the table.
    
    I wanted to make sure that I'd be able to brush Romeo and avoid matts
    since he's growing into quite a handsome, fluffy Maine Coon wannabe.  
    
    Gita

    I have had a couple of cats that were less than thrilled with grooming.
    I've managed to get past that with them by putting cat treats in front
    of them while I'm combing them.  The treats have to be in a container
    of some sort.  Something that makes them have to work to get them out.
    
    With Bailey I used Bonkers.  They came in a little pint size milk
    carton.  I'd open the carton and she'd be so involved in trying to
    get to the treats that she'd hardly notice I was combing her.  She got
    to the point where I could groom her for long periods of time before
    she began to get tired of it. 
    
    Unfortunately, I think they may have stopped making Bonkers.  I'm 
    having trouble finding them now.  So, I've had to make a few
    modifications for Mac.  I'm currently using a treat that comes in 
    a sort of zip lock bag.  I open it just enough that he can get a foot 
    in there and pull one out if he works at it.  He's started to enjoy 
    grooming too.  However, his period of tolerance is signifcantly shorter 
    than anyone else's.  He gets over stimulated very quickly.  I just look 
    for the twitching tail and glassy eyes and I know it's time to stop.
    
    Jan
                               

    Holly is a don't touch me on the back part of the back
    cat, but I start grooming her
    in the front of the back, so to speak, and she's so blissed out
    after I finish that that she lets me do the back as well.  I use a flea
    comb and am careful not to tug (much).
    

>I cut the mats off her with a tiny pair of
>    fingernail scissors 

	Be careful!

	Matts of fur will often have loose skin 
	pulled into the middle of them! 

	If it really does need cutting *always* 
	get a comb between the scissors and the skin!
	(or you risk taking nicks, between small 
	surface scratches to quite deep cuts out of 
	your kitty). 


I'm lucky with my guys, Knuffie is short haired, but likes
a bit of a brush, she prefers rubbing her teeth down the brush
and chewing it or attacking my hand (claws out but not in me) 
though, the brush your own teeth rubbing I think she learnt 
from Lucy who has been complimented on what clean teeth 
she has for an 8 year old - I reckon it's Hills dry food 
combined with regular self tooth brushing.  You just hold the 
brush out and she rubs first one side then the other down 
it - it started as just cheek grooming then she discovered
she liked it if she bared her teeth and rubbed them down it. 
This from a cat who used to have major dribbling problems 
whenever she purred (tartar buildup on canine teeth suspected
back then especially as it's stopped since). 


Belle is Ok about grooming though lately she's unpredictable 
about most things, then I guess I'd probably run away every 
now and again if every other day I was having either mite 
drops or flushing oil squirted down my ears, not to mention
how manky the fur gets round her ears - her maine coon 
fluffy cheeks are oily spikes, more maine punk really. 
Then again she got positively cuddly loving grooming after 
I bathed her the other week (the fur was not only oily and 
medicated but it was staining yellow).   She doesn't get 
matts on her legs yet still cause after surgery on both legs
she's jsut a very silk short hair with ankle tufts on her 
back legs. 

Lucy is the real baby for grooming though - there's a bristle 
brush she'll rub against for ever, I think she'd do it 'til she 
was bald - or exhausted.  The wire brushes aren't too bad and 
at times even the flea comb is worth a nuzzle. Of course my 
hair brushes get harrassed too if I'm not careful. 

She tends to be the only one to really get bad matts and 
they can get really bad on her.  When she first came to me she 
had a solid collar and bars down her knickers, not to mention 
under arm lumps and even some tummy knots. It wasn't neglect, 
just being treated like a shorter haired cat. Without at least 
every other day grooming (though hand grooming and teasing 
out of knots will do) she does knot up badly.  Quite often it's 
a matter of coming home and there's a half kicked out matt-ette
starting that she's half scratched off so it's loose fur, but her
scratching has also backcombed the fur even more.  Finger grooming 
that out is easy and sorts it out quickly, if you leave it it's 
a real matt in no time though. 


I just patiently and  gently groomed her over time to get the big
matts out when I first got her. Teasing out big lumps from the 
end as well as from the skin side. Most of them came out though 
the knicker ones left some to moult out. I resisted cutting 
except on one that she was scratching under her ear and then I 
made sure to do the comb wedged between the matt and the skin
and then snipping hair at a time on the matt side. 

Nowadays the main challenge is her underarms, and tummy and inside 
back legs, I pick up her front legs so she's standing upright 
and she cries like I'm pulling them off - but she cries like that
if you pick her up, or pull her onto your lap when you're stroking 
her, she's just got an incredibly plaintive miau... 

I seem to remember, (getting back to the useful tips) that a
bit of leave in conditioner or shine serum on the comb encouraged
the matts out a lot easier. 

Patience is the best way though I think... 

