Grooming a Longhaired Cat

Routine, simple grooming is an excellent opportunity to bond with your cat; it is an activity that should always be relaxing and pleasurable for both parties.

 Regular grooming keeps your cat in pristine condition and warns you of possible medical problems.

Evolution has equipped the cat with its own grooming tool; the barbed tongue. Consequently, cats are magnificently self-cleaning and self-grooming.
 
However, this evolutionary grooming tool is inadequate for felines with dense or long coats; these individuals require their owners' aid in the judicious use of a wide-toothed comb and a bristle brush.

Older felines with dense coats will require even more grooming assistance from their owners. Longhaired breeds with heavy, predominantly guard-hair coats need frequent brushing, and grooming around the ears and legs is necessary at least weekly.
 
All cats with soft, Persian-like coats are high-maintenance pets. They have long, fine down hair, which can easily become matted. This requires daily, whole-body grooming in order to prevent serious tangles.

These felines are also prone to hairballs, which are potentially dangerous if ingested; therefore preventive grooming is necessary. Although the grooming steps in the sequence below longhaired cat, they can be followed for all types of coats.

Routine, simple grooming is an excellent opportunity to bond with your cat; it is an activity that should always be relaxing and pleasurable for both parties.

 Regular grooming keeps your cat in pristine condition and warns you of possible medical problems. Evolution has equipped the cat with its own grooming tool; the barbed tongue. Consequently, cats are magnificently self-cleaning and self-grooming.
 
However, this evolutionary grooming tool is inadequate for felines with dense or long coats; these individuals require their owners' aid in the judicious use of a wide-toothed comb and a bristle brush.

Older felines with dense coats will require even more grooming assistance from their owners. Longhaired breeds with heavy, predominantly guard-hair coats need frequent brushing, and grooming around the ears and legs is necessary at least weekly.
 
All cats with soft, Persian-like coats are high-maintenance pets. They have long, fine down hair, which can easily become matted. This requires daily, whole-body grooming in order to prevent serious tangles.

These felines are also prone to hairballs, which are potentially dangerous if ingested; therefore preventive grooming is necessary. Although the grooming steps in the sequence below longhaired cat, they can be followed for all types of coats.