All About Stunning Cat Grooming: Tips & Tricks (2020)

Cat grooming is required at this moment. An animal does not know all the risks and cannot protect it from every cautious element.

Your cat is definitely that member of your who brings joy to your day to day living by its playful activities. What if someday you find your cat sick? You do not want to face this anyhow, isn’t it? Whenever your cat gets sick, it needs some external help to understand the symptoms. Even in its daily chores, it needs help, at least in the process of staying clean.

However, your pet already knows everything about it beforehand, but there are places in its body where it cannot reach by its paws or tongue to clean it. Since you have the knowledge, you can help it by keeping a routinely check on all the activities happening in your cat’s body.

Below are some cat grooming tips that can help you in keeping your cat healthy so it lives longer.

1. All about the skin and fur

 

What do you like the most about your cat? Its soft fur on its skin. Don’t you want it to look beautiful externally? For that cat grooming is really important. Here are the basic things you can do.

1.1 Bathing the Cat

Your little pet does not want your help all the time. It is pretty normal that it will, on its own, use the natural cat grooming tools. These are its tongue and teeth. But, when the cat comes to you with all messed up body with dirt and a dirty smell, it needs a bath. Below are some tips to help you out to give your cat a healthy bath without letting it get hurt.

Steps to a Perfect Cat Bath:

1. First of all, trim your cat’s claws before giving it a bath because you definitely do not want yourself getting scratched while cat grooming.
2. Keep this “bathing your cat” activity scheduled according to the joyful mood of your cat. Make sure you do have some playful cat toys because it cannot bath alone!
3. Brush its fur smoothly without stressing the brush. This will remove all the loose hair so that it will not create a problem of hairball coughing at a later age.
4. Place cotton in your cat’s ears so that the water does not go in by any chance.
5. Also, as you know the bathtub is damn slippery! Place a mat to prevent your cat from slipping.
6. Prepare a bathtub of lukewarm water and check it. It should not be hot!
7. Use a medium to wet your cat and do not directly put it in water. The medium can be a hand-held shower or a small utensil if you do not have a spray hose. This will help in preventing the water to get inside the cat’s ears.
8. Take a solution of one part of the shampoo and five parts of water.  Do not use the shampoo meant for humans as they will make their skin dry. Avoiding it from your cat’s face, gently massage the solution in the direction from head to tail. Make sure it in the direction of hair growth. 
9. Now time to wash off all the lather and shampoo from your cat’s fur. Rinse its body properly with lukewarm water with the same hose spray or a water mug. Make sure nothing is left behind.
10. Wipe your little cat properly with a clean cloth.
11. Wrap your kitty with a dry cloth. Keep it in a warm place away from dusty area and dry it. You may need to comb its fur if they are long enough. Make sure there is no stress created to the hair while combing.
12. Now you have your cat in a shiny hair with cleanliness stuck on it!

 

 

1.2 Brush! Brush!!!

Brushing your cat once in a while is very good for your cat’s health more than you have thought. When you brush your cat’s fur with a soft brush, the dirt, grease and even dead hair from its fur coat. Apart from this brushing removes skin fakes and even helps in blood stimulation. Doing this to your cat on a regular weekly schedule gives it a glow. Moreover, when your cat grows old and cannot groom itself, this will help it to maintain its body. These are the following tips that you should keep in mind.

Pro Tips:

1. 1. Brushing your cat right away without taking care of its fur quality will create many problems. Make sure that the hair is healthy and you can do it by checking the shine. There should not be any bald patch as that means that there are fleas and ticks. Also, there should not be any wound.
   2. If your cat has short hair, then take a metal comb and start brushing from head to tail while removing all the dirt debris. The brushing should be done in the direction of the hair growth. Use the rubber brush to remove all the loose or dead hair.
   3. If your cat has long hair, then it is sure that it is shredding its every time. These cats live inside the house mostly and they need cat grooming from your side too. You will have to schedule your brushing sessions within a few days’ interval. You will have to be extra careful while dealing with the hair. You may use talcum powder in the tangles and then help it with your hands.

 

 

1.3 The pests

The major categories and species of insects, worms or parasites and even that can cause problems to your cat’s skin can be any one of the following.