    Melody's mats tend to be in the outer ends of her fur in areas that she
    can't reach very well, usually the back side of her hind legs, not up
    against her skin.  I think what happens (watching her groom herself,
    which is what she does most of her waking time) is that she starts
    licking near her body and goes as far as her tongue can reach, and then
    stops.  So the mats aren't up against her body anyhow - well, unless I
    don't take care of them for her within a day or two of noticing that
    she has one.  She doesn't mind if I snip the last inch or so of fur off
    to remove a mat.  At least, she doesn't mind nearly as much as she does
    when I try to comb them out; she doesn't like it if the comb tugs at
    her skin.  Melody is a very sociable kitty who likes to be held,
    petted, played with - she's a real love-bug.  Mischief incarnate, too!
    
    The fingernail scissors work well for snipping off the mats since the
    blades are short and are curved away from her body so she doesn't get
    jabbed if she starts to squirm while I'm grooming her - which she
    usually does fairly quickly, especially if I have done her "manicure"
    first, which isn't one of her favorite activities either. (And just TRY
    to brush her teeth!...even JFCL squirms when that time comes.)  If I'm
    not home, or too busy, it doesn't take long for a little tangle to turn
    into a big mat, and once the mat is up next to her body, I have to comb
    that part of it out no matter how little Melody likes this action -
    best bet is to do it in the middle of the day when she is normally
    snoozing.  Even so, now you know why I do the claw-clipping first!
    
    Her elderly companion JFCL would love it if this youngster would groom
    her too, but she doesn't very often.  Before old Nebula died, she and JFCL
    used to spend lots of time grooming each other's necks and ears.  I
    think Melody thinks the old matriarch isn't much fun since she is too
    arthritic to want to play much, so she doesn't groom her.  JFCL will
    stretch out and purr like crazy when she is brushed.
    
    /Charlotte
                                                     

    I am having a real problem with one of our four kitties, Shirley.  She
    is a loner, and never plays or gets cleaned by the other kitties. She
    is a white long haired kitty, twelve years old.
    
    She had to get shaved several years ago after a bath gave her some
    terrible matts.  Since then, we have tried to keep grooming her
    ourselves but her hair is oily and she dislikes it very much.  She also
    dislikes any kind of treats so its impossible to get to stay long while
    we try to get matts out.
    
    A few days ago I tried to brush out the increasing number of large
    matts under her top fur.  She put this god awful oder.  When I talked
    ot the vet about this, he told me that her protective side is producing
    an oder in her anal sacks that are released when she is scared or hurt.
    
    Any ideas on what to do other than bringing her in to a groomer?  
    
    I am a bit more worried about this than usual because Shirley for the
    past few years has had alot of eye infections and constantly goes poop
    on the floor, regardless of where the kitty box is and how clean it is. 
    We even put a new box where she goes to help with the problem, but she
    goes anyways right next to the box at least four days a week.  The vets
    say that there is nothing wrong with her.
    
    Thanks...
    
    cj

    Cj...my guess is there is another problem with Shirley that is
    unknown and that is the main reason why she is not grooming herself
    and also pooping on the floor. These are two clear signs of a kitty
    not feeling up to par.  Maybe a second vet opinion is in order and
    I would recommend complete blood work to try and pinpoint the
    problem.   12 years old is NOT old for a kitty...but it is also
    the age where cats can start having old kitty problems such as
    thyroid or diabetes.
    
    I do have a cat that also needs to have his anal sacks released
    atleast twice a year, but that has never stopped her from acting like
    a normal cat, never had litterbox problems and never stopped 
    grooming.    Her only problem is sometimes she scoots her butt 
    across the floor after using the litterbox.  
    
    Sandy 

    Well - I'm going to answer my own request.  I brought Zachary to The
    Clipper Barn on Route 20 in Northborough.
    
    While they seem to specialize in dogs, they did a great job with Zach
    and he came home very relaxed.  He also came home with a summer cut! 
    When he stepped out of the carrier and I saw his tail I almost died. 
    Zachary has the most incredible plume of a tail and it is now 1/2 its
    normal size.  But - since they groomed and trimmed the rest of him, it
    seems in proportion.
    
    And - he hasn't minded my brushing him.  The last time he was groomed
    he hid when he saw me pick up a brush.  That's why he was in such awful
    condition.  
    
    So - if you're in the Northboro area, try The Clipper Barn.  Only
    charged me $30 for grooming and nail clipping which is a very decent
    price.
    
    Gita

    cj, I second the idea to have her thoroughly checked by the vet.  I
    would also spend more time with her, trying to help her relax.  Once
    she is groomed, a little gentle grooming every day with a very relaxing
    pat and tone of voice etc. may help.  I am picturing a kitty under
    stress because of the other cats, and who needs some extra attention. 
    
    I am embarassed to say that recently my "third cat" Little Bit, who has
    always been a shy kitty came up with some abnormal blood test results
    (liver enzymes) and the vet is going to retest him in a month to see
    what's going on, but being worried about this I have paid more attention
    to petting and cuddling him and he has blossomed;  also the other of
    my cats who used to pick on him has pretty much stopped doing it. 
    Because of his shyness he just wasn't getting his fair share of
    attention and I didn't realize it.  So this can make a big difference.