How Often Should A Cat be Groomed?

Cats are meticulous about grooming themselves, but occasionally they may not perform a good enough job on their own. This can cause you to wonder whether you should have your cat groomed and, if so, how frequently.

Consider what a qualified cat groomer can perform and whether it falls within your area of competence before making an appointment.

Benefits of Cat Grooming

First of all, if a cat bathes itself, why take it to a professional? Cats can't reach everywhere, but they do groom themselves to keep their glossy coat and good skin. This is why maintaining a consistent brushing schedule is crucial.

Grooming your cat contributes to keeping them healthy. The ASPCA stated that "one or two brushings every week will enable the kitten to preserve (their) healthy luster." Regular sessions will be especially helpful when your cat grows and loses the ability to groom itself as scrupulously.

Regular grooming can help with the following in addition to keeping their fur soft and glossy: 

• Eliminates Stray Hairs
• Eliminates Knots
• Eliminates Hairballs
• Eliminates Dirt and other Sludge

How Should You Groom Your Cat?

Cat Grooming

Your cat should enjoy and feel comfortable during grooming. If you have a cat, it's a good idea to groom cats from a young age. Try brushing your kitten with a few light strokes on the parts of their body that they enjoy being rubbed first after gently petting them. For letting you brush them and for remaining calm, you can reward them with some delectable cat treats. Your cat will begin to associate grooming with good things if you use rewards.

Once your cat gets familiar with the procedure, gradually raise the number of strokes, the length of time spent grooming, and the regions you are grooming. Reward your cat along the way.

You can lightly brush reverse against the direction of the hair occasionally while checking for flea dirt to see if there are any fleas or flea dirt to look for.

Avoid constraint or forced grooming as this might stress your cat out and make grooming unpleasant for them. Cats will display signals such as swishing their tails, curling or flicking their ears, clenching their bodies, snarling, hissing, or intensely grooming themselves for a brief amount of time when they need a break (which indicates stress). Stop grooming cat if you see these symptoms and pick up again later, building up gradually and rewarding them throughout grooming sessions to create pleasant connections.

Note: The long fur of long-haired cats tends to accumulate dust and debris. The owner has to do long-haired cat grooming to help them clean up and comb out the tangled hair. These cleaning tasks must be done every day. If it is not done for a while, its fur will become matted, especially in the armpits and abdomen, which will make the cat very uncomfortable.

If you are worried about cat hair flying around, try some technological achievements in recent years, such as Neakasa P1 Pro Grooming Kit. You can enjoy effortless cleaning of clothes, carpet, sofa, keyboard or on pet feet. Neakasa cleaning brush and nozzle head make collecting the dirt and hair a breath.

Equipment

The type of grooming tools your cat needs should fit its coat. To carefully remove hair strands and check for fleas in long-haired cats, a fine-toothed flea brush, soft brush, and grooming gloves should be sufficient. You might also require a wide-toothed comb and larger brushes for cats with long or medium-length hair when grooming cats.

You might need to switch up your brushing technique or equipment if your cat feels uncomfortable.

Cut Nails

When you are grooming your cats at home, it is a great idea to also look at their nails. The majority of young, healthy cats will maintain good nail health by scratching and wearing them down during activity. However, certain cats (especially as they age or if they have a medical issue) have the propensity to develop overgrown nails.

If the overgrown nail is not spotted and treated, it can be painful and possibly create major issues (such as growing into the foot pad). Consult your cat's veterinarian for information on cat-specific nail clippers and how to examine and trim your cat's nails.

Hair Balls

When cats groom, they ingest lint. These stray hairs can build up inside the cat's digestive tract and create a huge clump, which is known as a hairball. A cat may vomit a hairball once every two weeks or so, but if this occurs more frequently or if the frequency has changed, it may be a sign of an issue. In this case, you should speak with your cat's veterinarian.

Large clumps of swallowed hair can obstruct a cat's digestive system and be fatal. Therefore, owners' grooming plays a critical role in reducing the amount of loose hair eaten and reducing the size of hairballs. Regarding grooming, ask your veterinarian what else you can do to help avoid hairballs.

Fur Matted

Fur mats can be avoided with routine maintenance. It is preferable to gently pry these out with your fingers if the matting is visible. Make sure not to "pull" the fur because doing so will tighten the skin and hurt. You can also attempt to break up the matt and remove it with blunt-nosed safety scissors, but you must take great care to avoid touching the skin's surface.

Professional assistance may be required if the mat is extremely tight, extremely large, very close to the skin, or if you are concerned about or unable to remove it yourself. If you require assistance, get in touch with your neighborhood veterinary clinic, since they typically provide grooming services.

Bathing

In general, cats shouldn't be bathed. Most kittens do not enjoy getting baths and frequently find them to be highly unpleasant. Therefore, if your cat is healthy, there is typically no need to bathe it. Veterinarians occasionally advise cats bathing with skin conditions as part of their recommended treatment regimen.