1. Ringworm: These can cause highly contagious fungal infection which can result in inflammation, patches and heavy hair loss. They can be found on the head, paws, and ears.
2. Fleas: Not only your cat can get irritated due to fleas but it can also get allergic to the environment. You can see the symptoms such as when your cat excessively scratches, and the hair on the tip of the tail becomes thin.
3. External parasites: Ear mites, lice, and mange mites can cause irritation in the ears of your cat.
4. Bacterial and yeast infection: These infections can be due to the onset of another disorder.
5. Tumors: Consult a vet if you find any malignant or benign disorder under your cat’s skin.

 

 

2. Caring the ears

 

Your cat is a hunter and you know it already. For that, it needs ears which are in good quality. Though the cat itself cleans it you should be helping with the cat grooming so as to keep a check from your side too. A weekly based check on your cat’s ears will not be a piece of bad advice. If there is any serious problem consult the vet immediately.

 

2.1 Checking the ears externally

 

The outer part of the feline also known as pinna should be checked for any bald patches. There should a pink surface inside the pinna without any redness or discharge. If you any of the above, take your cat to the veterinarian.

2.2 Checking the ears internally

Gently fold back the ears of your cat and look inside the canal. A healthy inside of the ear should be pale pink in color without any debris and there should not be any odor coming out from the ears. The ear wax should not be present or should be minimal in amount. If there are any problems with the above mentioned, then consult a vet.

 

 

2.3 Signs of problems

 

If the following signs can be seen in your cat’s ears, then consult a vet.

1. Continuous scratching and pawing in the ear area
2. Head tilting or shaking
3. Black or yellowish discharge
4. Unpleasant odor
5. Hearing loss
6. Redness or swelling of the ear flap or canal
7. Sensitivity to touch
8. Bleeding
9. Loss of balance and disorientation
10. Accumulation of dark brown wax

 

2.3 The common disorders

 

1. Ear Mites: These are the most common parasites and cause excessive itching in the ear area. There will be a creation of debris of the shape of a coffee grain.
2. Ear infections: These can be caused by any bacteria yeast or even accumulation of foreign debris inside the ear. This kind of infection should be treated immediately as it may later create chances for allergies and even hereditary problems.
3. Blood Blisters: The cause of these blisters is the accumulation of debris in the ears. This can make your cat shake its head very often and scratch it.

 

3. Healthy feet!

Cats are real playful pets. They need their paws to loaf around, jump, rum, scratch themselves and whatnot. To let them enjoy their time in a healthy and painless way, you need to help them in cat grooming their feet, when they cannot.

If there is any foreign particle stuck to your cat’s paws, then it may hurt its feet. Apart from that, if that particle is consumed by the cat while licking its paws then it can cause double trouble! On a daily basis, wipe the cat’s feet with a slightly wet cloth. While wiping, make sure to clean the area between its claws.

 

You believe the fact that your cat loves roaming around and there are many unknown places it may have went to. If by any chance she has got itself a cut on its paws, then it is your responsibility to find it out and do the proper medication.

 

4. Good eyes

Your cat has these big bright eyes which sparkle every time. Eyes are a very important part of any animal. Cats need it for sure as they cannot be seen not jumping here and there and for that, they need healthy eyesight. You can ensure the health of your cat’s eyes. It is very easy.

1. In a brightly lighted area, look into the eyes of your cat. The eyes should be clear and bright with the white areas around the iris.
2. Check the lid’s lining by rolling the eyelid gently by your thumb. It should be pink and not red or white.
3. You must be seeing the crusty gunk outside your cat’s eyes. Remove it gently.

 

Conclusion:

Just as you take care of any young ones in your family, your cat too needs the same care. She has been definitely gifted with skills and tools for itself but you, being a responsible master, help it to groom itself and this will help in spending some quality time with your pet. This will strengthen your bond. Bathing and brushing regularly only will help your cat a lot. While examining and cat grooming if you find something unusual, we have a blog prepared about all the cat allergies, their symptoms, and remedies. Be sure, that you check it! Let me know what struggles do you face while making your cat bath. 😉